Ten years ago, Sam Raimi put the Spider-man movie franchise on the map and paved the way for superhero movies with his release of "Spider-man" starring Tobey McGuire as the web-slinging hero. Anticipation was high for the film and reviews for the film were positive. Fans kept asking for more and two other films were made.
Raimi is no longer attached to the Spiderman franchise and new director Marc Webb did an entire reboot for "The Amazing Spider-man." With the reboot came a new cast, new storyline and and a start from scratch. Instead of Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst, two who made the original three movies a success, Webb went with Andrew Garfield to play Peter Parker/Spider-man and Emma Stone to play love interest Gwen Stacey.
Unlike the original "Spider-man" that came out in 2002, Garfield's portrayal of Peter Parker is less nerdy than McGuire's adaptation. It is still easy to tell that Parker is smart but Garfield does not make the character nerdy. Garfield also adds humor to the role and is believable when delivering the lines.
The set-up for the plot is done well but it moves slow in the beginning. It feels like it does take a while before we see the web-slinging superhero in full costume and the movie picks up the tempo after that point. The beginning could have cut to the chase a little quicker.
The cast was well picked and there is a lot of chemistry between the characters. Stone and Garfield are both believable with their respective characters and the on-screen romance is easy to follow. Rhys Ifans, who plays Dr. Curt Connors who turns into The Lizard, is believable as a scientist despite previous roles where he played characters who were drunk, unmotivated or acted silly. Ifans adds evil to the character when needed and can bring Connors's care of both Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey to life on screen.
Garfield and Martin Sheen, who plays the beloved Uncle Ben, mesh well but the only cast member that didn't seem to fit was Sally Field as Aunt May. It was hard to see if much of a relationship existed between Aunt May and Peter Parker on screen and Field's portrayal makes the character seem whiny. For avid readers of the comics, this is a bit of a surprise due to the fact a lot of the stories are driven by Parker's relationship with his aunt.
The characters are well picked and it is easy for the audience to feel the emotion of the characters. This helps the plot move into the important parts of the film and keeps the audience engaged as they reach the key fight scenes in the movie.
Grade: B
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