The Amazing Spider-Man Your Reviews Thread

[webhead2006]

Here is a place to post our reviews from the film.

[webhead2006]

My review ahead so spoiler warning in advance.

I just got home from seeing the film at my local cinemark imax theater. And a very cool thing the theater/theater chain did for midnight showing is give out free tshirts and posters for the film. Here is what they looked like:



Now for the film itself. I enjoyed the film a lot. Was it the perfect superhero film no. But even for a few faults like some slow pacing, and cutting a few scenes. It still was an enjoyable film. And I had a lot of fun watching it. The acting was solid all around from andrew as peter, he played the nerdy/shy/loner well and I enjoyed seeing peter science side more in this film. Then we got in raimi film. Plus the jokester spidey too. Like when he was fighting the car jacker and in his fights with the lizard.

Emma was a very good gwen. She had andrew had nice chemistry together and worked well in there scenes. I liked also seeing her science side too. But I do wish they had more development with there romantic relationship. That is a fault I would have liked to see changed. Same with peter revealing he is spidey I thought it was a bit to quick in the film. But loved the kiss reveal of it.

Denis leary as captain stacy was a good perfomance. He played the role straight laced and handled it well. His scenes with peter and gwen where good. And loved him helping peter at the end to stop the lizard. So I wasn't to pissed he found out he was spiderman. And all. But it was still sad to see captain stacy offed. But he went down as a hero.

Sally field and martin sheen as may and ben where good. Sally was ok. Not the best out of the cast. But I didn't think she was all bad. Just didn't have a lot to go with in the film. Sheen was great as ben though. He was warm and touching and was still sad to see him offed. I was a little disapointed like avengers "avengers assemble" line wasn't used with ben's famous words "with great power comes great responsibility". There was three scenes I totally felt it would have worked in, the school scene with peter, his speech with peter when he ran off, and as voice mail message at end of the film.

Ifans as connors was also a solid performance. The hard working scientist turned evil but his old drawbacks, and short comings. Lead to the usual sympathic villains who are mostly spidey villains are. But still his lizard wasn't half bad. I enjoyed they went intelgent lizard route then the mindless beast take. Sfx work on lizard was good too.

And I totally loled at stan lee's cameo as the school librian. That was so funny. And he so didn't know what was going on. The whole theater was cracking up on that. I also enjoyed the school scenes with peter showing up flash, the subway beat up scene, and peter learning of his powers in bathroom. Some classic moments there. Also love the nods to daily bugle, and peter falling into wrestling ring.

I also enjoyed finally having peter's parents play a part in the film. That is a story aspect raimi dismissed in doing. And I enjoyed having his parents mentioned and be a factor to the story. Hopefully there is some more cut scenes with them. If not I am curious to see where they go with them.

I am also curious to see what they do with norman and if we will see him in sequel fully. I enjoyed he was mentioned and allued to during the film. With oscorp playing such a big role in the film. But boy was it an interesting tidbit to see they went with he is dying of something and wants a cure. That is a nice easy way to dive right into goblin down the road.

Overall enjoyed the film a lot. And hope it is a success for sony. And would hope all return for a sequel. Since they where going all science angle here. Would be fun to see them maybe tackle six armed spidey/man-spider for a plotline, or maybe whole cloning of spiderman and we get scarlet spider. Though I definately like to see some villains we didn't get to see in raimi series like scorpion, electro, shocker, mysterio to name a few. So I would give the film a 8 out of 10. Did we need to reboot spidey no. But the finished product was that bad and I will definately see it again to look for any winks and nods I missed.

[James Stocks]

Finally saw it. I didn't hate it, but it didn't blow my socks off. Overall it's enjoyable despite a few reservations.

I'm just really puzzled over the choices they made storywise. I was hoping this reboot would signify that they would be truer to the storyline of the comics. In some cases they do come closer to the source but then in others they deviate just as the Raimi films did. The biggest being that Peter Parker reveals that he's Spider-Man to Gwen Stacey. Oddly enough it's actually a well executed scene, sold primarily because the chemistry between the two actors is stellar, and yet I'm thinking "well, now the tragedy is lost".

Then there's the ending where Spider-Man listens to Captain Stacey's last dying wish. In the comics it goes like this:



In the new movie, he instead tells him to stay away from her. Then it ends with Peter breaking a promise to a dying man in order to get laid and ends with him smirking about it. WHAT THE FUCK.

Overall, it's a well made movie. Best parts are usually stuff never touched by the Raimi films, you know, something that's actually new. Like when Spidy sets up a bunch of webs in the sewers and uses webbing to detect movement for the Lizard. I really dug that. Despite the deviations it works for the most part on its own groove, at worst it comes off as a generic superhero flick. I like Garfield. I like the whole cast actually. I think there can be a much better installment with this cast and hopefully that's what happens next. I think the best way to go after this reboot is to do something totally different and ballsy to avoid being branded as "just another superhero flick". Killing off Gwen Stacey is a start, but they'll have to do a whole lot more I think to really get people talking.

3/5

[non_amos]

I saw the film tonight for the first time myself. I had to drag the wife along as there was apparently no one else to go with at the time, i.e., the true superhero fans, but she really enjoyed it anyway & had a much more favorable reaction to it than she did with the campy remake of DARK SHADOWS. I think the chemistry between Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone is what sold it for her but she's also a an of Sally Field from the now defunct TV series BROTHERS & SISTERS.

Anyway, here's the thing. We were both digging on this movie! As a fan of the superhero film genre, I really had a ball! I really loved this take & since I'm not an apologist, I don't apologize for that statement either.

It was definitely a different take than what Raimi did but in this case I'm glad. This ain't hating on Raimi either. I especially liked his first 2 films, the 2nd one especially, but I guess if there were gonna reboot, this was decent. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad it's not a 'carbon-copy' of what Raimi brought to the table. Without giving too much away via spoilers, I think it's safe to say that we all know Uncle Ben died. Again. But I liked how this film presented it. Ya know, Raimi basically duplicated the 'wrestling' explanation from the comics & how Peter didn't stop the robber, just like in the comics. It didn't happen that way here. At all. But the way it did happen actually made a lot of sense. Ya know, duh Nolanites harp on 'realism', right? Well, here you go, but in this new Spiderman film in this case. And it holds up very well IMHO. But get this. The 'wrestling' explanation is given a brief nod but then again, not like the comics or Raimi.

One thing that strikes me about this film is that it's kinda like 'SPIDERMAN BEGINS' if you will. Just like what Nolan set out to do with Batman's origin, I see a similar pattern here. Peter Parker's origin is really fleshed out. It's probably near the 1-hour mark before you see 'the suit'. And instead of starting out with the main event villain, i.e., GREEN GOBLIN, instead they went with another villain but seem to be building up to something transpiring with Norman Osbourne in the future. Kinda like how the Joker was only mentioned in BATMAN BEGINS? But even if this Marc Webb guy did draw some inspiration from Nolan's take on Batman, I feel like it really works in this case. Like I said, there is realism here but realism that makes sense & is well done. Didn't Webb himself or Garfield or someone say that this film was 'grounded' but they meant that in a good way? It did have it's 'down-to-Earth' feel to it.

As for the SUIT, yeah, it's different & takes getting used to. I'm sure that I'd have preferred that they went with something more like in the Raimi films but what can you do? It still beats duh Singerman wetsuit so there's that much at least.

Ya know what, there is someone I missed in this film: J. JONAH JAMESON! But here's what's weird. The film was nearly over before it hit me like a ton of bricks by his absence! Even with having seen 'the Daily Bugle newspaper' just a little while before that. But then again, this may go back to that 'Begins' analogy so I can buy that for sequels. As a matter of fact, there's some article on SHH I believe that I need to check out about this franchise being confirmed for a trilogy (which I haven't read yet;need to correct). So based on what they gave us in this film, the set-up is definitely there for sequels. I give it a thumbs up. Pleasantly surprised!

[James Stocks]

I was kind of disappointed in how they played out Uncle Ben's death. In the comics, Peter has a chance to do the right thing and stop a bank robber from getting away, but he doesn't lift a finger purely out of apathy and that he was being a cocky douche. In the Raimi film he doesn't stop the robber but that's done out of spite to the man who got robbed. I was kind of hoping that to really make it different from the Raimi films they would go with Parker being apathetic this time. Instead it's the same scene, just a different location and instead of being upset that he didn't get his thousand dollars he's upset over not getting chocolate milk. To me there's more of an impact with Parker's apathy backfiring, really hitting more home on the responsibility theme.

But really, these are all nitpicks. I agree that the chemistry between Garfield and Stone was one of the major things that really helped lift this flick. Much better than the odd pairing of Maguire and Dunst. I'm not sure how I'd rank this film with the Raimi films. Certainly over 3, but I'm not sure where to place it in relation to 1 and 2.

[non_amos]

I also liked how Uncle Ben & Aunt May weren't presented as being ancient like they usually are, especially Aunt May. Now don't get me wrong, Martin Sheen & Sally Field are no longer young by any means but their characters weren't as 'old & doting' as they usually are & again, I point out how ancient Aunt May generally looks. One foot in the grave & the other one on a banana peel. But instead we get something that reminds me more of SMALLVILLE or even the upcoming THE MAN OF STEEL. The Kents used to also be presented as being ancient, particularly the widowed Martha Kent, but then Smallville broke that mold. I see Snyder continuing that line of thinking with MOS. So I also found it refreshing in this film that the aunt & uncle weren't one step away from being removed from life support. This is a trend that I definitely approve of! And if one is going for 'realism' I think it lines up better with that too.

[James Stocks]

I think they're better casting, especially Sheen (honestly, I think the new cast is a huge improvement over the last). It also comes down to how they're portrayed. Robertson's Uncle Ben was more of a soft grandpa of sorts. Sheen's Uncle Ben acts more like an authoritative father figure and for me that makes their dynamic more believable and heartbreaking. Nothing against Robertson, that's mostly down to the writing of his character than portrayal.

But yeah, better cast. The only real trouble they'll have is finding a new Jameson. Simmons OWNED that role, could there be anyone as good or come off unique?

[webhead2006]

I know I too would have loved to seen jjj in the film. I wasn't to disapointed on the lack of him. Since it wasn't a focal point in the story. I do hope we get him in a sequel. And I wouldn't mind if jk reurned. Could be like how dench stayed as m for bond. But if they find someone new I hope he is good as jk was. As for ben death. I still would have liked getting shot/killed at home from comics. Then shot in street in both raimi/webb films. But still the case in both series they did scene well and gave meaning to peter's causing the death.

[Apologist Puncher]

Saw it this afternoon. Was good, yes. But not nearly as enjoyable as 'The Avengers'.

Definitely saw some nitpicks in the film though. One being that stupid trend of EVERY criminal HAD to be a caucasian male. Every single one. I mean, I understand that he was searching for his uncle's killer, but really? Not a single black, asian or hispanic criminal in ALL of NY? So ridiculous that it took me right out of the movie.

And I'm not even caucasian.

The school hallway fight was a minor nitpick, but when you think about it, a pretty big one overall. In today's day and age, with previous school shootings, ALL SCHOOLS have security personnel on campus. And throughout the ENTIRE fight, not a single security officer shows up? Seriously? Not realistic whatsoever.

Ifan's Lizard was the weakest part to me. Another case of the villain going from 0-60 in 1.2 seconds. They should have hinted at anger issues within his Dr. Connors BEFORE he took the serum, not just have it show up out of nowhere.

Would I go see it again? Nah, I'll wait for the Blu-Ray. But I liked it.

And did anyone else but me catch that Irrfan Khan's driver was the carjacker who killed Uncle Ben in Raimi's 'Spider-Man'?

[non_amos]

Apologist Puncher wrote:

And did anyone else but me catch that Irrfan Khan's driver was the carjacker who killed Uncle Ben in Raimi's 'Spider-Man'?

No, actually I didn't. You bringing that up is the first I've thought about it. Ya know, I now have the original film series on Blu-Ray so I've considered going back & watching them, especially the 1st one, to see how the new film stacks up to it. I'm really gonna have to check that out now. But why would they even give someone from the previous franchise even a cameo role? But then in the 3rd film they changed Uncle Ben's killer to SANDMAN which was one of the things I didn't like about that film.

As for the racial thing, I really didn't take anything like that. The dude who shot Uncle Ben was blonde so obviously that's what Peter was looking for & maybe I wasn't paying attention otherwise but they probably could've put more diversity in there now that I think about it as far as the criminal element in New York is concerned. But I know the cab driver was black & Khan was Indian & I'm sure I remember at least some diversity at the school? Anyway, I was definitely glad that they 'rebooted' the killer after SPIDERMAN 3 & interestingly, Peter didn't catch him yet either as was traditionally the case.

[webhead2006]

I do recall the actor mentioned he had a role in the film. But didn't even think twice about it during the film.

[Apologist Puncher]

No, actually I didn't. You bringing that up is the first I've thought about it.

This is how good I am...

Ya know, I now have the original film series on Blu-Ray so I've considered going back & watching them, especially the 1st one, to see how the new film stacks up to it. I'm really gonna have to check that out now. But why would they even give someone from the previous franchise even a cameo role? But then in the 3rd film they changed Uncle Ben's killer to SANDMAN which was one of the things I didn't like about that film.

Meh, I didn't like it enough to put that much effort into it. But if you do, come back here and let us know how they stack-up.

As for the racial thing, I really didn't take anything like that. The dude who shot Uncle Ben was blonde so obviously that's what Peter was looking for & maybe I wasn't paying attention otherwise but they probably could've put more diversity in there now that I think about it as far as the criminal element in New York is concerned. But I know the cab driver was black & Khan was Indian & I'm sure I remember at least some diversity at the school? Anyway, I was definitely glad that they 'rebooted' the killer after SPIDERMAN 3 & interestingly, Peter didn't catch him yet either as was traditionally the case.

It's just not very realistic to show ONLY crimes committed by white dudes. NY is ethnically diverse, and so is it's criminals.

Be honest, is all I'm asking.

[Comicbookfan-V2]

I just seen the film about four days ago same day as seeing TDKR, sorry for the late review but here goes...

Now originally I wanted to disliike the film because of some liberties that it took that made me doubt it would be either a worthy edition to the "Spider-Man" franchise or better but to my surprise the film didn't turn out to be the failure that I thought or expecting it to be infact it was pretty good thus far but however it wasen't anything extraordinary enough to top the Raimi films (The first one especially) although it did had a few traits that made me wish the Raimi films had but at the same time it left out traits that it should have had that the Raimi films have already covered.

The Good: Peter is still in high school, The chemistry between Peter & Gwen, Captain Stacy's role in the film, The fight scenes (All of them), Oscrop Industries, Peter creating & using his mechanical webshooters, Spidey's wisecracks and the mystery behind Peter's parents.

The Bad: Peter not being much of an outcast is a skateboarder and kind of a douche, Spidey's costume design, Spidey wisecracks alittle too much, Spidey still looking for the robber, no graphic details on how Peter's powers work and no Daily Bugle (Just only a reference).

So in conclusion... TASM, once again to my surprise was enjoyable but still kind of under the Raimi film's league but we'll see how it holds up in a future sequel!

[thecolorsblend]

I said from the start I never needed a reboot and didn't give a crap about this movie and I guess I've proved it because I only just finished watching it. Eh. Movie's got heart, I'll say that. But there are nuances in the comic absent from the movie. A good example is the burglar. Peter lets him escape, he kills Uncle Ben, Peter tracks the sum bitch down, come to find out he's the guy he could've stopped, thus his guilt complex.

The movie? Doesn't really show that. A lot of Peter's actions boil down to wish fulfillment. Who wouldn't push a bully around if they had a chance? And Flash got off pretty light, considering. The idea is that Peter becomes really damned selfish and ultimately suffers for it. In the movie, Peter never went overboard. He was already using his power to protect others. It was a smaller scale, sure, but still he wasn't due any real comeuppance. Plus, he seems to know right away that Ben's killer was the guy he let go. If there's anything made of the fact that Peter could've "saved" Ben just by tripping the robber, I must have missed it.

Maybe seems like small potatoes but it's a change along the lines of the Waynes surviving getting shot long enough to make it to a hospital... where they die on the operating table. Well, um, that changes Bruce's arc in a big bad way. If they die on the scene, there's literally nothing at all Bruce could've done to save them. But in that other scenario, maybe if he'd had the presence of mind to call 911 sooner or dialed 911 faster or whatever... hey, who knows? Bruce's character would be defined less by tragedy and loss and more by failure and weakness. It's a different dynamic at play. And maybe that's not a bad thing either... but we'd all have to acknowledge it diverges from what the character has usually been.

Same with Peter in TASM. He now is (or ought to be) motivated by different values than the comic version. I'd argue his takeaway lesson with Ben's killer is "act sooner" rather than yadda, yadda, yadda, great responsibility.

Anyway. Blah blah blah, point is it was fun, I enjoyed it, I still don't need a fucking reboot but this is here to stay so I guess I'm relieved it didn't suck. Sometimes in life, that's about as much as you can ask for.

EDIT- I wrote all that bullshit up there before reading what anybody else has written so forgive me if I'm repeating what others have said.

[Sponsored content]