I can not believe I have gone this long without reviewing a movie in my favorite genre. I have always been a huge fan of the fantasy genre, specifically comic book movies. I love what they did with the X-Men series, and well as the Iron Man series, but we'll get to those. Today I would like to talk about one of the most recent Marvel Comic releases...
The Amazing Spiderman: (2012) - PG-13
Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans
Overview - How do I give a new overview to an overdone franchise? Hmm....ok, Peter Parker (Garfield) is under the care of his famous uncle Charlie Sheen and aunt The Mom From Mrs. Doubtfire. His mother and father act incredibly cryptic as they abandon him with a mysterious secret. One day he visits a biology lab and a radioactive spider slides down and bites him just above the shoulder blade, but not close enough to the throat to cause any serious damage. Now he naturally has super powers! Then he meets the crazy chick from Zombieland and has an inner struggle.
Review - Andrew Garfield takes the helm of this ship as our intrepid hero. Garfield has been in some movies that many consider to be great works of art. Such as "The Social Network" and "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus". So he knows how to convey emotion, and really get you to feel what his character is feeling. So it is no shock that you can really connect with his interpretation of Peter Parker. I think he embodies the character the way the fans wanted him to. Hats off to the casting agent for finding Mr. Garfield. Though the character of Peter Parker is supposed to be a socially award nerd, and Garfield plays him with more of a socially accepted nerd feel, but it's a minor detail that does not ruin the film. When I heard that Marc Webb was directing the reboot, I was a little nervous because his previous body of work only included some band documentaries, and "500 Days of Summer". Needless to to say I felt he was inexperienced. Obviously Columbia Pictures saw something in him worth investing in. Luckily he surprised me, and did a great job. Obviously with any reboot, they have to re-establish the story. So we have to sit through the explanation of what happened, and why it happened, to turn Peter Parker into The Spiderman. A lot of critics felt it was unneeded, and I agree, to a point. They could have covered his origin story in the credits, but I was ok with how they did it. Emma Stone is a great find. Her work in "Easy A", "Zombieland", and "The Help" makes her one of the actresses I will back in any movie she pops up in. Not that she is an "icon" in the film industry yet, but I think she has the potential to really take this for the long haul. Rhys Ifans plays Mr. Croc. (It's not a give-away. It's in the trailer). The one thing I love about Marvel is that they have monsters and abnormalities for the heros to save the citizens from, but the story arcs are believable. The Green Goblin was dabbling with performance-enhancing drugs and came across the ability to triple his strength, and quadruple his bad attitude. Dr. Octopus used robotic arms to help him develop an alternative energy source. In this one our local scientist is trying to discover a way to utilize the reptiles ability to re-grow critical cells. Of course, the man he works for is impatient, causing rushed results. Because that's always a smart move. Needless to say, things go awry. I have a few quibbles with the film, and it's direction. Marc Webb decided to cast C. Thomas Howell in a small role, and I think the world would be a better place if someone went back in time, before he was born, and told his parents to break up. Also, the director felt is was a good idea to throw in these "helmet-cam" shots of Spidey swinging through the cities. He specifically did this for the 3D IMAX release, and I do not think it translates to the small screen very well. I think it looks tacky. Turning to accolades for the film, I will say this. I think that the character of uncle Ben needed to be respectable, but yet understandable. With Martin Sheen as uncle Ben, I thought they really found the heart of the character. Someone who loves his nephew and will always be there for him, but is also there to beat him up for acting the fool.
Overall I will give this a 4 out of 5. I would buy it, and watch it again. I love well done comic book films, and this one is no exception.
As always, shoot me any suggestions for movies you would like to hear me cover. entertaindave@gmail.com and follow me on twitter @entertaindave
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