Director: Marc Webb.
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field.
I was one of the Spider-Man fans that thought a reboot was outrageous, and It sorta still is. But I'm pleased to say that The Amazing Spider-Man works on all cylinders!
First off, every character has been recast from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films. To be honest, now having seen the new film, I would very much prefer Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. We also have Emma Stone playing Parkers love interest Gwen Stacy. Garfield and Stone have perfect chemistry on screen(and off), that makes you feel for these characters and humanizes them even more than they already are. For our supporting cast we have Rhys Ifans (Dr. Connors/Lizard), Martin Sheen and Sally Field(Uncle Ben/Aunt May), and Denise Leary(Captain Stacy). All the supporting characters are fantastic in their respective roles.
The plot is one thing here that could of been great, but it doesn't reach that level. Peter Parker is trying to find out what happened to his parents, and when he finds a brief case of his fathers, Peter sees what experiments his father was working on. This leads Peter to Dr. Connors, and of course the spider that will make him a superhero. But frankly after Dr. Connors comes into the story, Peter Parker just forgets about his missing parents. I think the film makers could of made it way more interesting, and have the common courtesy to end up that string of plot. Hopefully they will keep it going in the sequel. Also the very important Norman Osborne was mentioned throughout the first half of the film, but as soon as the Lizard appears, everything to do with that certain plot point, completely leaves the film. I wont spoil the Lizards "master-plan" for the end of the film, but it is kind of out of no where and feels like that character wouldn't actually do that.
One thing that absolutely saves this film from being bland and boring, is its action and CGI. The mix between CGI and practical effects is simple Amazing! You can barely tell the difference. And it gives the film-makers the opportunity to do anything they want(action-wise). One thing that really stands out is the use of a stunt double actually swinging through the city(most of the time), instead of having a CGI Spider-Man doing it, like in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies.
My final conclusion is that this is a great reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, and should be a big hit this summer. This feels way more like Spider-Man than the other films did, and I really want to see more of it.
I saw this Film in IMAX 3-D. I would say if your a real huge fan of Spider-Man its worth the price of admission. If not just see it in 3-D(Its actually good)!
Final Score: 8.5
