I am in no way am writing this to circumvent Bryan Young’s previously posted review of this movie. His early review convinced me to go see the film, even though a lot of the trailers left me wondering why the movie was made in the first place. Then I saw it. I was so immersed and impressed with this movie, that despite a few tiny flaws, The Amazing Spider-Man is unequivocally now my favorite movie ever. After seeing the movie, I felt that I had a burning need to share my feelings. As such, there may be minor spoilers contained within. I’ll do my level best to keep things vague, but you have been warned.
I have an uncanny ability to completely shut off expectations when I go see a movie on the big screen. As soon as the lights go down, I belong to the movie, and it has my undivided attention. Admittedly, this doesn’t make me an excellent film critic. Case in point, when I went to see Superman Returns, I loved it. Subsequent viewings brought me to my senses, but the things I loved about that movie still stand. ASM had a similar affect on me, but this time it wasn’t so much a wow factor as it was a realization. This movie has heart.
A large portion of the movie is character introductions and the like. I don’t think Peter Parker even got bit until about an hour into the film. Browse any geek website for a minute, and you’ll hear cries of why this is unnecessary. The Raimi movie already established the origin, so why retread? I was firmly in that camp myself. I’ve changed my opinion though. This movie had to re-establish the mythos because of how everything is set up. The characters aren’t exactly the same in the previous movies, and this is a good thing. The way the characters are presented and how it relates to the origin all follow an internal logic that is pretty astounding if you think about it. The actors aren’t simply going through the motions or playing established archetypes. They are truly three dimensional, and when the emotional beats happen you care all the more because of it, even though you know what’s going to happen. It made the movie more real than I could have imagined, and that alone makes it a gem in my eyes.
Of course, the movie’s central character is Peter Parker/Spider-Man and if you can’t relate to him, the movie falls apart. Thankfully, Andrew Garfield is not only up to the task, he exceeds my expectations. Peter’s character arc is slightly different in the movie, as he has abandonment issues, growing up without parents. This is particularly felt with the absence of his father. That’s not to say that Uncle Ben isn’t the kind and wise surrogate he’s always been, because he is. It’s just that in this movie, Peter’s father is the catalyst for everything. Growing up without a father myself, I felt like I really understood Peter’s motivation to uncover the events leading up to Richard Parker’s disappearance, not to mention to really “know” what kind of man he was. The path this leads him on not only ties into the origin nicely, but also sets up many possibilities for future films. In particular, I really like the subtle way the filmmakers go about Norman Osborn. Nothing is explicit (unless you count the mid-credits scene), and it make my anticipation for the sequel higher than normal.
Continuing with Peter, once he gets the fateful spider-bite, I found it pretty interesting how the road to becoming Spider-Man played out. There is the obligatory discovering powers scenes, but they are done with such a sense of whimsy that even though everyone has already seen this play out over other mediums something like a million times before, it somehow feels fresh. No wrestling Macho Man Randy Savage here, folks. The way Uncle Ben’s fate plays out feel more natural as well, it felt a little coincidental to be honest because the sequence between not stopping a robbery and the fatal shot happens so quickly. It’s one of my only little gripes with the movie. What happens after though? That made me start to hate the movie.
You see, after Uncle Ben’s murder, Peter goes full-on vigilante. He’s cocky, self-assured, and definitely not a hero. In short, grieving Peter is kind of an asshole. This includes the much lamented in trailers “small knives” scene. His cocksuredness even gets him the attention of one Gwen Stacy. This made me groan a little too. However, when Gwen invites Peter to meet the family, including Denis Leary as police captain George Stacy, things start to turn around. While it is true that it is Uncle Ben that teaches Peter about power and responsibility, it’s Captain Stacy that shows him how to be a true hero. Never is that more apparent to me than the bridge scene…
This scene makes me well up every time I see it.
In fact, the movie does scenes with this much emotional impact so well and so often, I’m not ashamed to admit that multiple times this movie made me weep like someone stole my lunch money. And if that isn’t an indicator of how successfully the movie works, nothing is. You’ll notice I didn’t really mention the Lizard at all, or the movie’s central conflict. There’s a reason for that. For me, those bits are just icing and an already pretty good slice of cake. Good as that is, it’s not why I love this movie. For reviews of those bits, look elsewhere.
ShazBot Score: 9.6 out of 10 Lightning Bolts
High Points: Emotional resonance, strong characters, well-woven story
Low Points: Series of coincidences, The Lizard’s face (he looked like a Goomba from the terrible Super Mario Bros. movie!)