Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man – Sometimes a reboot isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Okay, so I just took my son to see The Amazing Spider-Man. We went to the IMAX and saw it in 3D. I was fortunate to have a couple of free IMAX tickets and decided to use them for this. Got a couple more free tickets I’ll be using in a couple more weeks for the guy with the pointy ears. 😉

I had gotten used to the Tobey Maguire version that Sam Raimi had come up with. As with a lot of fans when I heard there was to be a reboot instead of a fourth film I was left scratching my head wondering what they were thinking. Then when I heard they were going to have the same villain as what had apparently been planned for the fourth film in The Lizard I really couldn’t figure out why they just hadn’t left what I considered well enough alone. When I saw early still shots from the set and the costume with the weird attachments, I just figured it would be a terrible movie.

The trailers made me think otherwise. Otherwise enough to take my son as he got excited over seeing Spider-Man in the theater as opposed to the TV with daddy’s DVDs of the previous films and the cartoons.

Now I won’t do any spoilers here, but I will touch on some elements, so depending on your level of sensitivity before seeing something, just be warned.

This was a surprisingly well done version of Peter Parker. Going back to his high school roots – and staying there throughout the film – was an excellent move on the people creating this. I had always felt that with Tobey’s first outing they could have kept him in school a bit longer, but forgave them for the sake of the movie. I don’t know how long they intend to keep the Andrew Garfield version in high school, but the fact he was still in there at the end of the film was a good sign.

Another surprise was the way both Martin Sheen and Sally Field were able to pull off Uncle Ben and Aunt May. I had thought I’d be distracted by their star status, and for a bit there I was, but they proved their acting ability and made a believer out of me. The final scene with Peter and Uncle Ben was very heart wrenching, and that’s from someone that has seen a few different ways this story has been told.

I liked seeing the evolution of the costume. It was very believable and quite funny at times.

The family of Gwen Stacy was a really nice touch as we had dealt with Mary Jane already in the previous movies. Denis Leary did a great job playing the cop dad of Gwen that was out to get Spider-Man.

The Lizard was one bad ass character to have to deal with. This was a tough character and done in a way that I think was better than whatever Raimi and crew could have given us, and considering how well they had done the previous films, that’s saying a lot. I did think he could have used a bit more snout, but otherwise it was a top notch rendering and Rhys Ifans did an outstanding job playing Dr. Conners and showing his battle with The Lizard persona.

Humorous bits between Peter Parker and Flash Thompson were nice, and I liked that they got Flash to be blond this time although I thought he could have used more hair on his head.

The cameo of Stan Lee was the best of his cameos I had seen yet! He never said a word and I was laughing the entire time. Excelsior, Stan the Man!

After having seen The Avengers, I was wondering just how well films such as The Amazing Spider-Man and the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises would fare. Completely different types of films. The Avengers was a kick butt team action film. The Amazing Spider-Man was a drama with action. Looking back at Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I’d say The Dark Knight Rises will be as well. The Avengers still holds the spot for best comicbook movie I’d seen in a long, long time, but The Amazing Spider-Man cannot be compared to it.

I have to look back at what we had before with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire. Great films for when they came out, and I got all three on DVD and will be watching them again soon. But this film The Amazing Spider-Man is a film for today, and to keep the Raimi look and feel at this point would not have worked as well as I believe this one did. There were a lot of great shots of Spider-Man in the air, especially near the end, and his use of the webbing in this film was extremely slick.

Overall, I believe this was a great idea for a reboot and I think we’ll be seeing a few more with this cast and crew in the coming years.

And before I go, remember, this is a Marvel Comics movie. When the credits start to roll, be a wise person and keep your butt in the seat until they are finished. When you get up at the beginning of the credits, you will always miss out on something at the end of a Marvel Comics movie. Just know that.