For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Hope that's OK.
Read on!
The
Breakdown - The Amazing Spider-Man
The Impression:
Spider-Man is back on the silver screen! Only this
time it's in reboot fashion with director Marc Webb and
budding star Andrew Garfield in the spots left behind by Sam
Raimi and Tobey Maguire.
The Reality:
While I don't blame any of you for thinking that it's
unnecessary to do a full reboot of this franchise on the
heels of a largely successful trilogy, I do advise not
holding onto such a grudge while watching the Amazing
Spider-Man. If you do, you'll only miss out on a
lot of great stuff as you sit there trying to scoff at all
the similarities. And yes, there are plenty of things that
are similar to Sam Raimi's take on the character. If
you can get past that, though, there's so much in it to
love. Andrew Garfield is great as Peter
Parker/Spider-Man, and the chemistry that he shares on the
screen with the super loveable Emma Stone is infectious.
I loved the little changes to Spider-Man - a different suit,
man-made web shooters, a lot more smart-ass comments.
Also, I'd like to give the film some credit for keeping a
steady pace. It's obviously setup to be a trilogy (or
more, perhaps), and it does a great job of laying the
groundwork for future storylines. So, is there
anything to legitimately complain about? Yes, and it's
the Lizard. The transformed villain is actually a bit
scary, but I wasn't a fan of the CG work, and I thought it
was silly that he's constantly followed around by a variety
of CG lizards. Oh well. In any case, the
Amazing Spider-Man is a super solid reboot, and I can't
wait to see where they take it from here.
The Lesson:
Every now and again it's OK to start fresh.
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John Laird under a
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