This is how a Spider-Man film was meant to be. The casting is perfect and the director, Marc Webb (who also directed 500 Days of Summer), could not be more spot-on in Spidey's High-School-Nerd-Turned-Superhero tale. Seriously, I am giddy for this film to exist and can not wait for everyone to watch it.
Take it as my opinion- reviews are, after all, not much more -but as an avid comic reader and someone who has never left the Spider-Man fan bandwagon, even when The Avengers and Batman where so much more popular, I I know my stuff. And so does this film. It's not perfect, but it's pretty, emotionally sound, and best of all: funny.
My main problem with the original trilogy- starring Tobey Maguire, James Franco and Kristen Dunst -cemented in that not only did the actors not LOOK like High School students, they didn't really ACT like them either. The Amazing Spider-Man fixes that problem from the get go. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone- who still look too old to be in High School, but I'll excuse that -behave just like any teenagers would. When he first gets his powers, Peter has WAY too much fun covering criminals in artificial webbing, cracking witty one-liners all the way. Gwen and Peter seem like the couple everyone in High School wants to be, and their mushy-gushy glances into each other's eyes are highly believable. Not surprisingly, Andrew and Emma are a real-life couple. Good for them. When the film ends their relationship is as much a dynamic duo as any superhero team and no one misses Mary Jane, because Gwen was the original, and she's the main reason Spidey loves being Spidey. This film has that on lock.
What it DOESN'T have on lock is the villain. My favorite Spider-Man film before this one was Spider-Man 2 (2004), where Alfred Molina portrayed Doctor Octopus. MJ and Peter were out of High School so I could buy them as people, Aunt May was given depth, and Doc Ock was a family man before he was a villain. That's a very important aspect to the Spidey story: Family is everything. Peter lost his parents, and later his Uncle, and in the end, taking care of people is all he really wants to do. So it helps when the Villain is someone more than just a MONSTER out for his own gain, but a troubled soul like Peter. In this film Lizard never gets the detail that we got with Doc Ock. Yes, they give us a back-story as to his relation with Peter's Father and his whole Arm Trauma, but it doesn't really matter because we KNOW he's the Villain and we couldn't care less how Gwen and Spidey handle him.
Which is a shame because that's where this film shines above the Tobey Maguire-Sam Raimi trilogy: There's detail. More emphasis on human relation, less emphasis on Comic Book Special Effects. And Spider-Man is funny! Why he wasn't funny in the Tobey films is beyond me. Spidey's a teenager with superpowers, of course he's going to be cocky, and show offy, and pull out one-liners. That's what I love about this film. It gets Spider-Man.
It premieres next Tuesday, July 3rd or Midnight-Monday for all you Teenagers who love Midnight Premieres. Go watch it, you owe it to Spidey.
Worth Your Time and Money?: Yes. As funny and fun as The Avengers, with maybe not as MANY actors and thrills, but just enough to make it the best Spider-Man film yet.
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