Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can… again. (Review)

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can… again.

That’s a good summary of the latest incarnation of Spider-Man. It has some good moments and several good points but it is yet another reboot telling more or less the same story.

Boy sees girl, boy gets bitten by radioactive love bug, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy saves New York City, boy gets girl back.

Like I said, though, the film does have some good things going for it.

First, Gwen Stacy. Everyone knows about the redheaded cannabis named Mary Jane, Peter's one true love. What you non-nerds may not know is that before Petey found his one true love, he found his one true love: Gwen Stacy. Well, okay, before that, his one true love was Betty Brant, but she’s not in the movie, so who cares.

It was nice to see a relatively little known but important character getting a moment to shine.

Emma Stone did a great portrayal of the character, and hopefully she won’t fall off a bridge this time.

Getting Martin Sheen and Sally Field to play Uncle Ben and Aunt May was another bit of casting I enjoyed, nothing spectacular to point out, but good solid acting in distinguished roles.

I was also happy to see the return of the mechanical webshooters. I know movies are all about suspension of disbelief, especially comic movies, but when watching the original trilogy I couldn’t keep from asking myself how he generated so much fluid and did not look like a prune when he was done webslinging. I mean, if his body was making it, it had to come from somewhere.

Also this movie had the best Stan Lee cameo of all time! I cant even describe it without ruining it but hands down the best!

On to the bad…

I saw the 3D version of this film. I was conflicted. Parts of the 3D were spectacular. You really felt like you were there. The webswinging POV was awesome. Most of the rest of it felt like a 90s simulator at Disneyland: out of synch and blurry. If you or someone you know suffered from 3D-induced motion sickness, go for the 2D or bring a barf bag for them.

Sam Riegel, I’m sorry, but we already have someone to play Edward Cullen... oh.  You’re here to play Peter Parker...

Actually, I don’t blame Andrew Garfield for this.  I blame the make up department. If you look up pictures of the guy, it's not bad, but for Peter you get this.

I kept waiting for him to lurk outside Gwen’s room complaining about how he can't turn her into a sparkly vampire spider.

I had a similar problem with Rhys Ifans as the Lizard.  The acting was great; the costume, however...

The Hulk is on line one.  He wants Abomination back.

It's sad when good acting is held back by bad writing or effects. Natalie Portman, anyone?

So on a scale of A-F

Acting - A
Plot - C
3D - C
Costumes - D
Writing - C-

Comes out to about a C+ all together. Like I said at the beginning of the review, a decent retelling of a story we all know. If you have a kid who loves Spider-Man or you love Spider-Man, see it and get the blu-ray when it comes out, it's enjoyable enough. If you're just a casual fan or a comic movie completest, like me, wait until you can grab a used copy from FYE or Gamestop in a few months.

The not so Amazing Spider-Man gets the Nerdly of Nerducopia seal of “Meh.”