The Amazing Spider Man

It's been a long week at work for me, but I finally got free time this weekend to see a movie: The Amazing Spider Man!

I figured I'd post my thoughts here.

Let me preface with the fact that I did enjoy the movie. I got my money's worth. But I do think that this remake was unnecessary, and the movie is unfortunately less enjoyable and coherent than the previous SpiderMan movies (with the exception of Spider Man 3, which I like to pretend doesn't exist).

Spoilers below:

So, first we have the origin story. Like in the last Spider Man movie, Peter Parker gets his powers by being bitten by a genetically engineered spider. This is the first thing that bothers me. There is an entire room of these spiders in the lab he enters. One bite from any of these spiders could apparently give someone spidey powers. And yet we're expected to believe this is the only time it happens, and the rest of the time these spiders are totally ignored? Peter Parker, who is supposed to be a very intelligent character, doesn't think to tell Dr. Connor that the spiders in his lab bestow super powers? I miss the comic version of the origin story-the radioactive spider.

Second, Peter learning the ability to control his powers is glossed over in an unsatisfying montage. I felt very much like I was expected to know a lot of things already (like the fact that one of Spiderman's most important abilities is his "spidey-sense" that lets him predict upcoming danger) in order to understand how Spiderman did the things he did. Also, he repeatedly shows off clearly superhuman strength to his classmates, but no one reacts, which makes it feel more cartoonish than it should.

Third, the romance was just annoying. It wasn't unrealistic or anything, but Peter's character during the romance scenes was inconsistent with his character at other times. His awkward-teenager act was just obnoxious, and the love interest was so bland I don't even remember her name. Again, Peter Parker is supposed to be an intelligent character, but he doesn't act that way throughout the movie, and especially not in the romance scenes. It was inconsistent and annoyingly immature.

And last, Lizardman is an unsatisfying villain. His motives were clear at first, but then I guess we're supposed to assume he just goes crazy after using the serum. There's no real reason given for why he goes crazy, or why the algorithm didn't work, or why lizards seem to follow him around. It just happens.

Again, I liked the movie. It was entertaining. But for a more satisfying, more coherent version, check out Sam Raimi's version from 2002.