Last Saturday I finally saw The Amazing Spider-Man
Now I must tell you, originally I wanted this movie to do badly. I judged this book by its "cover". I didn’t want the reboot. Sure, I wasn’t very fond of Spider-Man 3, and I was aware of the fact that Sony cancelled the lame idea for Spider-Man 4 (thank goodness!) and had to release a Spider-Man film before the rights reverted back to Marvel, where they would rock at it like they've done with most everything else. I didn’t think Andrew Garfield looked the part and hoped the film would bomb so Marvel could do better.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Garfield captured Parker. I never realized what Spider-Man 1 and 2 was lacking until I saw this film. Parker is strong, flawed and improving. Now whining and self depressed all the time. Sure, Peter has crappy luck and does get down, but Garfield captured the character's essence in a more believable way.
Martin Sheen and Sally Field are excellent as Peter's aunt and uncle. I've never been a fan of Fields but I must admit this is one of my three favorite performances from her. Emma Stone is perfect as Gwen Stacy. She makes me really like her character, with makes the unavoidable events in a sequel that much harder to face (anyone familiar with Gwen in the comics knows what I mean).
I thought the hints towards Norman Osborn, and how it leads to future films, was nice. I just hope Gobby doesn’t have a stupid Power Ranger mask in his reboot.
I loved Rhys Ifans was great at Curt Conners/ the Lizard. Lizard has always been my favorite Spidey villain. Maybe it's the whole 'Lizard in a lab coat' thing? Maybe it's because as a child I really wanted that Mego Lizard figure? A lost gem for sure! Maybe it's because he's so different from your usual villain? Or it was like the Creature from the Black Lagoon fought Spidey. OK, he's nothing like the Creature, but a Universal Monster fan can imagine, can't he? All I know is that this movie Lizard was worth the wait and we even got to see the tattered lab coat twice! I also love the mid-credits scene which allows for more at a later date. Can anyone say "Sinister Six"? Yeah, I'm hoping for too much, but I can hope .
So all in all, a great film. Far better than any of the prior Spider-men films. I'm ready for this franchise and the fact that Sony said there is no reason their Spidey can't team up with the Avengers in the future, well that's having the cake and eating it too!
