Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

Published by Elaine Arthur on 5 July 2012

New blogger Ryan Andrews reviews the Amazing Spider-Man.

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“The Amazing Spiderman stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans. Although having mixed feelings about this movie generated from all of the hype surrounding the relaunch of the Spiderman franchise, I thoroughly enjoyed The Amazing Spiderman.

From the beginning of the movie there is a sense of urgency. The initial establishment of Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker is instantaneous and from the beginning is incredible at filling the role.

I feel that Andrew Garfield has a much better handle on the character of Peter Parker and is able to bring them out much more than Tobey Maguire in the original trilogy directed by Sam Raimi. The supporting cast also do an amazing job in keeping the film grounded. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey is a brilliant choice of casting as she compliments Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman and the scenes between them are so awkward it’s funny and ultimately you get a sense of the growing relationship between them. Rhys Ifans also does a brilliant job of establishing the character of Dr Curt Connors. The development of this character is slow to begin with, but it takes off very quickly after the first meeting between Dr Connors and Peter. Given Rhys Ifan’s past experiences playing movie villains, I was expecting a much darker performance as The Lizard than he gave, but ultimately he portrayed the character very well, especially in establishing the initial intentions which lead to the birth of The Lizard.

The cinema photography of this movie was, to say the least, mind blowing. The aerial scenes of Spiderman swinging across New York City were simple breath taking. However, the director’s choice to switch between first person and third person shots does get confusing, as one minute you will see Spiderman swinging across a city skyline and the next you will see the same scene through the characters eyes and the switch will come randomly and without warning.

The graphic scenes of the fights between The Lizard and Spiderman are good at best. The CGI seems to be very minimal, and while this might be good for some films, I feel that this is a film which would need some of the best CGI work in order for it to be more believable. Overall, the cinema photography is incredible, but with a little tweaking in places like the CGI, it could be perfect.
As a whole, The Amazing Spiderman is exactly what the title suggests. Amazing. The cast are incredible in keeping the movie going. As a reboot to the Spiderman franchise, I believe that this film will be able to stand apart from the original trilogy and anyone going into this film and thinking it will be as bad as the first three should look at it as a completely separate movie because that’s what it is. I would happily go to see this movie again and again and eagerly look forward to the dvd release. Also, as a side note, Marvel fans should keep their eyes peeled for the Marvel co-founder Stan Lee as he makes yet another cameo in the movie, and as a word of advice, stick around after the first set of credits for a sneak peek into the next instalment of the Spiderman story. "

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Posted in Movies & TV