OK, guys I just came back from the screening of The Amazing Spider Man. I have to say I was pleasantely surprised. I went in knowing next to nothing, I barely saw any trailers. It was very low on my radar. I was lucky to catch a break from work today and I decided to check the first screening.
First off, I've seen the RT score, It is very unfair, methinks. It also goes to show that you can tell a very compelling story with just one superhero. There are a few hickups, though. The plot revists and expands upon similar points from the original movie. Revisiting is not necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps they went a little overboard with expanding said plot points. [spoiler]One in particular, Peter goes into this pre-Spiderman vigilante role trying to track down and take out the guy who shot his Uncle. Not necessarily bad, but I though they took way too long and they seemed to just downright copy Batman Begins.[/spoiler] Having said that, the rest of the movie works surprisingly well.
Andrew Garfield does a great Peter Parker/Spiderman, part-time nerd (to the point of being uncomfortably awkward) and part-time superhero. The same with Gwen Stacy and Captain Stacy, played by Dennis Leary. Captain Stacy is obviously trying to be Jim Gordon-esque. And to some extent he helps out the plot considerably. Dr. Connors is being portrayed as a tragic villain, he fits is role. Now for some reason, Aunt May just seems to be a throwaway character. I didn't like that. I liked out they took Flash, who in the first Spider Man movie was just there for a cheap gag. In here, they actually make him a real character whose relantionship and conflict with Peter evolves overtime.
The comedy in this picture, it was well done. It felt sincere. No cringe-worthy or forced laughs like the ones I was forced to endure in the Thor movie and in the awkward dance scene in Spiderman 3.
I was pleasantely surprised. I advise everyone to see it. I'm serious. Get off The Avengers train for a sec and take a dive into The Amazing Spiderman. Forget about superhero team ups for a while and watch this to remind yourself that superhero solo movies can handle themselves fine.