Review of Spider-Man (1977) by Magnus G — 21 Sep 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man may come across as a pointless reboot to the original Sam Raimi trilogy but after the misfire that was Spider-Man 3, new fire needed to be breathed into the mythos. Marc Webb's more realistic direction works to the film's advantage and really balances out the personal level of the story with the comic book origins being integrated.

Andrew Garfield is incredibly likeable as Peter Parker and I prefer him to Tobey Maguire in the role. His portrayal is truer to the comics and he strikes the right balance between smart alec and sympathetic loner.

Emma Stone is a much more appealing love interest as Gwen than Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane and isn't simply there for Peter to save. The romance is very effective and both Garfield and Stone have excellent chemistry together.

The CGI is obviously a huge improvement and the suit looks more authentic than the one from the Raimi films. The film does occasionally fall into retread territory with its origin story and there isn't really anything completely new about the premise.

However, this is superior to the 2002 film and is close to being on par with the revered Spider-Man 2.