Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is a bright and curious teenager. One day, while trying to discover something about his estranged father, he finds himself in a laboratory full of genetically engineered spiders.
One of the superbugs bites him and before too long he develops spider-like powers. Spending his nights out late, Parker exercises his crime fighting skills and shirks his responsibilities at home, which leads to tension with his caregivers, Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Fields).
Between living up to his teenage desires with girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and his newfound purpose in life, Spiderman has his web slinging hands full.
Can he live up to his power and responsibility? Can he live a normal and yet extraordinary life? Do we really need another Spiderman franchise?
We say, “See it, Webheads.”
HOWE: Holy snapped off lizard tails Batman, another remake of a remake of a TV series of a comic book hero? We needed a new Spiderman. The old franchise with Toby McGuire was okay, but it felt too cartoonish. This one feels more grown up, a little darker and serious.
TAYLOR: This franchise promises to do for Spidey what The Dark Knight did for Batman, which I think legitimizes the stories and puts them in the real world. I’m a Spidey fan. I usually relate to the smart alecs, which was an aspect the Sam Raimi films lacked. But if I didn’t know anything about Spiderman and I saw Raimi’s first, then this film, I would prefer the newer one, despite it being basically the same film.
HOWE: That’s one thing that annoys me about these movies ––Spiderman, Batman, The Hulk, etcetera–– whenever a new director takes over, they always start again from the beginning. Do we really need to know how Peter Parker becomes Spiderman, Bruce Wayne as Batman? We see the same story, the same villains over and over again. If they want to show the story again then give us some baddies we haven’t seen before.
TAYLOR: Well, you got your wish in this film ––the baddy was some giant lizard dude I’d never seen before–– but your complaint is valid. Being a Spidey fan, and despite the high quality of this film, I found myself bored, as in, “Yeah, yeah, I already know all this.”
HOWE: I must admit that The Amazing Spiderman was beautiful to look at. I did like it when Spidey was swinging on his web, it gave you a first person view of how it felt to be flying.
TAYLOR: The film was very metallic looking, from the hard and shiny city to his reflective suit. It was nice to see him swinging through busy streets, however, some of the fight and motion sequences were too close and too fast to see all the action. The 3D was negligible, certainly not worth the extra three dollars.
HOWE: Overall, it’s a well-polished film, but not necessarily amazing.
–– Howe gives The Amazing Spiderman 3.5 sticky fingers out of 5.
–– Taylor gives it 3 teenage PHDs out of 5.
The film is currently showing at the Galaxy Cinemas in Vernon
–– Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are movie critics living in Vernon. B.C.
