The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The Amazing Spider-Man (PG-13) - Review

"Said the Spider to the Fly"

Relaunching comics to suit the whims of editors (and the fan's perceived biases)  has been a comic book industry staple since the modern age.  To no one's amazement that has now officially become the standard for the movies from which they are based.  A biproduct of all these rethinks is that it usually leads the core character farther away from his canonical source while simultaneously cherry picking some useful tidbits other filmmakers haven't used yet.
Amazing Spider-Man is the newest example, with new ideas infusing themselves with the tried and true story of a boy bitten by a radioactive bug and gaining super powers.  Sam Raimi left the franchise in a bind, the third installment was a flop artistically compared to its prequels.  Instead of picking up where they left off, the new crew has gone back to the drawing board and relaunched the series with a new focus on a younger hero, his use of science and the mystery of Peter Parker's parents.   Andrew Garfield plays the character with a generous amount of sarcastic wit and physicality (blowing away Tobey McGuire's brooding wide eyed hero), and now has the love interest Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) to save from the Lizard (a hulking cg monster who's Dr. Jekyll side is played by Rhys Ifans).  The things it does right (the fights, the snarky humor, the science, Peter Parkers intelligence) are great but some important factors the original series had (the charm and timelessness, the better casting of Peter's Aunt and Uncle, the newspaper man angle and where is J Jonah Jameson?).  It seems in an effort to reposition itself away from Raimi's version, much of what made Spider-Man's universe great have been left out.  Some seriously unwise changes in his origin and costume do nothing but confuse what the driving forces are that shape Spider-Man, while other nods back to the original book are most welcome (Peter being a brainiac and inventing his web shooters for instance).  If only there could be a version where the best from both movies could have been merged and perhaps that would be deserving a descriptor like "Amazing".
"The Ok I Guess but Really Wasn't the First One Good Enough Spider-Man" just doesn't have the same ring..

6 Tigers out of 10 (GOOD)