“The Amazing Spider-Man”: An average superhero movie

Cory Johnson
Staff Writer

2.5 out of 4 stars

Any fan of the Marvel Spider-Man comic books will say that this movie is a must-see, shrugging off its problems.

But this summer’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” does have problems, which make it more of an average day at the movies than a superhuman blockbuster.

The central story is similar to its 2002 predecessor, hitting most of the same crucial plot points. Peter Parker, played by Andrew Garfield, is a lonely teenager, riddled with the anxiety of losing his parents at young age.  He is a lot cooler this time around though, riding a skateboard and wearing clothes that denote a normal high school student.

This Peter is more of a closet nerd, creating remote controlled door locks and taking photos in his spare time.

When not stopping the school bully from picking on the lower life forms, Peter searches for clues about his parents, who died shortly after leaving him to live with Aunt Mae and Uncle Ben, played by Sally Field and Martin Sheen.

His pursuit drives the first half of the movie and leads him to the infamous Oscrop, the work place of trans-genetic researcher Dr. Curt Connors, played by Rhys Ifans.

Where Peter Parker might be the hero of this movie, Curt Connors is the symbol.

Around him, all the positive and negative elements of “The Amazing Spider-Man” fall into place. Ifans gives a compelling dual performance as mild-mannered Dr. Connors and his mutated alter ego, The Lizard.

The CGI surrounding both The Lizard and Spider-Man is impressive, with the most astonishing scenes toward the end of the film and during their fights. As the two struggle, inventive fight choreography goes past imagination.

Spidey utilizes his web as smartly as a scientist should when fighting an eight foot tall, human-lizard mutant. The mutant moves with the grace and agility of a predator. But as the two separate from each other the quality of the computer-generated scenes noticeably deteriorates.

Production cost is typically the first thing to forgive in a superhero film but “The Amazing Spider-Man” couples it with an outdated musical score that makes its most epic scenes laughable.

When The Lizard stalks around the labs of Oscorp, or as Spider-Man leaps through the computerized air, melodies reminiscent of 1995’s “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie” create a comedy out of intense scenes and are more than out of place, which effectively remind the audience that they are just watching a movie.

The cinematography doesn’t help much either. At times, shots are out of focus or disproportional, which leaves viewers guessing at where on the screen they are supposed to be looking.

The silver lining to this movie is the dialogue. Through their words, most of the characters in this movie become more than molds of men and are quite entertaining.

Garfield’s Peter embodies the comic book Spider-Man more and more with every quip he throws at a carjacker or fellow classmate.

Emma Stone, who plays his love interest Gwen Stacy, brings charm to her character as her lines allow her to tap into her comedic acting roots.

On the other side of the pen, plot writing is another pitfall. Many of the plot points in the film go unexplained until dialogue after the scene. At one point, Police Chief Captain George Stacy, played by Dennis Leary, is so preoccupied with capturing Spider-Man that he almost completely ignores the giant reptile terrorizing the city.

Yes, it has problems. No, it’s not the best superhero movie. But “the Amazing Spider-Man” is the next best thing until “The Dark Knight Rises” comes out.