The Amazing Spiderman

Spiderman. He is to Marvel the same way Batman is to DC. I had gotten invested in the character of Spidey, though not enough to read the comics, that I watched as much as I could of the animated series. To me, Spiderman is the icon of Marvel, and while it has many other characters that I got invested into, Spiderman sticks out in a good way. And when it came to films, it got me more into the character, starting with the trilogy from "Evil Dead" director, Sam Raimi, and starring Tobey Maguire.

The first film was considered by many to be a shining light to fans. It told the origins of Spiderman on how he got his powers, and showed how he started to become the hero he is. Many people loved it, others found it alright, but it was a big hit at the box office. While I do enjoy the movie, some of the dialogue and effects were a bit wonky, but I didn't let that get by me. One of the big things pointed out, was the villain of the film, the Green Goblin. Granted, Willum Defoe was pretty good, there were moments that went overboard, and that costume was a bit...silly. I mean seriously, he looked like he just came back from a Power Rangers convention. But aside from that, it was pretty good.

The second film was given much higher praise with its updates. The effects had gotten better, the dialogue was polished well, and the acting was better in terms of the main characters. Not to mention, Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus did an excellent job, which was a big improvement from the Green Goblin. And need we forget, probably one of the greatest trailer themes of all time? The fact that they got Danny Elfman to do the music for the films, is another reason why I enjoy these films, with it's music. For a while, this was considered the best of the "Spiderman" films, but not for me. It's good, but not my favorite.

Then we got "Spiderman 3," and people were thinking the series would go higher in terms of how good it would be. However, all I ever hear about this film was nitpick after nitpick after nitpick. What did people not like about this movie? Too many villains, emo Peter Parker, certain characters thrown in for no reason, little to no Venom, them killing off Venom, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Well for me, I actually liked this film, thinking it was the best of the trilogy. And before some of you start to pester me about how it's a piece of shit, hear this. The main reason Spiderman 3 was hated, was because most of the fans wanted Venom to be in it, even though Sam Raimi didn't want to. Same thing happened with Sega when they made "Sonic '06," where fans pestered Sega to release the game earlier than what it was intended for. Yeah, I just compared "Spiderman 3" to "Sonic '06," but it's the truth. If you have anyone to blame, blame the people who pestered Sam Raimi. On some aspects, yeah, there were certain moments I can agree with, but it wasn't horrible as people said. To me, it's a guilty pleasure, and I actually thought it was better than "Spiderman 2," due to it being action packed, and actually pretty funny.

Plans were made for a "Spiderman 4," but when Sam Raimi left the project, Sony had to just cancel the project all together. In result, Sony had decided to reboot the series all together, making it in the same sense of Chris Nolan's Batman films. I was a bit off with that, especially with the teaser trailers making it look like a Twilight-clone and then more like a film adaption of the game "Mirror's Edge." Granted, I'm big on POV shots in 3D, but there's a limit. But as further trailers were released, my hopes got a little higher.

So after attending the midnight showing of this movie...I was blown away by how good this was. This was SUCH a fantastic movie! In this new film, it had so many things about it that made it so much more passionate than the other three films. It's simply amazing, hence the title, and it's a film that I had enjoyed with every second until the end of the credits. To describe the plot to you, would be just a crime for me, because I want you to see this movie.

The casting was such an enjoyment to watch on screen. Andrew Garfield as the new Peter Parker was SUCH an improvement, compared to Tobey Maguire. Despite my dislike for "The Social Network," I enjoyed his performance, and when I heard he was playing Spiderman, I bought it. His performance in this movie just kept me begging for more. He's much more realistic as the character he portrays, and when dramatic moments happen, he's brilliant. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, I absolutely loved in the film. I've heard much skepticism about her playing Gwen Stacy, saying that she should have been Mary Jane, since she was a redhead anyway. However, after seeing her in "The Help," she's a decent blond, and this film is no exception. Her performance as the character works, and I was one of those people who was anything BUT skeptic about her. The romance between her and Peter was just excellent, and I simply got hooked into this. Rhys Ifans as Dr. Connors was a great character to watch. What really struck me about this film was that Ifans had his character portrayed in the same escence as Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly," and I praise that film for pulling omage to that film. I honestly couldn't get enough of him as Dr. Connors, because it worked so brilliantly. As the Lizard, I was actually intimidated by him, despite looking a little off. By that I mean, he had the flat face look of Voldemort, instead of a snout like in the animated series. However, I let that go, because I liked that they tried something new with it. Denis Leary in the film, was AWESOME! His character of the chief of police and Gwen's father was just brilliant. Two scenes that I loved watching him in were the dinner scene and the climax. He's just a joy to sit through, and this movie gets props for giving him much character and personality. Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May were just enjoyable to watch. I couldn't help but enjoy every bit of their relationship with Peter, and the scene of Uncle Ben's death was more believable and heart breaking. I was actually surprised to see that C. Thomas Howell, who was in the Francis Ford Coppola film "The Outsiders" and the original "The Hitcher," was in this film. I don't want to spoil what he does in the film, but let's just say he lends a helping hand to Spiderman in the third act. Not only that, but it has Stan Lee's best cameo in any of the Marvel films, and it's just hilarious!

The special effects in this movie were fantastic to watch, and the 3D is some of the best I've ever seen! This was entirely what I wanted the new Batman films to be. I wanted them to be darker, but at least have a bit of camp-value to them, and this movie does a lot of that! After 10 years since the first Raimi "Spiderman," I can definitely say I want this over them.

The film was directed by Marc Webb, who directed my all-time favorite movie, "(500) Days of Summer," and he delivered ANOTHER fantastic movie! In fact, during the film, you can see some elements of that film present in this movie, but not as much as for me to just feel like watching that movie. Granted, I still think "(500) Days" is still my favorite movie, but this came pretty damn close. Yes, I loved this movie that much.

Overall, "The Amazing Spiderman" is MORE than amazing! Now you might be wondering, do I like this better than "The Avengers"? More than you'd ever imagine! While "Avengers" was a great film, and has been built up for many movies, "Amazing Spiderman" had one film that was more than a treat! It's dramatic, it's funny, it's breathtaking, it's sad, it's scary, and is HANDS DOWN...the best film of the year! It is now competing with Tim Burton's "Batman" for my favorite comic book movie, and I'm proud to put it up that high.

Rating: 10/10