The Amazing Spiderman (2012) – Movie review
Andrew Garfield, I think I love you. No, actually, scratch that. I *do* love you. You owned Peter Parker/Spiderman like a champ. I have suddenly become your fan, and I didn’t even know much about you before I saw The Amazing Spiderman. You’ll see… I am a die-hard comics fan and a long-standing admirer of Spiderman, the superhero. I know the history between Spiderman/Peter Parker, the Lizard/Curt Connors and Gwen Stacy, and I can guarantee you that this reboot of the Spiderman saga is definitely pretty true to the original story.
There are a number of elements that make this version of The Amazing Spiderman different from the original one, and more than different, pretty great. For one, Andrew Garfield is perfect as the brooding, dark Peter Parker who becomes Spiderman out of anger for his inability to save his uncle Ben. Garfield made me shed tears about four or five times throughout the movie. And yes, I’m sensitive, but I don’t think it’s because I love sappy movies. The Amazing Spiderman is not really a sappy movie. Chock-full with action, this reboot of Spiderman has a much more sensitive, human storyline.
As a reviewer said before, this is a superhero movie for women. Not because Garfield is excessively attractive (he’s handsome, but not like the kind of handsome that would make you faint – Chris Zylka as Flash Thompson is MUCH hotter). It’s because Garfield’s nuanced and brooding performance pulls your heart’s strings. Peter Parker is a young, troubled science geek who is endowed with superpowers and slowly learns to make good use of them. In this version, Gwen Stacy takes a much stronger role (which is very much better than the first or second movies when Kirsten Dunst was the Mary-Jane-Damsel-In-Distress).
There were, of course, points where we find some society changing their mind towards Spiderman, from seeing him as an enemy to being now a friend and savior of the city (a few scenes made me shed tears towards the end of the movie). Overall, I definitely would recommend it as one of the best movies this summer. The plot is excellent, acting is pretty good (loved Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben and Sally Field as Aunt May), and there’s enough action to satisfy even the most demanding superhero movie geek.
