Kevin Reviews The Amazing Spider-Man

I went into this film with high expectations.  The trailer looked great and Andrew Garfield immediately came off as a better cast than Tobey Maguire.  Additionally, I am a big fan of Denis Leary after being an avid fan of Rescue Me and watching some of his stand-up comedy.

 This film at least met my expectations, if not, exceeded them.  The action sequences were bigger, louder, and simply more intense than the original Spiderman movie.  Also, the special effects were much better.  This clearly came with the ten year gap between the films, but the difference really shows and makes a great visual improvement to the franchise. 

Andrew Garfield was a MUCH better cast than Tobey Maguire.  I have nothing against Tobey Maguire, and he played a decent Spiderman, but Garfield gave a more character-defining performance.  I haven't read the books, but from the glimpses I have seen, Andrew Garfield's physical appearance and acting style seemed to live more truly to the comic book version of Spiderman.  I was indifferent with Emma Stone's performance.  I would say she is hotter than Kirsten Dunst but that's about the only thing that would change my mind either way.

While this movie was awesome in so many ways, no movie is flawless.  I had two main complaints about this film.  First: Why did it take so long for Spiderman to get on screen?  The director spent too much screen time showing Peter Parker developing his Spiderman alter-ego.  I know I wasn't the only one anticipating the moment when Peter finally gets his costume design right and starts kicking some ass.  That definitely could've been cut down a bit.  Second: *SPOILER* We never find out what happens with Uncle Ben's killer.  I think they may have been setting this up as a plot for a sequel, which was a bad move.  This left me disappointed, ESPECIALLY considering how much screen time was spent focusing on Uncle Ben's killer and his physical appearance and Peter's struggle to find him.  Why go through all that if you aren't going to follow through and finish the story?  They could've tied up this loose end and made for a more satisfying ending.

In conclusion, The Amazing Spider-Man was a fantastic summer movie.  It is packed with action, a great blend of visuals and sound mix, and a fantastic cast of characters.  In summary, the best part about this movie was Andrew Garfield as Spiderman.  The downside is the amount of time we have to wait to see him become the web-shooting hero that we all love.  Overall, this is a great movie that I plan on seeing several more times.
 
MY RATING:

4.5 out of 5

Kevin A. Millward