The Amazing Spiderman ~ Movie Review

Hey everyone!

So, ya'll.  I'm turning into a superhero nut.

You guys know how much I love Captain America...

and the Avengers...

so there's really no need to go into that.

But...enter Spiderman.  As in, the new Spiderman.  The amazing Spiderman.

I saw it first on Thursday, the night after it came out, with my cousins in Alabama.  

And then again on Sunday with my parents and Luke.  Because it's that great!

Before I start the review, I want to let you know that I pay close attention to language and such in a movie, because when I write a review, I want to be able to warn my readers of how much or how little language and other "bad" content is in a movie.  I also like using THIS site to check out a movie before I go see it.

So anyway, the "D word" and "H word" were said a few times.  The "A word" was said once.  Once or twice, Peter Parker/Spiderman says "Mother..." or "Mother Hubbard..." and leaves it at that...which I know could have lead to something else, but it didn't.  Still, they could have left that out.

I'll say quickly that I was a bit confused by the movie at first...because I had expected it to be a prequel to the series, but it turned out to be a remake of the first Spiderman movie.  BUT, I loved it.  :)

And now...on with the review!

So for starters, we have the main role...

Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spiderman!

Love his smile--so goofy.  :P

I think Andrew did a wonderful job!  Let's get this straight: I loved the other three Spiderman movies.  Really.  I did.  However, I think I like this one better.  Toby Maguire was great, but so is Andrew Garfield.

Loved the glasses.  :)

I was afraid that Andrew Garfield would be too cool to be Spiderman...because while Spiderman is cool, Peter Parker isn't.  He's more of a nerd.  Well, not a nerd, more of a really intelligent guy that's labeled as a nerd.  BUT, Andrew Garfield played that up.  He was a cool nerd/intelligent guy.  :)  He was cool, quick-thinking, intelligent, sort of twitchy, and awkward.  And he's pretty good-looking, too.

This scene was pretty funny.  :P

The scene from the picture above ^^ was hilarious!

Spiderman: Ahem...you know, if you're going to steal cars, don't dress like a car thief!
Car thief: Are you a cop?
Spiderman: You seriously think I'm a cop in a skintight red and blue suit?  You have the mind of a true scholar...

Spiderman: Is that a real knife?

Car thief: Yes, it's a real knife.

Spiderman: Oh, you've found my weakness, it's small knives.  Anything but knives!  *Shoots knife out of car thief's hand*  Oh, it's so simple.

And then you have Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Spiderman's girlfriend/love interest...

I don't know much about Emma Stone...but I know that I loved her in this movie.  She was sweet, she was pretty, she was stylish, and she was a great actress.  I kind of liked her style.  She went for a schoolgirl look, I think, and it was cute and modest for the most part, except for a few outfits.

"Mr. Parker, don't make promises you can't keep."
"Yeah, but those are the best kind..."

Emma/Gwen was so much better for the movie than Mary Jane Watson/Kirsten Dunst, I think.  She was classier and sweeter.  MJ kind of annoyed me.  :P

Gwen: I'm in trouble...

One more thing about Gwen before I go on--I didn't necessarily like her and Spiderman's relationship.  I mean, I kind of did, but I kind of didn't.  They were kind of sweet, but they were too sneaky.  :\  Just my opinion.

Next is the villain...ATTENTION!  There may be spoilers ahead.  :)


Dr. Curt Connors/The Green Lizard, played by Rhys Ifans.

He was nice, and then he was evil, and then he was nice.  He just wanted his arm back, but he ended up becoming something disastrous.  He was interesting, and Rhys played the part well.  He could get pretty scary!

Dr. Connors: There's a rumor of a new species in New York...beautiful, and quite large.
Peter Parker: What do you know about it, Dr. Connors?  Have you seen it?
Dr. Connors: It can be quite aggressive when threatened.

If I was Emma/Gwen in this scene, I would've been totally scared.  Seriously.  How creepy is he?!

I can't say that I like Rhys Ifans himself, but he did do a great job as the villain.  And did you know that he did all of his own stunts as the Lizard?  He rejected his stunt doubles and insisted on doing them himself!  Once you see the movie, you know how much he got slapped around...ouch!  I also read up on how he "became" the Green Lizard.  He would wear a cardboard head, a green suit, and claws, and I guess the rest was done by digital editing.  :)

On to Sally Field as Aunt May and Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben...

Love their expressions in this picture!

I loved these two!  Uncle Ben was funny and sweet.  And was it just me, or did he look an awful lot like the original Uncle Ben?  Aunt May was loving and quite funny, too.

Aunt May: Why didn't you tell me you didn't like my meatloaf?  
Uncle Ben: Well, I--
Aunt May: You could have told me that in 37 years!  How many meatloafs have I made for you?

But when they needed to be serious and emotional, they were.  They were believable.

And then you have Captain George Stacy, Gwen's father, who was played by Denis Leary.

Okay, so, call me crazy, but does he not remind you of Norman Osborne/the Green Goblin just a little bit?

Denis Leary did an excellent job!  He was a little on the gruff side, but you could tell he cared about his daughter and the rest of his family.  One thing I noticed is that in all the other Spiderman movies, the police are depicted as dumb and helpless...and of course, when facing the Green Goblin or any other supervillains, I guess they would be pretty puny.  But in this Spiderman movie, there was one policeman (Captain Stacy) that could (sort of) compete with Spiderman and The Green Lizard.  He was brave and loyal, and I liked him for that.  He was kind of funny, too.

"Gwen.  Your boyfriend is the man of many masks, I get it!  Now get in the car!"


Captain Stacy: Gwen, do you want some cocoa?
Gwen: No, dad, I don't want cocoa.  I'm 17!
Captain Stacy: Oookay, but I thought I remembered someone saying last week that their fantasy was to live in a chocolate house.
Gwen: Well that's impractical.  And fattening.
*Ducks head back in door.*
Spiderman: A chocolate house?
*Gwen looks out again.*
Sorry, Daddy, I'm just--I can't.  I'm...cramping.  
Captain Stacy: Oh, um...I, uh--
Gwen: And I feel pukey and emotional and like I could just cry, and...
Captain Stacy: Oh, okay, well, I um, I--
Gwen: It's brutal.  Trust me, you don't wanna know.
Captain Stacy: Okay, I get it.
Gwen: Okay.  Thanks, Daddy!!

That's pretty much all of the main characters...of course there are Peter's parents, who appear in one or two scenes.  You get a little bit of an idea of what happened to them, so that's good.

That's Campbell Scott as Richard Parker and Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker.

Oh, and I can't forget Flash (played by Chris Zylka).  Just because he was kind of cool in this movie.  We all remember Flash Thompson, right?  The mean guy that always picked on Peter?  

Notice Emma's disgusted look--I think this must be from a deleted scene or something, as I didn't see it in the movie.

Well, in the beginning, he picks on him...and everyone else.  In fact, he really just beats the fire out of Peter in the beginning.  Peter gets him back for it...

But--SPOILER ALERT!--after Uncle Ben dies, he tries to be nice to Peter.  Peter doesn't realize that at first...

But Peter and Flash eventually end up becoming great friends.

This picture's a little blurry--but I still like it because his smile cracks me up.  :P

Does anyone remember this guy?

His name is Michael Papajohn, and in The Amazing Spiderman, he was the guy in the subway that sat his bottle on Spiderman's head and made his instincts kick in.  He was also in the original Spiderman movie (he was the man that supposedly killed Uncle Ben...which of course, we later found out was the Sandman) and somewhere in Spiderman 3.  Remember him now?  I was reading up on him and found out that he is from Alabama, around the area where we have family!  Small world, huh?

My older brother Colt, playing the drums at church...as the "Man of Many Masks".  :)

Well, that's it for today, folks!  That's about it.  Before I leave though, I'm rating Spiderman a 7.5.  I would rate it an 8 or a little higher, but because of the language and such, I'm leaving it at a 7.5.  

All in all, though, I really liked this movie.  And I'll leave it at that.  :)