Saturday, July 14, 2012

Amazing Spider Man

Complete Synopsis: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/


The Amazing Spider-Man's origin story is undoubtedly an improvement on Raimi's Spider-Man, a decade prior. The characterisation is a lot more realistic, which makes it easier for the audience to feel Parker's teenage pain, awkwardness and ultimate escapism when he dons the guise of Spider-Man. Emma Stone's Gwen Stacey is also a welcome replacement for Mary-Jane, who's sole purpose in Raimi's films was either to moan or scream. Stacey by contrast, is an intelligent character in her own right, who doesn't shy away from getting her hands dirty when Spider- Man's in trouble. Rhys Ifans portrayal of Curt Connors has the same Jekyllian vulnerability seen in Mark Ruffallo's Bruce Banner earlier this year, although his motives are distorted somewhat as the film progresses.


However, such interesting character development unfortunately does not hold together perfectly with the action. Of course, Spider-Man is foremost a movie that has to entertain; yet the cocky web-slinging CGI hero seems too unlike Garfield's brooding Peter Parker. The quality of the special effects is largely inconsistent, with POV scenes of Spider- Man diving around the city impressing greatly, whilst his actual battles with The Lizard are considerably less ambitious. The weighty retelling of Parker's familiar back-story also means that during the dénouement several large plot points, which could have expanded the action, are left undeveloped – and so the ending is a little too simple and unsatisfactory.


Webb has successfully addressed the new demand for superhero movies to be deeper and more human; yet he is not a director adept at providing big-budget action to an audience in the same way as Joss Whedon or Christopher Nolan. The Amazing Spider-Man is therefore the sum of two films, a satisfactory coming-of-age movie and an unchallenging action film. Unfortunately, Webb is not strong enough to convincingly hold the two together.


Kid Friendly: Yes
Bad Ass Factor: None
Date Friendly: Yes
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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