Movie Review, The Amazing Spider-Man

The newest installment in the Spider-Man franchise is actually a new reboot of the series. This time around Peter Parker is played by actor Andrew Garfield. In this installment there is no Mary Jane, instead we have Gwen Stacy who is actually Spider-Man's first love. This time around, Spider-man finds himself fighting "The Lizard" who's real identity is Dr.Curtis Connors, this is pretty much where the movie stops being faithful to the comics. If you saw the first Spider-Man by Sam Raimi, you already know that Peter gets his powers from being bitten by a radioactive spider and that he decides to fight crime after his uncle Ben is shot dead by a mugger that Peter Parker could have stopped. In this movie that story changes quite a bit but in order to keep this review spoiler free I will not give out more information. The movie is full of emotional moments for Peter Parker and it does a great job at making the audience relate to what Peter and other characters are feeling in these moments. The action is awesome, from the simple fights with thugs in the streets all the way to the fights between Spidey and the Lizard. The movie also manages to capture the humor that Spider-Man is famous for in the comics, but also presents him in a much more serious manner when the need arises. Although Tobey Maguire played a good Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield also does a great job, yet he doesn't really look as much as Peter Parker as Tobey did, this does not mean that Andrew is lacking, it was just easier to relate Tobey to Peter. The costume in the movie is really detailed even though it has some differences from Spider-man's original costume it does not detract from the character as a matter of fact it makes the costume look realistic to the point that you can actually imagine a real life super-hero wearing it.The movie also does a great job capturing moments that are difficult for Spider-Man to handle, making him seem vulnerable and this really just adds to the movie because we see our hero is not invincible, but he tries his best and sometimes that is not enough even for a hero. Spider-Man is identified by he popular phrase his uncle Ben uses to let Peter know he must be responsible with his abilities, although uncle Ben was not exactly referring to his power, uncle Ben says to Peter "With great power comes great responsibility" this phrase is nowhere to be found in the movie so hardcore fans may not be to happy about this. Although this movie is an origin story, it heavily deviates from Spider-Man's actual origin, even the death of a certain character in he movie is nothing like in the comics amongst other things that may upset the fans.If you have a choice of watching the movie in 3D or 2D, just go for the 2D version. Hollywood has been milking 3D movies for as much as they can and most of the new 3D movies have little to no 3D effects, The Amazing Spider-Man is no exception to this rule, there is no memorable 3D scenes, as a matter of fact there was hardly any, so save your money guys. The movie is also quite long at 136 minutes but you will not even notice this as the story tends to absorb you into it. Even with the deviation from the actual history of the Spider-Man comics, the movie is worth watching, just not in 3D. The Amazing Spider-Man has plenty of action, some memorable comedic moments, and even a little drama so if you're in the mood for a good movie this one is a must-watch!

Drake's Reviews Score 8 out of 10