‘Amazing Spider Man’: While Entertaining, Leaves Us With A Serious Case Of Deja Vu
The long anticipated flick, "Amazing Spider Man,' has finally swung its web. While doe-eyed teenagers everywhere will rush theater lines for a chance to be entangled in all its silken latticework, many, past the age of 15, might not be struck with the same feeling of novelty.
Taking the place of Tobey Maguire is Andrew Garfield, 28, and with a noticeably absent Mary Jane, Emma Stone, Garfield's real-life girlfriend, plays his love interest, Gwen Stacy.
The last Spider Man movie, "Spider-Man 3," was released in 2007. In the starring role, Actor Tobey Maguire, who was well received as the nerdy Peter Parker by movie-goers. With Maguire not renewed for the role, a reboot with new characters is a risky move. But Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, wasn't too worried about disappointing loyal spidey fans. "Five years is a lifetime in the movie business," she said, "I wasn't troubled by it."
While critics are impressed with the actors' performances, and find the movie visually engaging, the material is simply predictable. You can't help but feel like you've seen it before, which you have, in every romantic superhero movie.
Nevertheless, "Amazing Spider Man" has gotten some rave reviews. Roger Ebert says, "This is a more thoughtful film [than Raimi's 'Spider-Man'], and its action scenes are easier to follow in space and time."
Movieline critic Stephanie Zacharek thinks Garfield and Stone have electric onscreen chemistry.
"Peter, having stolen into Gwen's bedroom, tries to explain to her why he can suddenly cling to the sides of buildings and swing through the air with impossible lightness. 'I've been bitten,' he stammers. She leans in close with her husky whisper: 'So have I.' And that sound you hear is the cumulative sigh of a million viewers who suddenly sort of remember, maybe, that there can be something more to movies than elaborate yet repetitive action sequences and strained 3-D effects. You've got a girl and a guy in a bedroom, alone. Aren't you just dying to see what happens in the next panel?"