#7 - The Amazing Spider-man (2012)

What the hell? Yes. Between my studies and... well, spending the rest of the afternoon with my friends, some of which involved watching this movie, I had no time to watch a movie from the list. Nevertheless, I am more than satisfied with what I saw today.

Okay, for starters, don't blame me for comparing this movie with 2002's Spider-Man. Like that movie, this one is the origin story of Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, who acquires spider-like powers after a lab experiment goes wrong, and decides to take responsiblity on his actions after his uncle is killed because of his Peter's carelessness. While it goes over a lot of similar plot points, it manages to be a very different film with its own charm and identity.

"I used to like dubstep before it went mainstream."

Andrew Garfield was cast as Peter Parker and he delivers a much better performance than Tobey MacGuire in the original trilogy. His character is still somewhat cliche'd but still manages not to be a boring stereotype. He's interesting, relatable and believable. Emma Stone plays the love interest, Gwen Stacy, and again, does a better job than the original. The couple is much more developed this time around and there is more chemistry between the two.

The villian this time around is Dr. Curt Connors, who becomes a giant antropomorphic lizard after (guess what?) another lab experiment goes wrong. I didn't really care much for this character. His personal backstory is not well-developed enough and he suddenly turns into this crazy scientist stereotype bent on "taking man into the next evolutionary step, blah, blah, blah". Plus the CG Lizard was dissapointing. The effects were not bad, but the human-like and the reptilian body didn't fit quite well in my opinion.

Plus, did his cock drop off or something?

Denis Leary plays Gwen's overprotective dad and police officer/chief/something, being a pain in the ass both for Peter and Spidey until the very end. While he was pretty entertaining, the rest of the supporting cast were pretty underdeveloped. Peter's uncle Ben and aunt May barely have any screen time, particularly the latter. But maybe it's for the best...

This didn't happen. Thankfully.

Despite its flaws, in the end I liked it a lot more than Sam Raimi's original flick. While the plot is very similar, it is a very different movie. The lead roles are great, the effects are very good, and it is fun and action-packed without going over the top. So if you liked the originals (or just superhero/action movies in general) I recommend it. And tomorrow I will go back to the list.