'THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN'

'THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN' (PG-13) (3 STARS)

Written by Steve Kloves, Alvin Sargent and James Vanderbilt
Directed by Marc Webb
Actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen and Sally Field

The question that was presented to Spider-man fans was "Is it too soon for a new Spider-man reboot?" My answer will be confusing but I say yes and no because the new "The Amazing Spider-man" has it's good qualities and it has it's we have seen this stuff before qualities. A lot of the action scenes seem redundant here and the origin story here takes to long to set up and was more interesting in the Sam Raimi Spider-man movies. The good news is that the two lead actors are charming and winning and there is a sweeter style to the proceedings. The original Sam Raimi "Spider-man" was too mechanical at times.

The problem is that it is kind of too soon to reinvent Spider-man since it has only been five years since "Spider-man 3". This doesn't match up to how the Batman series was rejuvenated by Christopher Nolan with a much different style of presenting Batman. "The Amazing Spider-man" also doesn't match up to the grandaddy of all the Spider-man movies, "Spider-man 2". When you recharge the Spider-man franchise I expect it to be a much better improvement instead of just recycling some of the same material as the original three movies.

I will admit though I have to reccomend "The Amazing Spider-man" because I do think the action scenes look better since the visual effects field is getting better and better every day. I also love the sweetness of two subplots here starting with the wonderful chemistry between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. I also was moved by Peter's relationship with his family in the form of Aunt May and Uncle Ben played, in brilliant casting, by the wonderful Sally Field and Martin Sheen. I loved Uncle Ben's relationship and fatherly advice to Peter. I also really liked the courtship of Peter and Gwen.

Andrew Garfield is equal to Tobey Maguire's Spider-man and does a great job as Peter/Spider-man. He is different from Maguire becuase he plays Spider-man as more awkward and vulnerable like he was in a coming of age movie. Emma Stone is a national treasure to me and how she lights up the screen with her sly smile and extreme charm moves mouhtains. Emma Stone has the best screen presence of any actress her age right now. The movie becomes a complete success only because of the two love stories and the great acting of Garfield, Stone, Sheen and Field.

The villian of this piece was a dissapointment to me in the form of The Lizard or his alter ego Dr. Curt Conners. Peter's real parents dissapeared on Peter and Peter's father worked with Connors on a special scientific experiment. Rhys Ifans is very good as Connors but when he becomes The Lizard my heart kind of sank. The Lizard looks like a "Jurrasic Park" reject or Godzilla's smaller, younger brother. The Lizard doesn't get a chance to make an impact and it is too big. The villian in "Spider-man 2", Doc Ock was a better example of how the Lizard should have been.

If "The Amazing Spider-man" is a tie-in to "The Avengers" as rumored then I see this as a starting point. If it is not a tie-in and they do a sequel I hope they get into the story right away and have a better villian. After a few end credits there is sort of a set up for a sequel which felt like it could be an improvement over this first installment. "The Amazing Spider-man" takes too long to get going, the villian needed improvement and I felt like I saw a lot of the stuff done better before in the first three Spider-man movies.

I had reservations but I am reccomending this because I liked the story of Peter and Gwen's growing love for each other and the very solid acting by Garfield and Stone. I liked when this movie felt like a coming of age story, I didn't like when the movie dealt with the battle between the good guy and the bad guy. I think "The Amazing Spider-man" like "The Avengers", while both good movies, are just a dress rehearsal for the King, "The Dark Knight Rises".