Movie #41 - The Amazing Spider-Man

Watched it last: July 3
Released last: July 2012
Why I watched it: Why wouldn’t I?!

First things first, I will reserve comment on how faithful the movie was to the comic books. I don’t have the authority on that topic. But I will most probably compare with it with Toby Maguire’s version. 

So here we go. First overall thought is that I liked this version better.

I liked Andrew Garfield better. I think he had a better portrayal of Spidey – he was more youthful and natural. I’ve always thought that Toby had this weird nuance going on, as if being quirky and witty was an effort. Not Garfield. He is definitely the better actor.

I liked Gwen Stacy/Emma Stone better. Mary Jane’s damsel-in-distress drama annoyed the hell out of me in the previous Spider-Man trilogy. Of course, Gwen, being the leading lady, still needed rescuing but she was definitely no pushover. MJ was always in trouble, Gwen wasn’t. At least in the movie version that is, because a friend told me that in the comic books, it was actually the other way around.

I liked the Lizard monster better. I think he had more depth and given his ties with Peter’s parents, he proved to be more mysterious and captivating for me. But that is not to say that Willem Defoe’s Green Goblin sucked (because he didn’t). It’s just that if I had to choose, I’d choose the Lizard.

Now in terms of story, this one was probably was good as the 2002 version. So all in all, the cast just tipped the favour towards this 2012 version. It didn’t hurt that the leads were a couple in real life, the chemistry was definitely better. The ending probably wasn’t as romantic, but I actually like it that way. It left things very much open for more emotional and interesting story arcs later on in the movie series.

Critical Reception: 73% on Rotten Tomatoes 
I’d rate it around: 93%. You can’t go wrong with a British Peter Parker and a redhead who’s actually a natural blond. Haha!
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As I did in 2011, I am listing down the movies I watch for 2012, along with my comment about each viewing experience. These movie pseudo-review/commentaries are hardly scientific. There might be days that I might be more tolerant of crappy movies and so I might find myself going easy on the critique. More so, my "critiques" are hardly theoretical because I admit I have not taken any proper film critiquing classes, haha! I most usually lash out "in the moment". I try to be as objective as possible, but know that we all have our own different tastes when it comes to films.