The Amazing Spider-Man?

The Amazing Spider-Man…a bold title, wouldn’t you say? Let’s see if our Film Clubbers thought it lived up to such a lofty moniker.

Spoilers abound!

CHRIS ‘The Amazing Spiderman…? Not very amazing to be honest, “The OK Spiderman” would have been a better title.’

‘Garfield surprised me and was better than I thought he was going to be, and Emma Stone was great (especially when wearing those knee high socks) – Ifans however was a bit of a let-down, as was the ropey Lizard CGI.’

‘Entertaining enough but not a patch on the other major superhero movies already seen this year, plus I think The Dark Knight Rises will blow it out of the water.’

FIONA ‘Whilst I think it was unnecessary to reboot the Spider-man franchise, I did still enjoy this. It is a darker interpretation of the story when compared with Raimi’s version and I preferred Andrew Garfield to Tobey Maguire.’

‘My main criticism is that the film could have used some more action sequences. It wasn’t as fun or thrilling as Avengers Assemble but it is stronger than some other superhero films.’

‘I think Rhys Ifans is more suited to wacky/quirky characters, this was too mainstream for him and he didn’t really shine. Alfred Molina did better with his role in Spider-Man 2 than Ifans did as The Lizard here.’

DAVE ‘I enjoyed it. It was far from perfect but I believed in Garfield and he was by the far the coolest Spiderman to date – he kicks ass!’

‘Andrew was easily better than Tobey, he’s naturally a better actor and I felt his anguish more. Plus visually I thought he was much more acrobatic.’

‘Rhys Ifans couldn’t keep his Welsh accent away but it was the script that let him down, he didn’t have much acting to do really. He must be on camera for, say, ten minutes outside of his Lizard makeup?’

RACHEL ‘I was so not looking forward to seeing this film – far too early for a reboot, but I’m glad to say I loved it!’

‘Garfield makes a better Peter Parker by miles. I was utterly surprised by how well he did.’

‘I like how they are leading to the story about his parents in the next movie and really can’t wait to see where they go with it. Stone and Garfield is a fabulous combo!’

‘A 9/10 from me, if The Lizard had looked better it would be 10.’

ALISON ‘I enjoyed it. I really like Andrew Garfield and it was interesting seeing him in a role like this, completely different from Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man.’

‘I did think it was rather soon to start rebooting this franchise, but I think it was done well. It’s a darker version and people seem to enjoy the darker versions of these films. I guess comic books were meant to be that way!’

‘As an origin film, it definitely left me asking further questions and wanting more answers, but I think that’s the point. The next film will follow the story.’

MARK ‘Enjoyed every minute of it and sat with a big stupid grin on my face all the way through!’

‘I thought all of the performances were top notch and Rhys Ifans makes a great villain, even though when he’s the Lizard he looks like Goomba from The Super Mario Bros!’

JAMIE-LEE ‘A very promising reboot! Garfield and Stone are great on screen together, and Ifans was fab as the Lizard.’

MEGAN ‘An incredible film! A newer, chic-er version of what already was, with different, amazing spins on an already solid storyline.’

‘I think the lead up to the spider bite and the explanation was so much better compared to the original movie. Overall, just incredible!’

MARTIN ‘This is the script and cast I wish Sam Raimi was given, although Marc Webb did a very good job.’

‘I loved it – roll on the sequel. A very familiar sounding voice in the end credits sequence, didn’t you think?’

SARAH ‘When they first announced this, I thought that it would be a boring run-of-the-mill remake but I actually preferred this version. It seemed more realistic.’

‘I wasn’t keen on The Lizard as a character but it was done quite well, I did like Ifans in the role and would like to see more of him in other films.’

‘Garfield and Stone had great chemistry – I really enjoyed that.’

JAMES ‘I absolutely loved it! I’m not a fan of the first trilogy and for some reason I really don’t like Tobey Maguire, so I have no real love for the other films and had no issue with the series getting a reboot. But I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.’

‘I completely bought into to everything Webb tried to do with the character and the series as a whole and thought the script blended the darker elements with the light and breezy moments well.’

‘I will NOT BE HAPPY if Emma Stone doesn’t return, not just because I am ever so slightly in love with her, but because I thought she was great in this film.’

ADAM ‘I thoroughly enjoyed it! I thought it was better than the originals.’

‘I liked how it was based more on his high school life, and used Gwen Stacey as his love interest. It’s set itself up perfectly for many a sequel!’

‘Garfield looked hot in spandex too…’

MILLIE ‘I thought it was entertaining if you take it as is, but from the point of view of a huge superhero nerd, it was very disappointing.’

‘Although the inclusion of Jameson may not have made much sense as the film was set in the high school era, his lack of presence was obvious and Captain Stacy seemed to be an unsuccessful replacement for the character.’

‘Plus, five years is just too soon for a reboot.’

RAGHAV ‘It was too much comic-bookish. While that might have worked in the case of The Avengers, it did not in this case simply because there was another movie preceding it.’

‘Overall I felt the earlier movie was much better and had more depth. This was a good movie, but much simpler.’

‘I always think the villain of a superhero movie is as important as the hero, and in this case we had one of the weakest villains ever. They were so busy setting up the Spiderman story again that they didn’t bother with the Lizard at all.’

‘The Amazing Spiderman is a reboot that was unnecessary at this point in time and would have worked better later on down the line. Overall, the acting was good but the story was weak and the villain was the most disappointing part of the film.’

‘Comparing it to the original, I prefer the original because I found it to be more complex and layered and the characterization was much better.’

EVERTON ‘I didn’t think it was necessary to reboot this series; it certainly wasn’t necessary to redo the origin and I found nothing compelling in any of the trailers at all. But I enjoyed this film – it was flawed, but it was enjoyable.’

‘”The untold story”? Really? Where? The parents’ thing was just swept aside and a mystery cannot be compelling if it is 95% red herrings and teasing.’

‘Sometimes films are just flawed but fun; The Amazing Spider-Man is one of those. Here’s to a sequel that is better, but this time without the baggage of what should have been.’

PETER ‘I really enjoyed it. I did like the other three but this was a good reboot and Garfield/Stone were great. I’m interested to see where the trilogy goes.’

CLAIRE ‘So much better than the tame Spidey predecessors. Andrew Garfield was amazing!’

‘I don’t like The Lizard as a character but Rhys Ifans did it well.’

‘I enjoyed it, well cast and Stone and Garfield in particular captured the essence of the characters.’

ALEXANDER ‘Awesome, better then the others.’

MATT ‘The cast were great, but overall this was a highly frustrating film. They build up the “What happened to his parents” mystery, and then descend into a typical Spiderman film after the bite.’

‘Also, Ifans’ Lizard goes from sympathetic to rage monster without properly explaining why! Highly annoying.’

MAXINE H ‘I was pleasantly surprised. I did like the last lot of Spiderman films but think this was a bit better, probably due to the fact that I don’t like Tobey Maguire or Kirsten Dunst.’

‘I didn’t think a reboot was necessary but I did really enjoy it. I think the next one has the potential to be darker; aren’t the first ones in the franchise always a little bit tame to establish characters and make the audience empathise with them?’

‘I thought Rhys Ifans was really good. I wouldn’t expect him to do a role like that but I’m a fan of his so it’s nice to see him get some big movie roles.’

‘Overall I think I’ll give it an 8/10; definitely one for the cinema. Much better than the others and Garfield is great! Bring on the sequel!’

AMY ‘I did like Tobey Maguire, but much preferred Andrew and Emma. Very pleasantly surprised by the film overall.’

MAXINE P ‘I thought it was awesome. I loved it and as much as I like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield was so much better at portraying Peter Parker.’

‘The only negative I have is the Lizard. I was looking forward to seeing this character in the film but ended up being disappointed.’

So that kid who was in The Social Network dons the Spidey suit…and it actually works out pretty well for him.
When the first Spiderman flick came out in 2002 the only big comic-book movie around was X-Men. Spidey reigned supreme. These days, the Lycra-clad are ten a penny and ripping up the box office left, right and centre; how to
justify a reboot?

Stick him in high school and give him better hair, that’s how. Andrew Garfield absolutely nails Peter Parker, a performance probably borne from his childhood desire to actually be Spiderman. As he told us at the premiere, this is the closest he’s ever going to get. And boy, does he make the most of it.

Oh yeah, Emma Stone is pretty good too. But when isn’t she?

It’s not short on action, with Garfield giving us the most acrobatic Spiderman ever (helped along by a few stunt doubles, obviously). Villain of the piece Rhys Ifans isn’t given much to do in that regard, but Spidey’s swings and jumps and rescuing antics are just about exciting enough on their own.

There is, however, one area in which the film falls particularly short. Pegging itself as ‘the untold origin story’ in every article/interview/trailer since day dot, in reality it isn’t. Why don’t we find out exactly what happened to PP’s parents? We smell sequelmongering, and we don’t like it. (Much as we’re up for the trilogy we’re apparently getting.) Oh, and the POV shots gave us motion sickness. Bleurgh.

Not the smoothest transition from trilogy to prequel, but there’s enough in there to get our Spidey-senses tingling for the sequel. 2014, anyone?