The Amazing Spider-Man reviewed by Mark Kermode

[@itstimmehc]

I always love seeing the reaction of the 2 people behind Mark.

[@edig85]

I love that, at 2.21, when Kermode introduces the clip he says 'played by Rhys Ifans', he mouths the word 'C*NT' to Mayo!!!! Mr Ifans is notoriously an absolute C-unit and I'm pleased Kermode thinks so to!

[@t_ed2521]

My thoughts exactly. God, I love Kermode.

[@dravenuk]

I think Kermode is spot on with this review. I liked the movie, didn't love it. It's good but covers familiar ground again and is mostly unremarkable. It is also lacking the sense of fun and sheer comic book sweep that Raimi's first to films have in spades. And Kermode is also right that Spider-Man 2 remains the high watermark for the franchise, and for superhero films in general as far as I'm concerned.

[@CaptainWeetch1]

i love it when simon stands up to the doctor

[@12powerhungry]

they really nailed spiderman's humor in this movie, something that old trilogy lacked

[@JJtheEskimo]

also, I love how surprised Kermode seems to be when Mayo steps up to him about 3D.

[@DeepEye1994]

I remember watching the first "Spider-Man" movie in theater when I was 8... ...10 years later when I'm 18 I went to see "The Amazing Spider-Man", a good reboot that's more character-driven and darker, which fits with my new adult perspective. But I still REALLY like the original trilogy (I don't hate the third one, but I gotta say that it gets worse everytime I watch it), I just love to think about how Spider-Man movies grew up alongside with me... :,-)

[@123rockfan]

Pan's Labyrinth is not a children's film. And it uses practical effects for the most part. By the way, I'm a huge fan of Kubrick actually, The Killing, Paths of Glory, and A Clockwork Orange are among my favorite movies of all time. I just happen to dislike The Shining because of the casting of Jack Nicholson, I wish Jon Voight had gotten the role instead. By the way, what do you think of Eyes Wide Shut?

[@MercuryAlphaInc]

Thing is, if you play the game (which is set AFTER the movie) you'll find out that there's a Curt Connors and a Lizard persona and that The Lizard starts to take over after a while, even while he's Connors. (As in, it drives him to take the serum to transform into The Lizard.)

[@samwellard7]

During the mid credits scene with Connors and that creepy guy who is probably Norman Osborn, do u reckon it was all in Connors head?

[@Cruddybluds]

On the basis of that clip, it sounds like they've made Curt Connors in to a villain. What I remember from the comics and cartoons is that Connors is essentially a good person taken over by fits of primal rage manifesting themselves as bodily transformation. And I recall that the Lizard itself isn't really a villain so much as a beast of pure instinct that attacks what it perceives as threats.

[@71yid]

Just watched amazing spiderman this evening for the second time, and on repeat viewing, its not a bad film. However, I still prefer Sam raimi's trilogy and have to disagree with some opinion on sm3. I actually thought it was well made with some terrific cgi, notably the sandman who, as I remember from comics as a child, was depicted really well. Also, was there some unintentional homage payed to Alien in the new spidey? The lizard, tail first, appearing behind an unsuspecting SM in the sewer?!

[@logicdonkey]

People saying "too soon for a reboot".. What do you mean by this? What is the acceptable standard for a period before a reboot is deemed OK? Why? On topic: Great actors, very entertaining movie, and I agree that while I'm not a huge fan of 3D, in this case it was fitting and a nice touch, despite (obviously) bringing down the color/brightness.

[@luke-alex]

Well, from an artistic perspective, maybe the acceptable period for attempting to make essentially the same movie, with no real fundamental differences in the interpretation, would be dictated by advances in film-making technology (such as for instance better CG being available)-the question being, can something be achieved that wasn't technically possible in the first version? But from a business perspective, it's determined by the public reaction-how long does it need to be such that the movie-going public would be okay with it and not balk at being sold the same thing again? I think this was somewhat misjudged in this case by Sony. Of course, if the reboot *does* add something _new_ rather than just relying on the franchise recognition, then that's a whole different situation.

[@nailin18]

"Slightly unremarkable", damn, that's it that's exactly what I was getting from the movie.

[@OfficialFOY]

Kermode is spot on when it comes to pretty much everything in this clip... Spider-man 2 is great, Spider-man 3 blows, 3D blows... the guy knows what he's talking about.

[@ciaracustard]

On the whole question of how long it is between spidermans, I'm 17 and even I thought it was a quick turn around. Suppose if you were Andrew Garfield and you got the call, you'd bloody take it wouldn't you? He was so captivating in Red Riding, I don't know if I'll ever be able to shake that association.

[@ChildOfTheWilderness]

Yeah, the end parts with the crane and the web at the screen were great

[@varsas]

I really hope that they follow through with the Stacy arcs from the comics because that will definitely bring something new to the series and superhero films in general that Dr. K. says is lacking in this one.

[@OliverChild]

THE AVENGERS WITHOUT A DOUBT - is th best comic book movie i've ever seen. the cinematography at the end made it feel like I was reading a comic book

[@xAGL.]

Anybody can consider whatever series they want. Whether it be Amazing, Spectacular Or ultimate. MJ didn't come until college. But you're right J jamison was PERFECT :). And when i say more true to the comics i mean the sense of humor of spidey. And gwen being first love. Webshooters. Raimi's weren't close to the comics in alot of ways. And the man in the shadows (My guesses) are Norman Osborn, Morbious, Electro or Mysterio

[@tomahawkboy0787]

yeah it was i just feel that they missed cast venom and also not enough venom either but i hope

[@Marxman3707]

"Hell's teeth?" Anyways, it makes perfect sense. The movie is expected to be remarkable so by being unremarkable, that is what in turn makes it remarkable. It's remarkably unremarkable.

[@omgbygollywow]

Spiderman 2 was the best. That movie had it all.

[@JJtheEskimo]

I saw Raimi's Spiderman as a kid and sort of grew up around those franchises, eighteen now and me and all my friends agree that its really strange to reboot something this soon. Seems to be the new pattern though, which is a bit irritating.

[@omgbygollywow]

Spidey (the original 1960s version) was always my favorite character because he was someone I could really relate to. He was geeky and a bit of a nerd but really deep down was courageous and a good person. He had a hero quality about him. Obviously, all superheroes have the hero quality, but Spidey more so. Not only did he suffer personally for being a hero, his family suffered and he had to protect them. With Superman and Batman, they didn't have a family to protect.

[@hos427]

I hope that Venom is better in the next. And I really hope they use Flash Thompson as Venom cause that would be AWESOME.

[@01MaverickTen10]

@Born2bAverage There's an argument that spidey could be darker. He was nearl directly responsible for the death of his uncle, accidently killed his girlfriend and had no parents. Yet hides it all within.

[@thedocbat]

Considering the leap in quality from Spidey 1 to Spidey 2, I can't wait for the sequel to this.

[@allaboutdmagic]

Thank goodness for Steve Ditko's imagination, that's all I can say.

[@efcdk92]

I meant 'reboot'.

[@takudzwamacmillannyagano6291]

i get what u mean..but as far as the origin goes,this movie uses a lot of elements from the Ultimate comics which are a more mordern characterization of Peter..Sam Raimi's films were heavily influenced by the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko era of comic books..i mean if u look at Toby Maguire he looks almost like that Peter Parker from the 60's which raimi was going..But Andrew Garfield looks more like the Peter from the Ultimate comics..people should stop comparing and bashing Raimi's films.

[@sammci]

Oh and so far this year only three zombie/vampire films (one of which was Cabin in the Woods, which doesn't really count) and two superhero films have come out, with only one more superhero film and two more zombie/vampire films to go (one of which is a kids' animated film). So yeah, you're talking completely out of your arse on this one.

[@takudzwamacmillannyagano6291]

Flash was never friendly with Peter in high school in the comics..George stacy was never killed by the lizard in the comics,he was killed by falling debris when spiderman was fighting Doc Ock..Gwen never knew that Peter was Spiderman,Peter stels the web fluid from Oscorp..should i keep going on what wasn't accurate in this origin????

[@xAGL.]

Agreed. But i really want to see Mysterio!! or morbious :) But i think Goblin might come in the 3rd

[@Enzo_Matrix92]

Not a reboot if the movie follows the Ultimate Spiderman Comics. Not perfectly but it does follow it pretty well.

[@SandBarAndYou]

At least ten years. You have to allow enough time to pass to say "The Spiderman that people would like to see today is different from what we saw before. It's time for a different style in order to reflect the new times we're in."

[@farshnuke]

It's like normality. It's something we all know yet you'd be hard pushed to find anyone, especially on the internet that could be accurately called entirely normal as normal is a sort of yardstick of averageness which takes into account all the various extremes of everyone and parcels them out, good and bad, through the population and so the chances of anyone person exactly meeting that definition of normality would actually be abnormal since so many aren't.

[@Francis.Wright]

most of the web swinging in this film was practical FX not CGI that's why there is more weight.

[@boomptyboompty]

Can't wait to hear Kermodes review of DREDD

[@samwellard7]

Absolutely awesome in IMAX 3D. Recommend

[@TheCDVigil]

I'll agree that Spider-Man 2 is still the high water mark and that it didn't really reinvent Spider-Man, But I do feel that TASM took everything that was good about the first movie and improved on it. And that to me made TASM a remarkable movie.

[@KDUBZ06]

the 3D looked good to me, at least in IMAX, I saw the 7 minute IMAX preview and it looked fantastic

[@varsas]

The Spectacular Spider-Man series is fantastic and I'm hoping this new series of films captures that and the original comics better than the Raimi films that I still enjoyed.

[@disasterblast]

i disagree - when gwen says 'its not your job' in regards to stopping the lizard, peter says 'maybe it is'. its a way of saying the power and responsibility line without overtly stating it. its being subtle and not cliche. and there was nothing as cliche and cheesy in this movie as there was in raimis films, for example, when the kids responded to the final fight in SM3 with 'awesome, wicked cool'. i felt like tearing a hole in the screen. add that to lines like 'dont play in the streets kids'..

[@sonicdihedgehog1]

let's hope the sequel will be as big as spiderman 2 or in this case better.

[@227060]

as a comic book film it was at worst only okay. it is a good good film. as a Spider-man fan I personally preferred the original film and think that was more accurate and better executed origin story. but then again i wouldn't want to see something exactly the same so different isn't bad at all. I appreciate that they focused on different aspects of this HUGE mythos that no single film (or even trilogy) could ever hope to cover. i do get POD at the bashing of 1 film to big up the other tho

[@barrett5169]

Good to see the incredibly cute girl back in the booth again this week!

[@UniversalContinuity]

I think they are rebooting it too soon after the last spidey movie in 07. I dont really focus on when the first was released, I focus on the last. If raimis spider man 1 and 2 were the only ones he made, then they rebooted it in 2012, thats not that bad. Still soon I think. But I look at it like this, there was a spider man in 2007, and now they have a one in 2012, to me that is what makes it too soon. 7-2-12 1242pm

[@adsasfd]

A movie has to stand on it's own, this sir did not a waste of money and time.

[@takudzwamacmillannyagano6291]

agreed with what you said

[@thedondon911911]

So, you read them. Tell me, how is this film any closer than the original? Just cause of web shooters?

[@PlusUltraAdrian]

Now with that said. I am kind of happy they are rebooting the series because now you have Gwen Stacey as the love interest first just like the comic books. And from the trailers, it looks like spider man is witty. Again just like in the comic books. I just feel that the reboot is too soon thats all. Spider man 3 to me didn't ruin the series. And it took 8 years for a batman reboot to come out. Unlike the 5 years it took for spiderman to get a reboot.

[@hos427]

Maybe. But I kinda liked the romance stuff. It felt a bit more realistic. Spider-man was more like he is in the comics. And it is a reboot so you sort of have to use the same stuff. Sure some of it felt to copied from the original but most was necessary. That's just my opinion though.

[@hos427]

I liked the new movie. More so than the original 2002 movie. But you're right. It would make more sense to use Eddie.

[@KEVANDJACKFRIGHTS]

I also prefer begins to dark knight.In regards to The Amazing Spiderman, i prefered this to Raimi's Spiderman 1but not 2, its still the benchmark for spidey flicks.

[@FunkyMonkey24981]

to those who think its too soon for a reboot i got to say is who cares, ya 10 years since spiderman 1 and 5 years since spiderman 3 but uh it was a 8 year cap from batman and robin to batman begins and do anyone really wants to wait 10 more years for a new spiderman movie? i just saw this movie and it blows all 3 spiderman movies out the water! way better acting, felt like real conversations not forced and the action scenes are so good! amazing spiderman best spidy movie YET!!

[@MrJohncastillo1]

thats because they already made iron man, iron man 2, thor, captain america and the incredible hulk, so why would they bother adding more story to it.

[@Christothefirst]

The reason for this Nolan-esque darkness is because Spider-Man often has dark tones that were never shown in Raimi's films.

[@Lar90]

feel the same way

[@WaveWonder1]

whats with this crane scene i keep hearing crap about? i havent seen it yet so...?

[@WolfySnackrib666]

It was an analogy. Ever heard of it?

[@allaboutdmagic]

Tom Welling should've won a Golden Turkey for 'most unbelievable teenager' in Smallville.

[@thedondon911911]

Peter is a shy outcast, this peter acted the same as he was in the suit. Gwen came in College, The first one was in highschool too, he was picked on regualry, doctor connors was in the original, he wants to kil his uncle's killer, peter learns his skills, peter is intelligent in the original, shall I go on?

[@666deadman1988]

The main reason this movie exists is so that Sony can retain the rights to the Spider-Man franchise and that they don't revert back to Marvel. In saying that, I am looking forward to seeing this film as the trailers have filled me with more hope than I might've had before.

[@chrishiggins7166]

The film maybe not as heart warming as the Sam Raimi films, however the film’s still an action packed, well acted, well characterised & effective Marvel reboot. (79%) (4/5 stars) (positive)

[@dualshock3]

I liked the movie on its own.. but I can see what you mean with the storyline. I've almost seen all marvel movies, so its sort-of a sequal for their movies.. Packed in one movie : The Avengers"

[@Goochbot]

I did think it was under-rated when i first seen it and seen all the hate being leveled at it. But, as I was watching it recently I did think it was a mess of a film. Too many plots running alongside each other. The fights were pretty cool though, I will admit that.

[@mrmitchell78]

Anyone up for a reboot of The Fellowship Of The Ring? Thought not.

[@raoulhery]

I think Spiderman wins the 2012 superhero contest!

[@jordanMJK]

Not a big fan of the reboot. But ill have to wait till AS 2 or 3 to see if I like these movies yet.

[@sammci]

Of the roughly 200 films that came out in 2011 there was only six superhero films and I believe only three zombie or vampire films. So they are hardly "all hollywood is making these days".

[@Mr.laughnowcrylater]

@the5DGX I totally agree!!!!

[@CaptainAndyman]

I thought it was brilliant - far better than Spider-Man 2 or any of Raimi's films (of which 1 was the best, not 2). Raimi's first 2 films were good but felt like a sort of generic superhero film template with Spider-Man stuck in there whereas Amazing Spider-Man really captured the character and created a world that was true to the comics. Peter Parker wasn't just a 2D stereotype of a nerd in this film, he was his own character with his own life and a certain gravitas to him.

[@ironjoker101]

Why, because his opinion differs from your own? How mature. All films deserve certain amounts of both praise and critisism.

[@takudzwamacmillannyagano6291]

i agree with you on the characters....But you can't say that Toby didn't do a good job..i know he ddnt really say any quips but he was a great actor...i just don't like it when pple bash him and say shit abt him..

[@derekhtam]

I strongly disagree with some of your points. First of all, the batmobile is cool but how could you not like the bat? It gives us viewers something new and interesting to watch. Secondly, the relationship between Catwoman and Batman is in some of the comics i believe... Plus, the movie explains that Bruce Wayne needed to stop being batman and find a more peaceful life....so it was necessary. And how would they make death-scene not cliche? She has to die somehow...

[@jaykay5811]

spot on as far as 3d goes

[@jomeeo]

No.. Sam Raimi always wanted to do Vulture and Vultress in Spider-Man 4

[@ronsan89]

i honestly think this was a better spider man mvie he put toby to shame i hope there are more sequals to come

[@joynerkt]

The thing i hate is they always give him almost only one villian. Spidey is flexable, he can handle at least 3 villians a movie.

[@MrPrankmastergeneral]

Actually Dark Knight is one of my favourite movies, but i felt like Amaizing Spiderman was like bastard child of Dark Knight and Twilight. I also hated Sam Raimis cheesefest but somehow i grew to like them.

[@danielsfilmreviews]

Completely agree with this review.

[@mariolakis]

Why?

[@90mv]

I really liked it

[@allaboutdmagic]

Just saw it, just disappointing. Some scenes look shot for shot like Raimi's first one with some of the lights turned off. There's an attempt to emulate a piece of the grit of Nolan's Batman. Andrew Garfield looks a lot like Ditko's Peter Parker, which isn't enough. The origin stuff we've seen before, The script captures a bit more of the cocky quippery of PP, again not really enough to set it apart as a film.

[@WolfySnackrib666]

True to the comic as Raimi's was? Yes, tell me more about how the comicbook Spider-man spins his own webs out of his wrists.

[@TheSamee]

Have you not learnt from the disaster that is Spider-Man 3?

[@omgbygollywow]

I think those who read the original comics in the 1960s would prefer Sam Raimi's versions because they followed the tone of the original comics, which was more innocent, light-hearted and simple. Today's comic book readers are more sophisticated and would prefer something darker and grittier.

[@thedondon911911]

Omg He wasn't even depressed all the time, and if you actually watch the movies he had a lot of humor, just not alot that it is over board. Mary Jane was his first love in the ultimate comics. So you can't say it's closer just because he had web shooters. Oh, and take out the car theif scene, how many jokes did he say?

[@logicdonkey]

And by saying it in full caps, no one will actually read what you had to say.

[@PhoenixWright101]

Nothing to do with age, Mark. It's ridiculously early to reboot a franchise. They should have given it a few more years to breathe, although I suspect that Sony were worried that the rights would revert to Marvel if they didn't constantly have a movie in development. Purely business rather than artistic motivation.

[@WaveWonder1]

Lawl, please continue

[@SlangWhangers]

Well you better rewatch Batman Begins cause The Dark Knight Rises is gonna have flashbacks that connect to Begins

[@Goochbot]

I can't find it in me to be excited about this so close to The Dark Knight Rises lol

[@dewiowen1]

Mark says Ifans correctly. Like a 'v', not an 'f'.

[@68pie]

Well it's not a remake, it follows a different comic book strand.

[@MrJohncastillo1]

this movie should have been much better, i was disappointed, but i can see how they can create something better for the second movie, i was shocked about how fast it took peter parker to make the spider-man costume, it took him like one day, it was pretty stupid

[@takudzwamacmillannyagano6291]

Cpt Stacy never hated spiderman in the comics,he was killed by falling debris when spiderman and doc ock were fighting..Gwen never knew who spiderman was coz she blamed spiderman for her father's death...Peter's parents never worked for Oscorp,Peter wore glasses after he was bitten WTF was up with that???now if you want 2 compare with Raimi's films,please don't compare with the whole trilogy,compare this film with Spiderman 1

[@Lockemeister]

They killed Dr. Oct off WAY too soon in the movie series. He was a great villian. OK, just send him to a mental hospital for a few years, then he breaks out.