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Review - The Amazing Spider-Man
Jul. 8th, 2012 08:55 amThis summer is great for superhero movies. I've already watched The Avengers; I'm anxiously awaiting The Dark Knight Rises. I liked The Avengers, but the story, while full of action and hilarious dialogue, wasn't anything groundbreaking. So then I went to see the new Spider-Man movie.
I hadn't watched the original trilogy (except for 3/4 of the third movie for no reason at all), so I came into Amazing Spider-Man with fresh eyes. The trailers had been excellent, and, as a fan of Christopher Nolan's films, the idea of a Nolan-flavored-reboot of Spider-Man was really exciting to me.
I wasn't disappointed.
I thought Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Peter Parker was incredibly dynamic. He's a good kid, yet also a loner/outsider at school, and even though he has a good relationship with his aunt and uncle, his parents' disappearance still bothers him. My sister, who wrote an essay on The Dark Knight for school, noted that the trend in recent years towards "grittier" superhero movies has resulted in more "human heroes," or flawed superheroes, and I think The Amazing Spider-Ma is a perfect example of this. Peter Parker has a lot of anger deep down. He's not above trying to get revenge; he's not above trying to humiliate the bully who bullied him.
And in a sense, that's what the movie is about--Peter's emotional journey as he figures out how to be a hero, how to take responsibility for his actions and do good. Getting super spider powers doesn't automatically make him a hero, because at first he's more focused on getting revenge, a fact that is brilliantly pointed out to him in one of the movie's scenes. He finally learns that being a superhero is about having empathy for others, not just about beating up bad guys. This movie is full of emotions, from tragedy to heartwarming affection. (On a sidenote, Aunt May was awesome.)
I also quite liked the villain. I thought he was completely sympathetic, and even though I was suspecting a "Mwahaha, I was evil all along and I'm the mastermind behind everything!" moment, I was wrong, which was nice and refreshing.
And the humor. Let's not forget the humor. There were a couple of scenes just after Peter gets the bite that had me nearly doubled up with laughter in the movie theater. Heck, I'd watch the entire movie again just for those scenes (and some others).
So was there anything I didn't like? Well, yeah. No movie is ever perfect, and though I enjoyed a lot about the movie, there were a few things that I found lacking. I liked that Gwen Stacy was an intelligent love interest, but I never quite got why she and Peter got together. I wanted them to bond over their mutual love for science (nerd couples for the win!), but sadly, that didn't happen. I also thought that in the climax, while Gwen does help save the world, she's pushed off to the side during the Final Battle just so she can stay safe. Dude, not cool.
On a more nitpicky level, I thought the scene in which Peter skateboards in a half-pipe dragged out for too long. I also wondered why no one (namely, Gwen and the villain) seems to wonder how Peter got his powers. I'm sure people would start lining up to get bitten by the spiders in Oscorp once they found out...? When the movie ended, I was also a little bummed out that the mystery behind Peter's parents' disappearance is still not resolved, but, fine, I can accept that they're saving that for a sequel (or two).
All in all, though, The Amazing Spider-Man was a fantastic movie that I would definitely recommend.
I hadn't watched the original trilogy (except for 3/4 of the third movie for no reason at all), so I came into Amazing Spider-Man with fresh eyes. The trailers had been excellent, and, as a fan of Christopher Nolan's films, the idea of a Nolan-flavored-reboot of Spider-Man was really exciting to me.
I wasn't disappointed.
I thought Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Peter Parker was incredibly dynamic. He's a good kid, yet also a loner/outsider at school, and even though he has a good relationship with his aunt and uncle, his parents' disappearance still bothers him. My sister, who wrote an essay on The Dark Knight for school, noted that the trend in recent years towards "grittier" superhero movies has resulted in more "human heroes," or flawed superheroes, and I think The Amazing Spider-Ma is a perfect example of this. Peter Parker has a lot of anger deep down. He's not above trying to get revenge; he's not above trying to humiliate the bully who bullied him.
And in a sense, that's what the movie is about--Peter's emotional journey as he figures out how to be a hero, how to take responsibility for his actions and do good. Getting super spider powers doesn't automatically make him a hero, because at first he's more focused on getting revenge, a fact that is brilliantly pointed out to him in one of the movie's scenes. He finally learns that being a superhero is about having empathy for others, not just about beating up bad guys. This movie is full of emotions, from tragedy to heartwarming affection. (On a sidenote, Aunt May was awesome.)
I also quite liked the villain. I thought he was completely sympathetic, and even though I was suspecting a "Mwahaha, I was evil all along and I'm the mastermind behind everything!" moment, I was wrong, which was nice and refreshing.
And the humor. Let's not forget the humor. There were a couple of scenes just after Peter gets the bite that had me nearly doubled up with laughter in the movie theater. Heck, I'd watch the entire movie again just for those scenes (and some others).
So was there anything I didn't like? Well, yeah. No movie is ever perfect, and though I enjoyed a lot about the movie, there were a few things that I found lacking. I liked that Gwen Stacy was an intelligent love interest, but I never quite got why she and Peter got together. I wanted them to bond over their mutual love for science (nerd couples for the win!), but sadly, that didn't happen. I also thought that in the climax, while Gwen does help save the world, she's pushed off to the side during the Final Battle just so she can stay safe. Dude, not cool.
On a more nitpicky level, I thought the scene in which Peter skateboards in a half-pipe dragged out for too long. I also wondered why no one (namely, Gwen and the villain) seems to wonder how Peter got his powers. I'm sure people would start lining up to get bitten by the spiders in Oscorp once they found out...? When the movie ended, I was also a little bummed out that the mystery behind Peter's parents' disappearance is still not resolved, but, fine, I can accept that they're saving that for a sequel (or two).
All in all, though, The Amazing Spider-Man was a fantastic movie that I would definitely recommend.
