Don't get me wrong. I did actually really like the movie. But I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.
Spoilers after the jump.
This is one movie that I can break down into The Good, and The Eh.
The Good:
+Andrew Garfield as Spiderman: He was exactly how I thought Spiderman should be. In the comics, Spidey is an extremely snarky little punk. A genius and kind of a loser in school. But a smart-ass nonetheless. Tobey Maguire played him as such a limp...noodle, a wet napkin, a string bean with no personality. Some people liked what Maguire did because he really was the nerdy loser in school, but I could never reconcile Peter Parker with Spiderman. It's a good thing you can't see his face as Spiderman because it was like two very different people to the point where it was sort of ridiculous. Andrew Garfield's Spiderman on the other hand, was very close to himself, which is how it should be in an origin story. He's young, he's only a kid, he's gonna be arrogant and make mistakes. I mean how would you feel if you suddenly got superpowers in high school? Wouldn't you show off just a little? I know I would. He doesn't feel any danger. There isn't someone for him to fight right away. Might as well use his powers anywhere and for anything. And he acted like a true gawky teenager, who isn't good with women, or authority, or school. Tobey Maguire was way too old to act like a kid. He was a good guy but he acted like he was thirty...in high school. I also didn't get this vibe that he was a genius, other than the..."glasses". Just because you wear glasses doesn't make you automatically smart, I'm just sayin'. And the origin story was so...not an origin story. He was Peter then he was bit and then he experimented with his powers for a little while and then he went...wrestling for a car? and then he got his whole suit and stuff. Like, you saw him sketch the sign for a nano second, but really, everything just came together? Just like that? I think they did the little moments with Andrew as Peter really well, like when he's trying to find a suitable superhero suit and he keeps scrolling and just says, 'Spandex, spandex, why are they all spandex?' And he just oozed charm. You didn't feel like he had no personality. And I felt like the whole spider DNA splicing thing made more sense than just...radioactive spider bite and now I act kinda like a spider.
And his acting was pretty good. I mean, he had to cry a LOT for this movie, but I never felt like he was a blubbering cry baby all the time....just...some of the time.
+Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben: Well, I love Martin Sheen. I just...love Martin Sheen. How can you not love Martin Sheen? I mean really. And he was sort of understated but you could tell Uncle Ben was trying his best to be a good substitute parent. And then when he dies, it's like, he doesn't really have those like words of wisdom/last words type of scene, he just dies..which is more realistic I thought. (But there is that whole voice message fiasco which I'll get to later on).
+Sally Field as Aunt May: I love Sally Field as Aunt May because she has a little fight in her. She's fiesty, she doesn't take Peter's rebellion lying down. And she's not oblivious to things, she knows he's up to something even if she doesn't know what specifically (but I think she does know). And you know that if someone tried to kidnap her she would put up a huge fight. The other Aunt May was very...much a non-entity, until she got kidnapped (like ALL THE TIME).
+Denis Leary as George Stacy: Okay, I love Denis Leary in general. Just...in general. I even love him in Ice Age, that's how much I love Denis Leary. And as George Stacy he was absolutely perfect. PERFECT. He had so much snark in him, he made up most of the funny parts of the movie. His chemistry with Emma Stone as his daughter was fantastic and when he died at the end...Ohhh, I cried. I couldn't help it. He was my favorite character after Spiderman.
+Little moments of Peter's transformation: Now, whoever wrote these parts deserves an award or something because they were perfect. I have problems with the overall plot, but these little moments were amazing. When he wakes up because his spidey sense is tingling and he beats up all those guys on the train, apologizing the whole way. When he comes home and is starving because he expended so much energy. When he acts like he's stoned because of the physical change that is overtaking his body. When he can see and feel everything around him because of his heightened senses and traps a fly with his fingers and almost eats it because of the spider portion of his DNA. His sarcastic comments to all of the criminals he catches. When he's really choked up over Uncle Ben's death. I mean REALLY choked up. Maguire's Spidey had like NO reaction to Uncle Ben's death really. I never felt like he really loved Uncle Ben as much as Garfield's Spidey did. How else do teenagers take death over a close family figure? Sometimes, they're angry, or they act out. And how he was wearing the suit all the time and that he still carried around a ratty old backpack even when he was flying around the city.
+The parent plot point: This actually makes a lot of sense, because in Maguire's Spidey movies, they never really go into depth as to why Peter is living with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Presumably, you know that they have died, but why? This is a good point to tie into the plot, what happened to his parents and why. I always wondered.
+The action: Um...DID YOU SEE HIM? DID YOU? I mean some of it is CGI but a lot of it is HIM. I've seen behind the scenes clips of him doing some acrobatics in the suit and it's freaking amazing. ...No pun intended. It's ridiculously crazy fantastic. Like some of the stuff he does is almost parkour-like and some of it looks like gymnastics and then some circus stuff and it's like omg. That is how Spidey is supposed to fight. He's lean and flexible, it's not about strength but about agility and speed with Spidey. He's not Captain America or Wolverine. He doesn't just plow a human down, he has to use his wits and his abilities.
+That he's actually a genius: He makes his own web shooters, he can decode an equation about DNA splicing...he even makes his own suit, like...that deserves props. And they actually show him making his suit which means that the filmmakers deserves props as well. Because it doesn't just magically appear on his body. But I do wonder how he got money for such things. ...like those parts must cost money, unless he was at the OsCorp. using their resources which makes more sense again than just...having a spandex suit automatically...be there...
+And one paragraph devoted to the whole sequence with Stan Lee in the library: Because that is what the comic books are to the tee and I loved it. I LOVED IT. IT WAS LIKE A COMIC BOOK ON THE SCREEN. LIKE THEY TOOK THE COMIC BOOK AND MADE IT INTO REAL LIFE ACTION.
+Gwen's saving the day: She charged in to the building and makes the antidote even though the lizard man is hiding in the wings. She's pretty badass which is kinda hilarious I'm saying so because...
The Eh:
=Gwen Stacy: I don't know...I didn't really like her. I love Emma Stone, but she wasn't...comedic enough in this role I guess for me to like her a whole lot. I felt kinda ambivalent about her to be honest. And there was a whole lot of loving going on between her and Peter. Which...I suppose makes sense but considering he's kinda a humongous loser, I never thought he would be kissing anyone so much. And the kissing was kinda awkward, not gonna lie. Their chemistry was good, but their dialogue SUCKED a lot.
Which brings me to my next point...
=The Dialogue: Why was it so bad? There were some parts that were alright, like when Peter is being sarcastic, or anything with George Stacy but I'm kinda thinking those were improv'ed lines, because the other lines of dialogue, like anything between Peter and Gwen were just...cringingly bad. And maybe it's partly because they're teenagers and teenagers probably do speak like that...but I mean it's a movie about...a spider...man...you don't have to be so realistic with the talking. And Uncle Ben's whole speech on the voice message was a little too convenient. They are skimpy with dialogue at some places and then they just explode dialogue at others. What, was there a dialogue limit? Like they had to save up all their words for this last scene? I don't understand...
And another thing I don't understand was...
=The Plot: Like...I liked the whole DNA splicing thing because it makes more sense than just a radioactive spider but why doesn't Peter turn into a gigantic spider like Dr. Connors turns into a gigantic lizard? Was his equation wrong? Or maybe there's something in his blood that makes it like that? I mean it was frustrating because the ending didn't really answer any of these questions, so you're just sitting there going...it was good but what just happened? Which is why...they're gonna make a second one...obviously. Because this isn't a stand alone movie. Whereas, while I didn't like Maguire at all, the plot for his first Spidey movie was a lot better...it had more of a story arc whereas this story was cut short and probably is being saved up for the second one.
=The Lizard Man: Eh, he was not a dynamic enough villain. Like you just felt bad for him because he didn't want to be a villain, he just wanted to grow his arm back and then the thing made him crazy. And the whole talking to himself, hallucinations thing, was too much of a throw-back to Willem Dafoe's Osbourne. And then he just turns back into himself at the end, he doesn't even die and he killed Captain Stacy! But I can't even feel like I hate him because he didn't know what he was doing. Urgh.
I feel like I liked the little scenes in the movie but the overall plot just sort of fizzled out. Which is bad...considering the plot is supposed to be driving the movie. I feel like it was way more of a character driven movie rather than a plot driven one. I hope the sequel is better.
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