‘The Amazing Spider-Man” Amazing Indeed [Review]

Last week J3SS and I took G33KB0T on a rare excursion away from HQ to an advanced screening of The Amazing Spider-Man at the Scotia Bank Theatre in Toronto. As one would expect of any GEEKPR0N outing it was awesome. Once we were settled into our seats in the IMAX theatre and adjusted the B0T’s settings to perceive 3D we were in for a treat!

We all loved” The Amazing Spider-Man” so G33KB0T and I decided to share our Spidey reviews together.  I looked at the movie as an individual piece of awesome while G33KB0T, who is such a fan that it had us write Spider-Man into the AI in hopes it could one day be more like Spider-Man himself, wrote from the super-fan comic-g33k perspective. As for J3SS, you’ll have to ask her yourself.

Sara:

I really enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man! From the in-your-face web-slinging to the frenetic action sequences, Spider-Man lends itself perfectly to IMAX 3D! As an origin story, “The Amazing Spider-Man” is jam packed with a lot of plot in its 2+ hour running time. It’s a tall order to fill, but director Marc Webb managed to jam in all the key story points while keeping the story engaging and moving at a rapid-fire pace. The film truly succeeded in perfecting the balance creating both an action/comic book movie and a coming of age story.

The promo surrounding the film promised a darker Spider-Man and we’re not talking about the suit, and the promise was kept in the film. There was heavy focus on the emotional turmoil Peter Parker suffered as he lived with the mysterious loss of both his parents, and then his beloved surrogate father Uncle Ben. The romance with Gwen Stacy was sweet, well acted, and written nicely as an awkward high school couple but it didn’t serve as the emotional centre of the film, if anything it provided some lighter bits of humour when faced with the darkness inside Peter Parker.

Andrew Garfield did a fantastic job displaying the wide range of emotions Peter Parker went through as he transformed from a nerdy high school loner to a man with great responsibility and a big secret. Emma Stone was fantastic opposite Garfield as Gwen Stacy, hitting the notes of confidence and shy embarrassment in her romantic relationship AND pulling off the intellectual scientific hotshot confidence that comes with with top marks and top internship position at OsCorp that makes Peter (and many others) green with envy. The small moments inside the high school as the pair danced around the idea of date, or even just hanging out felt wonderfully true and painfully awkward, reminding us that they’re both really just kids.I must add that Martin Sheen and Sally Field were excellent casting as the always likable Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

As for the villain, Ryhs Ifans was excellent as mad scientist Dr. Curt Connors, first appearing as the innocuous former lab partner of the late Dr. Parker before his terrifying transformation into The Lizard when his dreams of gene-splicing technology turn into a nightmare that spirals out of control. Ifans brought the over-the-top theatrics when the moment called for it, which let’s be honest, was most of the time.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is a wild, action-packed ride (which can almost make you dizzy at times) full of origin story, web-slinging, mad science, radio-activity and a dash of romance and humour! It’s a summer blockbuster that is certainly worth seeing in theatres! Now read on to see what comic-book faithful G33Kb0T has to say on the matter…

G33KB0T:

I can’t say enough how much I really enjoyed this new Spider-man reboot. As a Sam Raimi fan it truly pains me to say that this new “Amazing Spider-Man” just smokes his versions. That’s not to say I didn’t like what Raimi did, especially in part 2, but this is more like the Spider-Man I grew up on – a smart ass teenager that’s bumbling his way around fighting crime, and with that, all the emotions that a teen (or really anyone) would be dealing with that went through what Parker did.

What I enjoyed the most however, was the creative use of Spidey’s web shooters. This is what really set it apart from Raimi’s and truly reminded me of the Spider-Man from the comics. I also found that the CGI was a lot less noticeable in the movie with the exception of some of the lizard scenes, but that’s to be expected. I actually found myself believing that most of the stunts and action sequences were a real Spider-Man.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and even the wee bits of foreshadowing in there which I’m hoping will show us, dare I say, Venom? 😛 I’ll leave you to decide.

The Amazing Spider-Man hits theatres everywhere July 3rd. Let us know what you think of the newest incarnation of Spidey on the big screen!