2/4
There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said about this movie. It's not good. I loved the story of Spider-Man growing up in the 90s. It was probably my favourite cartoon and comic along with X-Men. However, while its easy to see the throwbacks to the comics and being less liberal than the Sam Raimi-Toby Maguire films, I missed the personal investment that was apparent in those earlier films.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a little darker and does try to take a couple different paths, but honestly by the end, there just wasn't enough of a good thing to even care about. The characters are painted with such broad strokes that it's hard to relate. I do like Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, and I do think they have the potential to make a great pair, but there's not enough of them. I wish the film had developed them more. Both actors are different enough characters (aside from the fact that Emma Stone is literally playing a different character) that any comparisons to the original films would have been completely irrelevant. But because Mary-Jane and Peter Parker from Raimi's film clearly had more care (even in the first one) it's not long before we start missing their interactions. And, as much as it is a refreshing change of pace to not have the damsel in distress, I kind of missed it.
Then there's the story. The script isn't good. You really have to either accept it or be entirely distant from it. I was distant from the beginning. I didn't believe Peter's transition into Spider-Man, there were far too many deus ex machinas and plot contrivances to ignore. I understand the intent to re-envision the Spider-Man legacy, but the story could have been so much tighter and well-thought out if we had just skipped the Spider-Man origin all together. We've seen it. We know. We don't need it again. The film could have become reborn even without the origin story. I wish we could have gotten more of the Lizard as well. But only if the CGI wasn't awful. It looks like a cartoon. Not just the Lizard, but every bit of CGI looks out of place with the rest of the film. There is never a cohesion between the CGI scenes and the films using real sets and actors, and because they're clearly distinguishable it's nearly impossible to get involved.
It seems like the filmmakers tried to jump on the reboot bandwagon with too much reliance on the origin story. A simple shift of focus could have saved this story. As long as the filmmakers realise this before the sequel, it could be good, if not great, now that this is behind them. If they keep it to being more or less in line with this first chapter, well it might have even me wishing for another Spider-Man 3, something nobody wants to see played out before their eyes.
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