I tried and tried and tried to hate The Amazing Spider-Man. I just couldn't. This movie had everything going against it. There was the darkening of a world meant to be fun and quirky. They took away Mary Jane Watson and gave Spider-Man a brand new origin story with extra emphasis on Peter Parker's parents. All of the images and concept art I had seen of The Lizard were less than thrilling. And they gave the reigns to Marc Webb, a director whose only feature film was 500 Days of Summer. While one of my favorite movies, it is no action movie.
There are mainly failings in this movie, most them that involve either the poorly done "re-origin" or The Lizard. I didn't need 45 more minutes devoted to Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man. I understand that they were creating a new universe but ultimately it doesn't matter. The only reason that it even matters in the slightest sense is the aforementioned emphasis on his parents. And honestly, I still wish they had not involved them as much as they. While they are not a huge part of the film, they make up so much more of this Peter Parker. Less than Uncle Ben, and that is not ok.
The Lizard is probably my least favorite villain for Spider-Man. I don't know why, but I have always had trouble getting past the fact that this was a lizard-man. This movie did this character no service in me liking him anymore. While I love Rhys Ifans as an actor, especially in little loved The Replacements, this character was all wrong. I found myself losing interest each time Curt Conners talked about wanted to create a superior race of lizard people. It actually cracks me up even more when I write that down. The concept of The Lizard wasn't too bad and is even in the best Stan Lee cameo of all time. Unfortunately, I feel like this character is sticking around for awhile.
So why was it so hard to hate this movie? I loved Spidey in 3D. Spideyvision was amazing and possibly one of the coolest effects in a movie ever. The aforementioned Stan Lee Cameo. Wise-cracking Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. The introduction of Oscorp without Norman Osborn. The crane sequence. Sensitive Flash Thompson. Uncle Ben's reliance on Peter to fix things. Web Shooters. Skateboarding Peter.
Most of all, I loved Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker as a couple. The story of Gwen and Peter's love for each other is heart of this movie. The chemistry between the actors is so infectious that you start to wish that this movie never ended. I fell in love with this relationship in a way that Sam Raimi was never able to make me love Mary Jane and Peter. Gwen loves peter where Mary Jane loves Spider-man. I love Sam Raimi's movies, but that is the one part of it that he missed dearly. Peter's relationships are what makes him unique. There is so much love and they are the reason he is Spider-Man. They are the reason for the secret identity in a world where no one keeps their identity secret. Marc Webb, to no surprise, was able to tell a truly romantic movie within the confines of a superhero movie. He was able create a believable relationship that will destroy people's hearts when the inevitable doom falls upon Gwen. I look forward to this in a movie or two.
Through all of the failings in this movie, I left the theater craving a sequel done by Marc Webb with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. I want to see this relationship grow and fall apart in the most heartbreaking way. Only then will we have the Spider-Man that I fell in love with.
Go see the movie but forget everything you know or have seen of Spider-Man. It is too close to the original trilogy and The Avengers to not be tainted somewhat but enjoy it for what it is. A damn good superhero movie.
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