by Lorie Lewis Ham
Special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review.
We finally made it to see The Amazing Spider-Man this Sunday and I must say it was worth the wait. First off I must confess I don’t read comic books, though I do love comic book superheroes. I can’t tell you whether or not this reboot of Spider-Man is completely accurate to the comic books, but I can tell you whether or not it’s a good movie. And it is!
I must say I was a big fan of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies, with the exception of the third one, so I was skeptical when I heard of yet another reboot. However, it’s been 10 years since that first one with Tobey and I found myself able to just look at this movie as something new and not really compare.
Again we see a young nerdy Peter Parker, who loves taking pictures, has a crush on Gwen Stacy, is in high school, orphaned, and very bright. This version starts with a very young Peter as his parents have to hurriedly leave in the middle of the night and leave him with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt Mae (Sally Field). Then we jump ahead to now and Peter discovers an old briefcase of his father’s with some strange scientific formula in it, and an old photo of his father with another scientist, Dr. Curt Conners. Peter is determined to know more about his father and why he left that night, and was then killed, so he sneaks into the lab where Conners works. It is there that he is bitten by a strange spider and his life changes forever.
We have the typical Spider-Man lore with his uncle dying and him first using his powers for vengeance, then realizing he has a greater calling. Throw in a lizard man, a budding romance with Gwen Stacy, and the birth of a hero, and you have this reboot of Spider-Man. Much of it is similar to the Tobey Maguire version, but much of it is different as well.
Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Peter is a bit more sarcastic and confident once he has his powers—at times even cocky, but not over the top. As Peter, Garfield is a lot less nerdy than Tobey was. I had a little trouble believing Emma Stone as a teenager, but she’s such a good actress I could over look it. I liked her superhero girlfriend much better than a lot of them you see—she’s not helpless and always being saved. She is strong, brave and doesn’t get all weird when she finds out who he is. And this version of Spider-Man is much less dark than Maguire’s even though he does still lose his uncle—he actually has a chance at being happy.
The Amazing Spider-Man is definitely worth seeing—from a non comic book person standpoint it was awesome! I can’t attest to the rest—you’ll just have to go see it for yourself. There’s action, fun, a good villain, love, pain and good casting.
Check out the movie website for trailers.
The Amazing Spiderman is now playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6. Showtimes can be found on their website.
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