the amazing spider man movie review

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Movie Review

A Teenage Transformation Like No Other

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By Manohla Dargis

July 2, 2012

Oh, Spidey, has it really been five long years since we saw you in “ Spider-Man 3 ,” where you were plagued by a doppelgänger, a hectic plot and franchise exhaustion? Way back then you were played by the cute boy-man Tobey Maguire, and the girl with the fatal-beauty smile was given sweet life by Kirsten Dunst. Now, in “The Amazing Spider-Man,” you’re played by the cute boy-man Andrew Garfield, whose elongated limbs and pencil neck go a ways to make him look like the geek next door. The lovely young miss, meanwhile, is Emma Stone, whose pillowy lips serve as flotation devices that — along with her natural appeal and Mr. Garfield’s likability — keep this resuscitated studio product from fully capsizing.

The director, Marc Webb, does his part. Like his debut feature, the bittersweet romance “ (500) Days of Summer ,” Mr. Webb’s Spider-Man movie works only because he keeps the whole package, at least until the requisite final blowout, tethered to his two appealing leads. Both look too old for high school (Mr. Garfield turns 29 in August, and Ms. Stone hits the big 24 in November), but then so did the characters introduced by the pen-and-ink legends Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. If the readers who embraced the square-looking Peter Parker didn’t mind, maybe it was partly because this awkward outsider spoke to his times, having been bitten by a radioactive spider the same year the United States conducted 36 atmospheric nuclear weapon tests over the Pacific.

The latest post-atomic-age Spider-Man has been updated with a skateboard and a hoodie, but it’s unclear whom he speaks to (beyond Sony’s shareholders), and for what reason. Like the 2002 “Spider-Man,” the first of three movies directed by Sam Raimi, “The Amazing Spider-Man” revisits Peter Parker’s origin story. This time it opens with the child Peter and his parents, Richard and Mary (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz), who, after a break-in at their house endangering Dad’s scientific secrets, rush over to Richard’s brother and sister-in-law, a k a Uncle Ben and Aunt May (Martin Sheen and Sally Field, a cozy fit). Parking the boy there for safekeeping, the parents weep and hug goodbye — “Be good,” the father portentously tells the son — and within seconds the older, now orphaned Peter is shrinking around school while eyeing his crush, Gwen Stacy (Ms. Stone).

You know the rest: Peter visits a lab (this time a bioengineering outfit, Oscorp), where, along comes a spider, and so on. Suddenly he isn’t in Kansas anymore, or rather, the poignantly vulnerable human form he came in with: He’s faster, stronger, stickier. His hands and feet adhere to everything he touches, though, inexplicably, this tackiness soon subsides. For a few scenes, however, this helps give the movie a lift because Peter, in hormonally challenged adolescent fashion, is taken aback by his scarily, fantastically changing body. When he’s bothered by some toughs on the subway, he jumps up so abruptly he lands on the roof upside down, surprising himself as much as the baddies, who give futile chase while he scrambles up, up and away.

Mr. Webb, wisely leaning on physical stunts and not just computer-generated imagery, exploits Peter’s metamorphosis for a few diverting, palpable sequences, including an extended scene in a desolate warehouse where, alone with his skateboard, he soars high, higher, highest. He also smashes an alarm clock on waking, accidentally snaps door handles off and snatches a fly live out of the air, a buzzy encounter that amusingly brings to mind Norman Bates. It’s too bad that Mr. Webb didn’t make more of Mr. Garfield’s reedy, bobbing-neck resemblance to Anthony Perkins. Like that psycho Norman, who says he wouldn’t hurt a fly, Peter is a divided soul (if nicer), but like Mr. Raimi’s bug boy, it takes him time to figure out who he is physically, metaphysically, existentially.

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The Amazing Spider-Man Reviews

There are some obvious flaws in Webb's vision of Spider-Man. The plot conveniences are a headache, Connors is a shell of his true self, and it proves origin stories aren't always necessary. But the highlights bring a comic book issue to life.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 30, 2024

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are electric every time they're on screen and web-swinging sequences are energetic and exciting, but the antagonists and overall story miss the mark.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 24, 2023

While Garfield shined and some of the set pieces were nifty, the film’s plot and use of Rhys Ifans’ Lizard failed to really capture the imagination like other films with Spider-Man.

Full Review | Jun 20, 2023

No matter how impressive a cast, no matter how moody the marketing, no matter what superficial alterations the film’s three credited writers make to the character, none of it can distract from the familiarity of Spider-Man’s origin story.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 4, 2022

Garfield is a solid replacement as Spider-Man and his character is one you can really invest in.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

Give (director Marc Webb) credit for the terrific chemistry between Garfield and Stone, but otherwise this rehash that added nothing new to what was becoming a familiar formula.

Full Review | Jun 3, 2022

Too little is different for something that's supposed to redefine the character for a modern spin.

Full Review | Dec 17, 2021

The Amazing Spider-Man attempts to straddle - it's too similar to Raimi's world, but simultaneously too different, and all it ends up being is a whole bunch of neither.

Full Review | Jul 2, 2021

The Amazing Spider-Man is not, in fact, "necessary," but not because we just saw this story ten years ago; it's just not a very good movie.

Full Review | Mar 10, 2021

It does a decent job of retelling the same story fans have seen before in previous film versions, but it doesn't bother to reinvent anything.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Dec 1, 2020

In addition to Garfield's winning performance, Emma Stone is appropriately sweet and sassy as Gwen Stacy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 1, 2020

This is fine, but is fine good enough for one of the most beloved comic book characters of all time? And did we really need another big screen Spider-Man origin story?

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 13, 2020

It shows new things in the Spider-Man universe, but at the same time it takes away others that are very important. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jun 25, 2020

A flawed but still solid Spider-Man movie which delivers plenty of spectacular moments to keep comic book fans happy. However, a few too many unanswered questions stop it from living up to that "Amazing" title.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 15, 2020

The Amazing Spider-Man is enjoyable filled with great moments and wonderful performances from [Andrew] Garfield and [Emma] Stone.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 10, 2019

The Amazing Spider-Man is truly amazing.

Full Review | Nov 26, 2019

The Amazing Spider-Man, despite telling the same story again is not only successful, but a lot of fun to watch.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 11, 2019

Director Marc Webb has breathed new life into what most of us crushed underfoot and wiped off our shoe after the amazingly awful Spider-Man 3.

Full Review | Jul 30, 2019

A film that works best on an intimate scale, although Webb proves quite adept at directing compelling action sequences.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 8, 2019

Garfield is probably too old for the part, the same can be said for Stone, but he brings a new spin and some great energy in the lead role.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Apr 11, 2019

The Amazing Spider-Man Review

03 Jul 2012

136 minutes

Amazing Spider-Man, The

When Sony announced on January 11, 2010, that, rather than moving forward with Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 4 they’d be rebooting the franchise from scratch, the entire internet — even webuyanycar.com — heaved with a collective groan. It was TOO SOON! It was SKEWING YOUNG! It was TWILIGHT IN SPANDEX swinging to a MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE playlist! Very rarely has the caps key been so well and truly locked.

For the most part, these fears haven’t come to pass (for a start, you could never mistake James Horner for My Chemical Romance). Marc Webb’s film, his first since (500) Days Of Summer, never goes full Nolan in terms of darkness or complexity (nor should it), but it never feels it should be re-titled The Totes Amazeballs Spider-Dude, either. Instead, it takes the high school bit of Raimi’s flick, expands it to three acts, then sutures in a scientist/green alter-ego thread, this time in the shape of Rhys Ifans’ Curt Connors/The Lizard. The result is a mixed bag, beset by muddy plotting and decent (not jaw-dropping) action set-pieces but enlivened by a focus on people and strong performances, especially from Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.

The status of geeks — and science-y geeks in particular — has shifted far deeper into the mainstream in the ten years since Maguire’s Parker. The computer programmers of Facebook, Apple and Google run the world, The Big Bang Theory is US TV’s biggest show and Comic-Con’s Hall H is the prime port of call for the entertainment industry, but Garfield’s Parker is still your stereotypical nerd: he gets hit in the face by basketballs, can’t get to his locker for snogging couples and has a solved Rubik’s Cube in his bedroom. Only this time he has mad skateboard skills (cue montage) and good hair. Webb invests more in Parker’s backstory — we meet his parents — and his quest to solve their mystery comes on like a key driver in the film. Yet the movie doesn’t really capitalise on it, typical of a number of strands (see also the search for Uncle Ben’s attacker) that are introduced then dissolve away.

The pillars of the story, though, remain the same — radioactive spider, Uncle Ben, crime-fighting begins — but Webb’s film finds different, interesting colours for the same panels. Raimi’s spider bite is a huge close-up of a spider sinking his teeth into Peter’s hand; this time around is much more matter-of-fact, with Peter barely registering the nick on his neck. Raimi details Peter’s growing awareness of his Spider-sense in a single camera move, picking up the woosh of a paper plane and globules of spit; here we get a series of comic vignettes showing Peter smashing an alarm clock, squeezing the shit out of toothpaste and alive to the deafening sounds of arachnids. The fist-fight with jock Flash in the 2002 version sees Peter dodge and weave, almost accidentally avoiding the bully’s blows before landing a killer punch; 2012’s take sees Parker in much more aggressive mode, humiliating his nemesis on a basketball court and taking huge pleasure in doing so.

Most of this feels effortless, although occasionally you feel the strain: in a big Uncle Ben lecture to Peter, the writers must have exhausted The Big Book Of Synonyms to come up with their alternative to, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Also the film does little to distinguish its sense of villainy. Rhys Ifans’ Curt Connors, an emotionally wounded, one-armed scientist hell-bent on creating a ‘World Without Weakness’ by using the regenerative powers of lizard DNA, starts as an underling to the shady Oscorp operative Ratha (Irrfan Khan), who subsequently goes AWOL from the plot, leaving Ifans to manfully shoulder Big Bad duties. By the time Connors mutates into The Lizard, an over-sized sentient salamander, his pain is reduced to setting up science shop in a sewer and a Green Goblin-esque habit of talking to himself. It’s an interesting conceit — a man whose desire to do good is so rampant it boils over into evil — and the seeds of tragedy are there, but it never really becomes poignant. Webb doesn’t import much of the visual whimsy and filmmaking ingenuity he brought to (500) Days; this is a slightly heightened but basically realistic universe.

Save the now de rigueur Stan Lee Cameo (his best yet) full of nutty comic energy and a recurring Spidey POV (Webb cam?), this is solid rather than spectacular blockbuster filmmaking. When Parker finally suits up, we get a return to the irreverent wisecracking of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko absent from Raimi: this is your sarcastic, neighbourhood Spider-Man (“Oooh, my weakness is small knives”), nonchalantly sneezing webbing to apprehend villains or beating up street hoods — to use Andy Townsend parlance — for fun.

The return of the web-shooters — Raimi fiddled with the character’s mythology by making Parker’s webbing an organic bi-product of his mutated biology — may be a return to tradition, but it is also an attempt to dramatically demonstrate Peter’s smarts.

The mixture of practical swinging — watch him run along on the sides of trucks — and consistently strong CG works well, capturing the dynamics and mood of Mark Bagley’s art in Ultimate Spider-Man. Yet as the action increases, the spectacle gets less impressive. A car-on-fire rescue works far better than the final showdown(s). It also doesn’t help that Webb is perhaps too hip to commit to some of the corniness inherent in the strip that comes to Raimi naturally. There is a late-in-the-day episode where the city pulls together to help our hero that should get you on your feet cheering. Instead it just feels half-hearted.

But where The Amazing Spider-Man does find freshness, and its feet, is in its believable, touching central relationship. There are dedicated teen flicks that don’t do awkward conversations in high-school corridors as well as Garfield and Stone deliver them. Peter goes through rites of passage here — the thrill of being in your best girl’s bedroom, the intimidation of meeting her police chief father (Leary, who snags laughs in a gruff role), the struggle to eat branzino that’s served up for dinner — and Garfield, 28 but not looking it, proves himself to be a master of social ineptitude, a godfather of gauche. He also gets strong, quiet scenes with Sally Field’s Aunt May (less annoying than Rosemary Harris’ incarnation) and Martin Sheen, delivering maximum Martin Sheeniness, as Uncle Ben. This means it’s a long time before Parker gets in the suit, but it’s time well spent.

Along with Kirk vs. Picard (Picard), Alien vs. Aliens (Alien) and the Cantina Band vs. The Max Rebo Trio (too close to call), the geek debate over Mary Jane vs. Gwen Stacy as Peter Parker’s true love reigns supreme, but Emma Stone does a lot to tip the balance in Gwen’s favour. Stone’s Stacy is charming (“Easy bug boy”), resourceful and funny, especially in a conversation with her dad about cocoa (honestly). It is a rare moment in a comic-book film where the characters talk about something other than the plot. The Amazing Spider-Man proves they should do it more often.

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The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

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DVD & Streaming

The Amazing Spider-Man

Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

July 3, 2012
Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man/Peter Parker; Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy; Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard; Denis Leary as Captain Stacy; Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben; Sally Field as Aunt May

Home Release Date

November 9, 2012

Distributor

Sony Pictures

Movie Review

Oh, what tangled webs we weave.

Peter Parker knows a thing or two about webs. His father, it seems, was an expert web-weaver—not that Peter ever knew it, of course. He was only four when his parents dropped him off with Uncle Ben and Aunt May sans explanation, never to return. But when Peter (now a skateboarding, hoodie-wearing teen) discovers a secret formula hidden in a secret compartment of a now not-so-secret satchel, he feels as though he’s discovered a strand of his father’s past. And he’s determined to follow it to its source.

The thread weaves right through the magnificent front doors of the Oscorp Industries building and leads to Dr. Curt Connors, a former associate of Peter’s father. Pilfering an intern badge, Peter sneaks in and learns that Connors is working on some sort of genetic project in which animal DNA is inserted into a human host so it can give our ordinary double helix a leg—or wing or tail—up. Connors, who is missing an arm, hopes the technology will give humanity the power to regenerate lost limbs and cure a host of other ills. Of course, before his research gets to that point, it’ll have to stop killing the test subjects.

Peter finds all this terribly interesting—but not nearly as interesting as the door marked with the same strange symbols he found in his father’s files. Opening the door, he discovers a room filled with strange, delicate spiders … including one that thinks Peter would be a perfect mid-afternoon snack.

One quick little bite and—

Well, we know what happens next, don’t we?

Positive Elements

Peter eventually becomes the wisecracking, do-gooding hero we all know Spider-Man can and should be. But it takes him a while. And his transformation from troubled teen to superhero isn’t always easy to watch. Peter can be a brat and a bully. He blows off (and sometimes blows up at) his aunt and uncle. He begins his turn as Spider-Man not out of some altruistic, heroic motive, but out of vengeance—longing to catch and do bad things to the man who killed his Uncle Ben.

But it’s Ben, before his death, who tries to remind his nephew what a hero truly is. When Peter gets in trouble for humiliating a bully, his uncle gives him a well-deserved dressing down. When Peter forgets to pick up Aunt May, Ben demands that he apologize. Ben relays the message that was so powerful in the first Spider-Man movie (and, for that matter, in the comic books): “With great power comes great responsibility.” Ben insists that his nephew has a duty to use whatever gifts he has wisely.

Spider-Man begins to understand what it means to be a hero when he rescues a little boy from a car hanging precariously over a huge body of water. The boy’s too scared at first to even allow someone to help him. But Peter gives him his mask and, when the car catches on fire, he tells the lad to put it on. “It’s going to make you strong,” he says.

But it’s chasing the Lizard—a half-human, half-reptilian monstrosity—that really kicks Spidey’s heroism into gear. Realizing that he indirectly helped spawn the horrific hybrid, Peter understands that it’s his duty to try to stop him, even at great personal risk.

Others embody heroism as well, from Uncle Ben trying to stop a would-be robber, to Peter’s girlfriend (Gwen Stacy) brewing up a much-needed antidote, to Aunt May demonstrating steadfast courage. Aunt May also dispenses some strong advice. “Secrets have a cost,” she tells Peter, quite sagely. “They’re not for free. Not now, not ever.”

Spiritual Elements

A funeral is conducted in a church. Someone sincerely says, “Thank God.”

Sexual & Romantic Content

The infamous upside-down kiss between Spidey and Mary Jane in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man is considered one of the most iconic smooches of all time. This incarnation of the Spider-Man story doesn’t have a single kiss that packs such potency. But what it’s missing in intensity, the film seems determined to make up for in quantity.

Gwen and Peter kiss frequently, sometimes passionately. The first time, Peter actually shoots a strand of webbing onto her rear so he can pull her to him. Later, Peter sneaks into Gwen’s bedroom, and the two begin another make-out session. Elsewhere, another high school couple makes out at school.

Gwen wears a skirt that’s a bit on the short side. And while still getting used to his powers, Peter’s sticky hands accidentally tear off the blouse of a woman on a subway; we see her in her bra.

Violent Content

From the moment Peter’s bitten by that mysterious spider, the action flows fast and furious. Often it feels like the typically frenetic, largely bloodless mayhem we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in PG and PG-13 superhero flicks. But there are moments when it goes quite a ways beyond what we saw in, say, Thor .

Dr. Connors injects a three-legged mouse—one of two he keeps on hand—with a serum he hopes will enable it to regenerate its front paw. The plan works … and then some. The serum morphs the mouse into a mini-monster. We see vestiges of a glass mouse cage and a hole it apparently chewed through the glass. (Blood coats the surface.) We also see the mutant mouse on the laboratory floor, feasting on what’s left of his now-devoured cagemate.

Dr. Connors’ own transformation into the Lizard looks painful as he sprouts a new arm and grows scales. Spidey soon shows up, of course, and the fighting begins. In one confrontation, Spider-Man pulls the Lizard’s tail off, which he promptly grows back. The two have several other melees that Spidey seems to get the worst of. Sometimes he’s tossed around like a rag doll, getting hit and kicked and thwacked and pummeled with frightening frequency. During their first confrontation, the Lizard rakes his claws across the hero’s chest, leaving deep, bloody gashes in Peter’s flesh.

Someone tries to burn the lizard (which doesn’t work). Someone else tries to freeze him (which does, temporarily). In his frozen state, the man’s arms get blasted away with a shotgun, bit by bit. Policemen also empty scores of bullets into the beastie, obviously causing him great pain.

Uncle Ben is shot by a criminal, a wound that leaves him bleeding profusely. The Lizard uses his fearsome claws to impale one poor soul. Peter, unfamiliar with his own talents, “accidentally” knocks out several people on a subway car and tears apart his own bathroom. Peter and a school bully nicknamed Flash go a couple of rounds with each other. At one point, Peter is gasping on the ground and nursing a big bruise on his face after Flash punches him and kicks him in the gut. (Gwen worries Peter might have suffered a concussion.) Peter later puts Flash into a frightening headlock.

Spider-Man pummels and humiliates criminals—sometimes to the point that you almost feel sorry for them. He also beats up several police officers in an effort to get away to fight the Lizard. He gets Tasered and shot in the leg. He falls through floors from very high buildings, sometimes dodging dislodged bits of masonry in the process. Cars get ripped apart. Civilians are harried, assaulted and biologically transformed by the Lizard.

Crude or Profane Language

One use of “a‑‑,” one of “d‑‑n” and three of “h‑‑‑.” God’s name is misused a half-dozen times. Peter exclaims, “You Mother Hubbard!” as a substitution for something obscene.

Drug & Alcohol Content

Beer bottles make appearances. Characters are shown with wine glasses.

Other Noteworthy Elements

Peter isn’t exactly the lovable, well-meaning geek we saw Tobey Maguire give life to in Spider-Man . Actor Andrew Garfield’s incarnation of the famous wall-crawler is a bit darker, a bit more rebellious.

Peter is reprimanded by a high school principal for riding a skateboard in the hallway, for instance. In class, we see him disinterested and doodling. He steals an intern badge to sneak into Oscorp (while the real, now badgeless intern gets hauled away by security). He sneaks into Gwen’s bedroom, and she hides him from her father. (She lies, telling her dad she has cramps.) He also encourages Gwen to sneak off with him.

As noted earlier, Spider-Man begins his crime-fighting career not as a do-gooder, but as a vigilante. The fact that he stops a lot of crimes seems almost beside the point in his quest to catch his uncle’s killer. And his self-centered actions disrupt a bigger police operation at one point. Spidey shoots some folks in the crotch with his webbing, apparently just to embarrass them. And, critically, he indirectly helps a criminal to get away from a convenience store after the crook throws him a stolen bottle of chocolate milk.

When Peter apologizes to his English teacher for showing up late, the teacher tells him not to make promises he can’t keep. “But those are the best kind,” he whispers to Gwen as she smiles.

Ten years? Really? I’m all in favor of a good reboot, but normally it’s nice to let the original gather a bit of dust before retooling it. And considering that Spider-Man was released in 2002—and that Tobey Maguire’s last turn in Spidey’s iconic red-and-blue suit was just five years ago—that’s not much dust-gathering time.

As such, I was primed to dislike The Amazing Spider-Man from the get-go. Imagine my surprise, then, to walk out thinking that this incarnation was the equal of, if not a tick better than, the original as a story. But note those final three words: as a story . Because from a content perspective, The Amazing Spider-Man has a few issues—and a few more than its predecessor.

Peter Parker isn’t as likable, for one thing. He’s not the sort of kid you picture winning the science fair (though he’s clearly capable of doing so), but rather a guy you’d expect to see in the principal’s office every other week or so.

In some ways, that might make the film more resonant. We know Peter has issues that have nothing to do with his spider bite. He wants to do right by his aunt and uncle, and he tries to protect some of his school’s bully victims. Yet he’s also struggling with anger and discouragement and a desire to rebel a little, too—making him a lot like many a real-life teen.

But while Peter may embody some real-life problems, that also makes him less of a cinematic role model—particularly since he doesn’t completely turn his back on rebellion even as he transforms into a hero. Add to that multiple kissing scenes, a bra-baring web misfire and violence that’s amped up a notch or three beyond the ’02 flick, and The Amazing Spider-Man may leave parents’ Spidey-sense a-tingling.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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The amazing spider-man.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 57 Reviews
Kids Say 219 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Action-packed series reboot has lots to offer Spidey fans.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 12+?

Tie-in to vast quantities of related merchandise. A few scenes feature people se

Plenty of super-powered comic book-style action, including cars getting thrown o

Infrequent swearing includes "ass," damm," "hell," "suck up," "oh my God," and t

Some flirting, and a few romantic kisses.

The villain injects himself with a powerful drug that turns him into a giant liz

Any Positive Content?

Much is expected from those to whom much is given (or, in other words, with grea

Peter Parker is really trying to do the right thing, but he often comes off as a

Products & Purchases

Tie-in to vast quantities of related merchandise. A few scenes feature people searching the Internet on Microsoft's Bing browser and looking for medical information on WebMD.com. Several Sony products also get prominent placement, as do Nike shoes.

Violence & Scariness

Plenty of super-powered comic book-style action, including cars getting thrown off bridges, villains throwing heroes through walls, and assorted other mayhem. A mugging leaves a shot bystander bloody and dying, and Spider-Man's first crime-fighting efforts target other muggers, who are clearly outmatched and beaten badly. An NYPD assault team tries to take out both Spidey and The Lizard, using high-powered weapons that leave the web-slinger injured and bloody. The villain impales a cop with his long claws, leaving the officer critically injured. Some bullying among high school students.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Infrequent swearing includes "ass," damm," "hell," "suck up," "oh my God," and the euphemistic "Mother Hubbard," used as an expletive. Some insults -- "stupid," "loser," etc.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The villain injects himself with a powerful drug that turns him into a giant lizard.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Much is expected from those to whom much is given (or, in other words, with great power comes great responsibility). That's the theme that pushes Spider-Man to take on the much stronger Lizard, with some concerns about his abilities, since nobody else really has the ability to stand up to the bad guy. Teamwork and collaboration play important roles, and love (familial, romantic) is a big theme of the movie.

Positive Role Models

Peter Parker is really trying to do the right thing, but he often comes off as a classically immature teen -- self-absorbed, insensitive, and at times narcissistic. But that doesn't make him a bad guy; when it counts, he definitely comes through (although at the end it's not clear whether he plans to keep a very important promise). Gwen is a smart, independent young woman who, unlike many superhero movie female leads, doesn't need rescuing. Uncle Ben and Aunt May teach Peter the importance of responsbility and unconditional love.

Parents need to know that The Amazing Spider-Man sticks pretty closely to the standard superhero template. There's an average guy ( Andrew Garfield ) who mysteriously receives amazing powers and is suddenly thrust into the unfamiliar role of savior, some tame romance (kissing, flirting), mild swearing ("damn," "hell"), and lots of comic book-style action -- cars getting thrown off bridges, villains throwing heroes through walls, and assorted other mayhem, some with weapons and a bit of blood. Popular actress Emma Stone co-stars as Spidey's love interest, and Martin Sheen adds gravitas in the tragic role of Peter Parker's kind Uncle Ben. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (57)
Kids say (219)

Based on 57 parent reviews

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It’s amazing just like the amazing spider-man, what's the story.

In THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, young Peter Parker ( Andrew Garfield ) watches his parents rush off in a hurry after parking him with his Uncle Ben ( Martin Sheen ) and Aunt May ( Sally Field ). They never returned, dying in a crash. It's a wound that Peter revisits from time to time, despite a pretty happy childhood overall (though he's not exactly -- or even remotely -- popular). Then, on a visit to Oscorp, the lab where his father once worked, a trip spurred by the discovery of secret files in his father's long-lost portfolio, Peter meets his dad's former colleague, Dr. Curt Connors ( Rhys Ifans ), and is fatefully bitten by a spider. Not just any spider: one that somehow transfers its strengths to a teenage Peter. His life will no longer be his own as he struggles to merge his Peter Parker self and his new alter-ego, one who will soon find a dangerous nemesis set to destroy Manhattan.

Is It Any Good?

Director Marc Webb brings a realism to the proceedings that's hard not to like in this superhero reboot. He lingers on the teen romance, which is delightful, and serves up thrilling action sequences without the show-off-y quality that too many superhero movies rely on. One gripe worth airing is about Spider-Man's nemesis: The Lizard seems scary enough, but not so scary as to be a worthy opponent. This Spidey wants to show off, as a teen encountering new powers would, and he deserved a proper fight.

Let's be honest, though: The Spider-Man franchise didn't really need a reboot. Sure, the third film of the last set, which featured the wonderful Tobey Maguire in the titular role, was a bit disappointing, but overall the series was a crowd-pleaser in many ways. So is there any reason to love this new outing, which treads over much of the same backstory as previous films did? Well, yes. Garfield brings a different but equally fantastic energy to the role; his Peter has a skater-on-the-fringes angst that's not emo and not super-boyish (like Maguire) but still perfect for a teenage superhero. He's antsy and curious and very charming. And it helps differentiate The Amazing Spider-Man from previous movies that Gwen Stacy ( Emma Stone ), not Mary Jane Watson, is Peter/Spidey's love interest here.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the Spider-Man franchise. How is The Amazing Spider-Man different from the 2002 version with Tobey Maguire in the title role? Did this series need a remake of Spidey's origin tale? What do you think the main motivating factor was to make one? The story, or the money to be made?

It's hard to imagine a superhero film without plenty of action, including explosions, fights, and gunfire. How does the impact of the violence in movies like this one compare to that of other action or horror films?

Is Peter a role model before he becomes Spider-Man? After?

Movie Details

In theaters : July 3, 2012
On DVD or streaming : November 6, 2012
Cast : Andrew Garfield , Emma Stone , Rhys Ifans
Director : Marc Webb
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Columbia Pictures
Genre : Action/Adventure
Topics : Superheroes , Great Boy Role Models , Great Girl Role Models , High School
Run time : 138 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : sequences of action and violence
Last updated : June 28, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Move Over Spider-Punk - Heavy Metal Spider-Man Is Here (& He's Dragging Steve Rogers With Him)

J. jonah jameson's 61-year crusade against spider-man is summed up in this hilarious variant cover, why didn't obi-wan & the jedi council question the creation of the clone army on kamino.

In this day and age, "adults" are also big kids who still see Spider-Man movies, and The Amazing Spider-Man faces the challenge of making both the old and new generations satisfied with a revised vision of an iconic hero. If you fall into the camp of 'big kids who still love their Spider-Man films,' know right from the get-go that Amazing Spider-Man covers a familiar origin story - albeit in different fashion than Sam Raimi's game-changing film did in 2002. If you can't get behind that idea - even in the slightest - then this movie simply is not for you.

However, for all others:

We pick up the familiar tale of Spider-Man with a re-imagined version of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), a high school geek who exists in the contemporary age of smartphones and social media, in which "the geek," as an archetype, has become something slightly cooler and more accepted than what it used to be. Garfield's Peter Parker - with his skateboard, contact lenses and vintage punk band tee-shirts - is definitely the epitome of modern "geek chic"; as such, the goofy nerdisms of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's 1960s Peter Parker have been replaced with deeper emotional troubles centered around Peter's status as an orphan who never answered the question of his parents' disappearance.

Amazing Spider-Man - Curt Connors DNA Experiment

The chance discovery of his dad's old research into cross-species genetics (a replacement for the outdated radiation experiments that originally created Spider-Man) sends Peter to the beehive-shaped halls of Oscorp, where his high school crush Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) interns alongside the brilliant but disabled Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), who was once Peter's father's closest associate. That meeting results in Connors and young Parker bonding over scientific theory - and of course, Peter stumbles into the chance accident which leaves him endowed with super powers - abilities which the young man at first squanders for selfish gain, resulting in a life-altering tragedy close to home.

Meanwhile, facing coercion from his shadowy employer Norman Osborn, Dr. Connors takes a big risk testing a promising new serum, which has the unfortunate side-effect of transforming him into a humanoid Lizard. With a super-powered monster on the loose, only Spider-Man is up to the task of stopping the threat. But as both his personal and super hero lives begin to collide at every turn, Peter fears that tragedy may strike home all over again.

Amazing Spider-Man arguably gets more right than it gets wrong, but it is far from being a perfect film. At its core, the movie seems to be, in fact, two films: The hour-long teenage character drama that director Marc Webb ( (500) Days of Summer ) invests great time and care in telling - followed by a standard superhero blockbuster, complete with 3D CGI battle sequences and an overly-formulaic structure. The point of debate amongst fans will be the question of which half of the film is the better one, and the answer will largely depend on the preferences and expectations of the viewer.

Andrew Garfield Martin Sheen and Sally Field in 'The Amazing Spider-Man'

For my money, the first hour of Amazing Spider-Man is the more interesting half, as it presents a version of the character we haven't seen before. Webb creates the world of Peter Parker - and the characters that inhabit it - in a way that few people before him have. In this film, Peter Parker feels like a fully-realized person; the home he shares with his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field) feels like a real place, and the high school he attends feels like one you could walk right into. Andrew Garfield owns the leading role, offering a mix of lanky physicality, sharp wit and carefully measured emotion - traits that are effective on both sides of the mask, and help him to wall-crawl right out of the shadow of Tobey Maguire. The rest of the cast is just as strong; on the whole, the players in this new version far outshine the original ensemble.

Raimi's film always felt somewhat emotionally distant, while Webb grabs hold of personal turmoil and emotional connections as his primary point of interest. The chemistry between the principal actors - Garfield, Sheen, Field and Denis Leary as Gwen's father, Captain Stacy - is very palpable and engaging, so that we actually care when reckless super-Peter has his big angry blow up at Uncle Ben and Aunt May, or when he causes tension at the dinner table trading quips with Cpt. Stacy - or the emotional punch we get as Peter listens to the last voice message his Uncle left him, professing fatherly affection. Garfield and Stone have even better chemistry, and indeed Amazing Spider-Man is often at its best when watching the two young leads trading snappy flirtatious dialogue or (in one scene) maturely discussing the dangers of Peter's heroics. Stone is a much better heroine than Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane (smart and feisty, rather than hapless and dramatic) - though she's still given little to actually do besides to stare into her co-star's eyes in key scenes (which she does well).

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy in 'Amazing Spider-Man'

When the first hour is up, and the film inevitably transitions into the superhero blockbuster we've been waiting for, the rough seams quickly start show. The studio had to know that an indie director like Marc Webb would be somewhat out of his element handling such big-budget action fare - but to his credit, Webb (with a good deal of assistance, no doubt) manages to keep things together - if only barely.

The Spider-Man action in the film is better than ever, thanks to some improved conceptualization (Spider-Man actually moves and fights like a spider) and a whole lot of superior technology. The cinematography is gorgeous and there are well-staged practical stunts that help avoid an over-reliance on CGI - and even the effects-heavy portions of the film (like the character of The Lizard) are handled reasonably well. The 3D effects are phenomenal whenever Spider-Man suits up to do some web-slinging, but are almost non-existent in the domestic scenes. You could go an hour before really needing to put on the glasses.

Pacing and editing are the two biggest issues in the film - and this is very apparent in some of the rushed set pieces that are wedged into the second and third acts. Example: a second-act sewer battle seeks to build tension and suspense, only to come to an abrupt end - followed by a speedy and awkward transition into a high school battle sequence. The entire character of "Curt Connors" becomes an extraneous narrative concern as the Spider-Man action ramps up, and a lot of the primary plot threads that galvanize the movie get pushed off onto an inevitable sequel, so that time and space are freed up for Spidey to pound on (or get pounded by) the mostly arbitrary villain that is The Lizard.

The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) in 'The Amazing Spider-Man'

The Spider-Man action is cooler, but totally at odds with the deeper story that precedes it; the initial character and world building are handled much better than the hollow and cartoonish Raimi film, but those threads are ultimately left dangling without much resolution or acknowledgement. What we're left with is a pastiche of scenes that are, generally speaking, all interesting, impactful or 'cool,' but when looked at as a whole, are clearly the rough stitch-work of an inexperienced tailor.

Whether that "tailor" is Webb, screenwriters James Vanderbilt ( Zodiac ), Alvin Sargent (the original Spider-Man trilogy) and Steve Kloves (the Harry Potter films) - or simply some meddling studio executives, we may never know. But whatever the case, the fact is that The Amazing Spider-Man is somewhat at odds with itself. And while that might be a fitting metaphor for the character himself, as a film seeking to justify its own new beginning, Amazing Spider-Man ends up being a solid relaunch, rather than a "good" or (wait for it) "amazing" one. The potential is there for a much bigger, better, Spider-Man movie universe to come, even if this movie doesn't fully realize that potential.

For an in-depth discussion of the film by the Screen Rant team check out our Amazing Spider-Man episode of the SR Underground podcast .

If you want to talk about the movie in detail, head over to our Amazing Spider-Man Spoilers Discussion , or rate the movie for yourself below.

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The Amazing Spider-Man

In Andrew Garfield's first film as the iconic Marvel superhero, Peter Parker gains his powers and his alter ego as Spider-Man. Meanwhile, the Lizard is a growing threat, and Spider-Man must use his newfound abilities to save the day.

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‘the amazing spider-man’: what the critics are saying.

The remake received mixed reviews from critics, saying that Spidey might be swinging in circles.

By Kelly Payton

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'The Amazing Spider-Man': What the Critics are Saying

The Amazing Spider-Man Poster Headshot - P 2012

(500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb brings one of Marvel’s oldest and well-known superheroes, Spider-Man, back to the big screen this summer. His film, called The Amazing Spider-Man , stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, a high school student raised by his uncle ( Martin Sheen ) and aunt ( Sally Field ). Peter discovers an old briefcase that once belonged to his father, which leads him to biomedical company Oscorp and Dr. Curt Connors ( Rhys Ifans ). After being bitten by radioactive spiders, Peter gains superhuman abilities, leading him to a face-off with The Lizard — Connors’ villainous alter ego. The movie also features Peter’s first love interest, Gwen Stacy ( Emma Stone ).

The Amazing Spider-Man has so far earned a 78% among top critics on Rotten Tomatoes thus far, while the 2002 Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi , ranked at 83% .

The Hollywood Reporter ’s Jordan Mintzer says, “Directed with emotional depth and plenty of comedic touches by Marc Webb (no pun intended), this somewhat darker depiction of your friendly neighborhood superhero inserts a touching portrait of adolescent angst into an otherwise predictable dose of CGI-fueled action, with stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone breathing new life into Stan Lee ’s 50-year-old creation.”

PHOTOS: Spider-Man’s 50-Year History: How Peter Parker Became a Billion-Dollar Franchise

While audiences may wonder why the comic book hero needed a movie remake, Minzter says Webb and the screenwriters, “build up a convincing Peter Parker origin story here, combining tongue-in-cheek high jinks with a more downbeat tale of childhood trauma and attempting to answer those viewers wondering why they ever did a remake in the first place.”

Minzter also approves of the chemistry between Peter and his love interest Gwen. “Peter is depicted as a smart but downtrodden outsider who truly comes to life when he’s alongside his object of desire,” he says. “The scenes between Garfield and Stone have a witty and realistic edge to them that’s rare for a comic book romance.”

Los Angeles Times ’ critic Kenneth Turan took issue with parts of the project, writing, “ Spider-Man goes in and out of focus. This is a film that is memorable in pieces but not as a whole, doing enough right things in key areas to ensure box-office success but permitted to drift into earnest pokiness when the spotlight is not on.”

He agrees with Minzter on the relationship front, noting, “the best piece, obviously, is the relationship between Garfield’s Peter Parker and Stone’s Gwen Stacy.”

PHOTOS: ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Premiere: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone Swing Into Action on the Red Carpet

Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal finds the remake repetitive. “The truly amazing thing is that most of what happens to Peter Parker in the first half of the film has already happened in the previous chapters of the Spidey saga.”

“In the movie, what’s old is old again,” he says.

Morgenstern notes the advanced technology in the movie, but adds that the action scenes are “oddly joyless demonstations of hypergymnastics, extravagant motion with meager emotion.”

He says Marc Webb “presides over many elisions and lapses.”

Morgenstern adds, “there’s a sense of filling time with lame contrivance” in the movie.

STORY: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’s’ Andrew Garfield Admits He’s ‘Incredibly Awkward’ (Video)

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was a bigger fan, giving the movie 3 ½ out of 4 stars. “This is a more thoughtful film, and its action scenes are easier to follow in space and time,” he says.

“If we didn’t really need to be told Spidey’s origin story again, at least it’s done with more detail and provides better reasons for why Peter Parker throws himself into his superhero role.”

Although Ebert comments that Garfield looks too old to be in high school, he has a likability about him. “Garfield’s take on Spidey is sometimes a few strands short of a web,” he says. “He’s not above showoff stunts in high school and takes chances with his newfound superpowers. This is the first Spider-Man who can leap off a skyscraper and make us wonder if he has a plan in mind.”

Unlike other critics, Ebert enjoyed that this origin story takes its time. “It seems to me that CGI superhero films often go on autopilot during their big action climaxes,” he says.

“The best of all the Spider-Man movies remains [Sam] Raimi ‘s Spider-Man 2 (2004), with the best of the series’ villains, Doc Ock,” Ebert confesses. “This film is probably the second best.”

STORY: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Director Marc Webb Pitches Sequel Villain: ‘The Mime’

New York Post ’s Lou Lumenick says the “reboot doesn’t have a leg to stand on,” giving it 2 our of 4 stars.

The movie, he says, it “hardly awful but not coming close to living up to that adjective in the title either.”

“Sometimes dull and mostly uninspired, it’s much less a satisfying reboot like Batman Begins than a pointless rehash in the mode of Superman Returns .”

Disagreeing with Ebert, he says the film has a “slow-as-molasses first half, choppy editing, so-so effects and a chemistry-free love story.”

The thing Spider-Man does have? “Extreme predictability—something that fans of superhero movies seem to crave, if the massive grosses for the bloated and mediocre The Avengers are any indication.”

STORY: ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Director Marc Webb Talks About His Biggest Challenge: Casting Peter Parker (Video)

Christy Lemire of Associated Press says the movie is “pretty much different in every way from the staggeringly successful Marvel Comics-inspired trilogy that preceded it.”

“ The Amazing Spider-Man feels like its own separate entity,” she says. “It may not be as transporting or genre altering an experience as those earlier films, especially the first two, but it finds a distinct voice.”

As for the 3D aspect of the movie? “The 3D feels like an attempt by the studio to sling more summer moviegoing dollars into its web; you should resist, especially since, based on a quick tease during the closing credits, a sequel is clearly being hatched.”

The Amazing Spider-Man opened nationwide on Tuesday, July 3.

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Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Aaron Leggo
Movie Reviews
32 responses
--> July 5, 2012

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) by The Critical Movie Critics

An uncomfortable pose.

Our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is back to spinning a cinematic web that returns him to his roots, but where familiarity resides, so does a daring creativity emerge that makes this Spidey a fantastic and fascinating force to be reckoned with. The beloved web-head is now played by Andrew Garfield, taking over the wall-crawling duties from previous franchise star Tobey Maguire, and this new version of the character has his own way of doing things. Most notably, he likes to take his time.

Choosing radically different narrative pacing than Sam Raimi’s 2002 series launcher that cut almost immediately to the chase, The Amazing Spider-Man is in no hurry to fulfill the promise of the title. Instead, it cozily settles in to an intimate look at the life of Peter Parker, who now misses his mom and dad more than ever before. This parental angle doesn’t exactly get things off to a good start, as a weakly mysterious prologue sets up an absent piece of Peter’s puzzle that has rarely, if ever, been missed. Apparently little Peter (temporarily played by Max Charles) entered his scientist dad’s home office one day and found it ransacked, which was enough to send Ma and Pa Parker (Embeth Davidtz and Campbell Scott) running off into the night, never to be seen again.

So Peter ends up living with his Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and this new Spidey story catches up with where the hero’s origin tale usually begins. Except that this iteration is determined to introduce us to the characters first and the heroism later, a bold move that pushes the movie’s first action scene past the half-hour mark and the first major effects sequence somewhere closer to the halfway point of the whole movie. Given the penchant for blockbuster movies to kick things off with a splashy showcase of expensive stunts and pyrotechnics nowadays, this calm, careful unfolding represents an appreciable attempt to forge a fresh path.

It also helps that the roles have been so smartly cast. Gangly Garfield makes a great Peter Parker, putting his own sharp spin on the clumsy, unpopular teen. By employing jumbled line deliveries and full use of his lanky body, he convincingly communicates the character’s bumbling social skills and introverted attitude. And then later on, Garfield makes an equally relatable Spider-Man and pulls off the impressive feat of giving the superhero his own identity, while also maintaining a believable bridge between him and his alter-ego. This Spidey is big on the wisecracks and he exhibits the expected cool confidence in the face of danger, but the transformation that occurs when he pulls on the mask feels like an unleashing of a fully heightened version of Peter rather than a whole new guy. He also seems to love his newfound responsibility, a feeling that translates well to the big screen.

Peter’s other love is the movie’s other key to success. Stone is immensely enjoyable as the gorgeous Gwen, who can simultaneously match Peter’s intellect and steal his heart. Already an astonishingly consistent performer, Stone ensures that Gwen is much more than a basic love interest who sits in her room and pines for her hero. She’s as charming and likable as Peter and the inevitable romantic angle takes a rare turn by blockbuster standards and actually feels utterly integral to the plot, as opposed to a mere assumed necessity. This very special effect is achieved through that often intangible, unattainable spark of chemistry that so many romantic pairs struggle to generate. It comes naturally to Garfield and Stone, though, who are so genuine in their on-screen romance that they deliver Marvel’s most tender movie love story to date.

This relationship anchors The Amazing Spider-Man in dramatically rich territory and gives the title hero some very personal stakes in his battles. In one of the movie’s most thrilling fight sequences, Spidey battles a transformed Curt Conners, now a monstrous Lizard (now a motion captured Ifans), throughout the hallways of his high school. Spidey performs some incredible stunts and some wild web work, although eventually the Lizard appears to wear him down. But when Gwen steps in to help and finds herself in momentary danger, Spidey suddenly taps into some reserve energy and attacks the Lizard with furiously desperate might. It’s a powerful scene and a highlight of the cinematic superhero genre because it manages to say so much about the character while letting his actions speak for themselves.

High school love.

There are times the road to Peter’s transformation hits a few rocky patches, however, especially when the movie tries to reconfigure certain origin tale milestone moments just for the sake of continuing to distance this version from Raimi’s. Talented screenwriters Steve Kloves, Alvin Sargent, and James Vanderbilt, who also nabs a “story” credit, collectively come up with a weird, though acceptable way to update the imperative subplot about Uncle Ben’s murder so that the sequence of events is almost entirely different and yet almost entirely the same as the comic book faithful one we already saw a decade ago in Raimi’s version.

Sometimes we can see the strain of the writers’ efforts, but this remains a minor quibble in the face of such boldly intimate blockbuster moviemaking. A few moments flirt perhaps too closely with treacle and James Horner’s score, while pleasant, is mostly forgettable, but again, minor quibbles when they go up against Webb’s moving accomplishments, the presence of the actors, the chemistry of the leads, the unusually lofty structure, and even the absolutely awesome action sequences that excite as well as they engage.

What a wonderful web. What a wonderful Webb. This is superhero cinema reinterpreted, at once a heartfelt tale of a boy in love and suddenly a soaring adventure about a boy who swings in spandex. The Amazing Spider-Man is familiar trajectory, but it’s executed with such poignant patience that it feels uniquely new. This Spidey is spectacular, a superhero with soul in a story stuffed with sensitive sweetness. Yes, with all the ups and downs in this Spidey’s life, he remains a pretty emotional guy. I can relate. This kind of stunning superheroism makes me emotional, too.

Tagged: comic book adaptation , high school , remake , scientist , superhero

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'Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)' have 32 comments

July 5, 2012 @ 8:18 am Gordon

I wanted so much to like this but I didn’t. The story is flat and the Lizard is an unknown and a weak enemy (the Vulture would have been better). Stone and Garfield did have good on-screen chemistry though = just not enough to abate my disappointment.

July 5, 2012 @ 10:28 am Mushrooming

By now the last thing needed is the origins of Spider-Man.

July 5, 2012 @ 10:47 am VidChip

Well written review Aaron. I don’t agree with much of it, but it is well written. :)

July 5, 2012 @ 12:27 pm Ryan

Better cast all-around than Raimi’s take – Andrew Garfied made the perfect Spider-Man. Emma Stone was a fine Gwen Stacy. Plus it has the best Stan Lee cameo too! This version felt more like it came from the comics too something I felt was sorely lacking in the first three Spidey flicks. I’ll definitely see this again once the crowds die down.

July 5, 2012 @ 2:21 pm Garage Kept

You nailed it. This was a great reboot.

July 5, 2012 @ 2:51 pm Approved

I’ll take the first two Spider-Man movies over this any day of the week. This version felt hacked together like Frankenstein’s monster. And why did they make Peter Parker into such a pussy? There is no excuse for that.

July 5, 2012 @ 7:01 pm Farhen

I loved it. Surpasses The Dark Knight.

July 5, 2012 @ 7:27 pm OctoDad

I liked the movie but it would have been served much better had the CGI been not so CGI-ey and the 3D left off. I felt nauseous from the 1st person webslinging to.

July 5, 2012 @ 8:54 pm Christi

Marc Webb and team put together a strong reboot: Talented cast (Good to see Sally Field out there), balanced story and great effects. It’s enough to make one forget that there were 3 Spidey movies made before-one as recently as only 5 years ago.

July 5, 2012 @ 10:00 pm Elvis

I had always felt Kirsten Dunst was miscast as MJ Watson. The inclusion of Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy was a good move. It’ll be interesting see if she gets killed off in the sequel…

July 6, 2012 @ 6:46 am Bender

Not the “Summer Blockbuster” I was hoping to see, rather it was a “Summer Sizzle”. It did enough to stay entertaining but it never ‘wowed’.

July 6, 2012 @ 2:53 pm Rickie

The first half of the film is an improvement over Raimi’s. The second half doesn’t compare. Especially on the villain front – The Lizard was even weaker than Sandman…..

July 6, 2012 @ 4:19 pm Joe

I love my Marvel Superheroes but I felt letdown by this recasting.

July 6, 2012 @ 8:06 pm ReTodd

Everyone short of those living in the Burmese jungles knows how Peter Parker got his powers and how he transformed into Spider-Man. It did not have to take half the movie to retell. A 10-minute montage would have sufficed and Webb could have gotten down to the business of crime fighting.

July 7, 2012 @ 6:45 am LavenderGang

After watching this yesterday, I like the Raimi movies even more. Even Spiderman 3.

July 7, 2012 @ 12:44 pm Calhoon

The Amazing Spider-Man is the more realistic version of the character just as The Dark Knight is a more realistic version of Batman. Whether it is a better version is debatable.

July 7, 2012 @ 1:04 pm propolug

I’m not sure what people are complaining about. Had there not been a detailed backstory drawn up, everyone would have moaned that Webb glossed over the most important element of the story. I thought the detail paid to it was worth it and Garfield did a great job filling Spidey’s shoes.

July 7, 2012 @ 1:19 pm Dimbel

Good movie I liked it.

July 7, 2012 @ 3:29 pm Studly Stash

The Amazing Spider-Man is way better than the movies Raimi did. I’ll be seeing this for a second time next week.

July 7, 2012 @ 6:32 pm urbana

It’s a more grounded movie. I’d have welcomed it if were a bit darker perhaps..

July 7, 2012 @ 11:50 pm Zach

Did I miss the “With great power comes great responsibility” speech?

July 13, 2012 @ 11:18 pm Walton the Wise

Uncle Ben gave the speech, but didn’t utter the sentence specifically.

July 8, 2012 @ 2:59 am Nichelle

Just watch it! It’s a good movie and a good start to the summer season.

July 9, 2012 @ 1:10 am Hassan

I think it was more of a fact that Spider-Man 3 was a disaster and the studio couldn’t milk any more money from it so they decided to erase every trace of it and start a new one so they can make money from it again. That’s the main reason why I’m very much annoyed by the existence of this film. This film exists to soley be a franchise. As talented as some of the people involved are it’s gonna take a lot to convince me that this movie is something different.

July 9, 2012 @ 2:24 am Albastross

Webshooters, yeah? Maybe? Also I don’t the any issue with him being slender. I never thought it was much about strength and muscles when it came to Spiderman and he’s supposed to be a teen here, right?

July 9, 2012 @ 8:43 am Bad Mitten

I’m a longtime comics fan (esp. Spidey) but I find most superhero flicks (The Hulk, Captain America, Watchmen, Spider-Man, The X-Men, etc.) lose any sense of fun in their eagerness to win over the non-fans of the comic books. For me the most boring part of all these superhero movies is the extended origin setups. They’re necessary but they need to get it over quickly so true fans have something to enjoy.

July 13, 2012 @ 7:04 pm mongoose

I wouldn’t call this a superhero movie per se, it is really a teen romance movie first and foremost. And dare I say, Amazing Spiderman is actually a very good teen romance movie.

August 7, 2012 @ 5:33 pm garfield

and bingo was his namo

July 19, 2012 @ 6:25 pm Sullivan

Great movie. Now onto The Dark Knight Rises!

July 25, 2012 @ 1:11 pm Cinco Squared

Better than Dark Knight Rises.

July 31, 2012 @ 11:09 am Jagger Cat

The only thing to like about this version of Spiderman is its got a very believable connection between Peter and Gwen.

August 20, 2012 @ 10:37 am Brett

I just rewatched the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man; it is so much better than this Marc Webb version.

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Here’s a wild idea: Would it be possible to make a superhero movie and just take out all of the action sequences? You know, just focus on the character’s conflict—the way he struggles to balance his public responsibilities with his private relationships? It would only be about an hour and a half long—maybe 80 minutes, tops—but it would be gripping, moving, even nourishing.

Sundance-labbed Spider-Man. Mumblecore Spider-Man.

Having endured “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” that’s the movie I would rather have seen. I recognize that this is a ridiculous proposal. These comics-inspired, effects-laden summer blockbusters are created to serve as an escape for international audiences. They are part of a franchise. They are product. They are drive-thru, fast-food cheeseburgers in cinematic form. See ‘em in IMAX, and it’s like supersizing your order with curly fries on the side.

Director Marc Webb ’s follow-up to his entirely adequate “ The Amazing Spider-Man ” from 2012 feels even more like it’s just been unloaded from the assembly line. The sporadic moments of recognizable human contact and emotion are the only ones in this latest episode of the soaring web slinger that truly take flight. I want Webb’s “ (500) Days of Summer ” version of teenage superhero angst—and it exists here, but only in glimmers.

Instead, working with veteran screenwriters Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (“ Star Trek ,” “ Transformers “) and Jeff Pinkner (TV’s “Alias,” “Lost”), Webb gives us a film that’s densely plotted—sometimes confusingly so—with set pieces so big and glossy, they’re depleted almost entirely of any connecting sensation. Spidey swings and swoops through the sky, gliding between tall buildings and around steep towers. It’s sufficiently giddy at first but eventually grows repetitive and wearying, especially as more and more stuff gets blown up real good.

Just when you think it’s over, there’s another fight and another villain, another climax and another conclusion. The whole endeavor just drags on and on, and any momentary thrills you may have experienced have long since passed. There’s a lot going on here but very little that’s truly compelling.

Conversely, though, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is strongest when it’s at its quietest and most intimate. One revelatory exchange between Andrew Garfield ’s Peter Parker and Sally Field as Peter’s Aunt May is so poignant, it made me want to cry. And every scene between Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter’s sharp and assured girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, leaps off the screen. These are the real 3-D effects, the ones created by the flirty sparks between these two actors.

Garfield gets to be a bit lighter and more playful this time around, but his inner struggle over the use of his arachnotastic powers—and the larger consequences of them—remain palpable. What made his performance in the original “Amazing Spider-Man” work so well, and what made it such a pleasing difference from the way Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker in Sam Raimi ’s “ Spider-Man ” trilogy, was his innate rebelliousness. Garfield’s Peter already had a restless, restless streak in him—a chip on his shoulder for his outsider status—which made his choice to become a vigilante crime fighter make more sense.

Here, Garfield is the cheeky, wisecracking superhero of Marvel Comic lore. He has become Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Yet the tag line on the movie’s posters and billboards says: “His greatest battle begins.” How many times can he have his first, greatest battle? Haven’t we already covered much of this territory?

Once again, Peter is working through his daddy issues, searching for clues as to why his mysterious scientist father ( Campbell Scott ) and mother ( Embeth Davidtz ) left him to be raised by his aunt and uncle in blue-collar Queens when he was just a young boy.

Once again, Peter reconnects with childhood friend Harry Osborn (played in Raimi’s films by James Franco , played here by a snaky Dane DeHaan ) with dire consequences. Peter and Harry’s past and future are as intrinsically tied as their fathers’ were; Harry’s dad is, of course, the scheming industrial titan Norman Osborn, head of Oscorp (played in Raimi’s films by Willem Dafoe , played here with a last few gasps by Chris Cooper ), where Peter’s father was a top researcher.

The massive Manhattan skyscraper that houses Oscorp Headquarters represents all that is untrustworthy and duplicitous about corporate culture. It’s also an unsafe work environment, it seems, as evidenced by the fate of Jamie Foxx ’s character, engineer Max Dillon.

Max is a nerdy stalker obsessed with Spider-Man and depressed by the tiniest perceived slight. (In case you were wondering, playing a needy dweeb isn’t the best fit for Foxx’s considerable charisma.) While working late one night, Max falls into a vat of electrified eels and becomes the high-voltage villain Electro—although, with his pallid skin, hooded cloak and lightning bolts shooting from his fingers, Electro amusingly (and distractingly) resembles “ Star Wars ” uber-villain Darth Sidious.

And so Peter must deal with Electro, as well as with the dark, destructive force Harry will become. There’s also a third bad guy waiting in the wings in the form of Paul Giamatti , lumbering about Midtown in a giant, metal rhinoceros get-up. He goes by the name Rhino, in case you’re unfamiliar with the canon. And he’s kind of adorable. He also shows up so last minute, his inclusion feels like a wedged-in tease for the next installment (which surely is unavoidable).

But the more important battle occurs within Peter himself: whether to pursue his love for Gwen, knowing full well it was the wish of her late, police-officer father ( Denis Leary ) that he stay away from her and keep her out of his mayhem. Gwen is actually the smartest and most interesting character here; confident and independent, she just graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class and she’s on her way to London to study at Oxford.

The insanely likable Stone makes her the coolest, most stylish brain imaginable. Perhaps in the low-budget, indie Spidey I’m envisioning, the story can be told from Gwen’s perspective.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series “Ebert Presents At the Movies” opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider Man
Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn
Paul Giamatti as Aleksei Sytsevich / The Rhino
Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker
Marton Csokas as Dr. Kafka
Chris Zylka as Flash Thompson
B.J. Novak as Allistar Smythe
Denis Leary as Captain Stacy
Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon / Electro
Colm Feore as Donald Menken
Felicity Jones as Felicia
Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
Sally Field as Aunt May
Alex Kurtzman
Jeff Pinkner
Roberto Orci

Director of Photography

Daniel Mindel

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The Amazing Spider-Man

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

To call it pointless wouldn’t be unfair. The last Spider-Man movie was only five years ago. Is it possible to forget the trilogy director Sam Raimi built with Tobey Maguire as the webslinger and Kirsten Dunst as his teen love? I don’t think so. Aside from the profit motive of brand milking, I don’t really see why the Spidey reboot was needed right now, even in 3D. The newbie is basically retelling the Marvel comic book tale of Peter Parker, the high school loner whose life is changed by a spider bite. You know the rest. You really do. That being said, The Amazing Spider-Man has its virtues, chief among them its two stars: Andrew Garfield as Peter, the nerd turned crimefighter, and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, the daughter of a police chief (Denis Leary) who can’t help being drawn into Peter’s web. Garfield, so good in The Social Network and onstage in Death of a Salesman , puts his own stamp on Peter and his drive to solve the mystery of his parents’ death. And Stone just jumps to life onscreen. Gwen was played by Stone’s The Help costar Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3 , but her take on the role is distinctly her own. The Amazing Spider-Man delivers in its action and flying scenes as Spidey fights the villain, a.k.a. The Lizard (Rhys Ifans). But that’s due diligence. The core of the new movie is the love story. It’s no accident that Marc Webb was chosen to direct. Webb is the man behind (500) Days of Summer , the 2009 hit with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt that is one of the best movie romances of the decade. Webb never loses touch with the film’s emotional through line. And he allows time and space for Garfield and Stone, both stellar, to turn a high-flying adventure into something impassioned and moving. A Spider-Man that touches the heart. Now that really is amazing.

Related •At the Movies With Peter Travers: ‘The Amazing Spider-Man Is Fun, But Do We Really Need It? • Q&A: Emma Stone on Branching Out With ‘Spider-Man,’ Admiring Woody Allen • Peter Travers’ Summer Preview: 10 Must-See Movies

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Days After Leaving Netflix, This Spider-Man Movie Has Swung Into the Peacock Top 10

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It's been less than two weeks since all the Spider-Man movies that were streaming on Netflix departed the platform , but that hasn't stopped them from finding success in a new place. The Amazing Spider-Man , the 2012 action adventure flick which sees Andrew Garfield take over the role of Peter Parker from Tobey Maguire , has jumped into the Peacock top 10 (currently #9) after arriving on the platform at the beginning of this month. The film once again tells the origin story of Peter Parker, a New York kid who gets bit by a radioactive spider and gets superpowers, only to clash with Dr. Curt Connors ( Rhys Ifans ), a doctor who can turn into a giant lizard. The Amazing Spider-Man currently sits at a 71% score from critics and a 77% rating from general audiences on Rotten Tomatoes .

The Amazing Spider-Man was written by James Vanderbilt , with Alvin Sargent and Steve Cloves also receiving credit for the screenplay. Vanderbilt is best known for his work writing Zodiac , the 2007 police procedural starring Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo . He most recently wrote the scripts for Murder Mystery and Murder Mystery 2 , the buddy comedy films starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston which are currently streaming on Netflix. The Amazing Spider-Man was helmed by Marc Webb , who made his feature debut several years prior on 500 Days of Summer , and also directed Chris Evans and Mckenna Grace several years after in Gifted , the 2017 drama currently streaming on Prime Video.

What Have Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone Been Up to Lately?

Both leading stars from The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, have each received love from the Academy lately, but only Stone has taken home any hardware. She just won her second Oscar for her performance in Poor Things , the Yorgos Lanthimos -helmed dark comedy which also stars Willem Dafoe . This came seven years after she brought home her first Academy Award for her performance opposite Ryan Gosling in La La Land . Garfield has been nominated for Best Actor twice for his roles in Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and tick, tick... BOOM! (2021), but he has yet to bring home the gold. He'll have a chance for another nomination this year for his work in We Live in Time , the romance drama which also stars Florence Pugh .

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone and was written by James Vanderbilt and directed by Marc Webb. Stay tuned to Collider for future streaming updates and watch The Amazing Spider-Man , now streaming on Peacock .

The Amazing Spider-Man

After Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound, spider-like powers and ventures out to save the city from the machinations of a mysterious reptilian foe.

WATCH ON PEACOCK

Andrew Garfield

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Renowned truth teller Andrew Garfield shuts down Spider-Man 4 rumors but offers a glimmer of hope: "You can always find another story to tell"

Don't believe everything you read on the web

Andrew Garfield has shut down rumors that he will appear in Spider-Man 4.

Since his return as his Amazing Spider-Man iteration in No Way Home , the internet has been abuzz with speculation that Andrew Garfield will reprise the role in a future project; one prominent whisper claims it could even be alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 4.

According to the actor, though, that's not happening anytime soon.

"I mean, like the internet is a big place," Garfield told IndieWire . "I think there’s a lot of people who will just say anything to get clicks. So you might have been duped, I’m afraid."

Despite that being fairly definitive, Garfield offered up a glimmer of hope about the future in a separate interview with Screen Rant , one where he waxed lyrical about the "endless" potential of Spider-Man.

"I think it's kind of endless, what can be done with that character," Garfield said. "Not that we should; not that we will, but I think you can always find another story to tell."

Right now, here's what we do know: a fourth Spider-Man movie, starring Tom Holland, is currently being written .

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"All I will say is that we have the story," Kevin Feige told Entertainment Weekly back in February regarding Spider-Man 4. "We have big ideas for that, and our writers are just putting pen to paper now."

Later, in April, Tom Holland also addressed the upcoming Spider-Man project , though seemed a little less concrete on its status.

"We have the best in the business working toward whatever the story might be. But until we’ve cracked it, we have a legacy to protect," Holland told Deadline . "[Spider-Man: No Way Home] was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing."

Of course, Andrew Garfield is often economical with the truth when it comes to Spidey. Famously, he dodged questions and told some porkies about not appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home – right up until release . So, maybe we shouldn't take this at face value until the credits have rolled on Spider-Man 4.

For a larger look at the MCU's exciting future, check out our guides to Marvel Phase 5 , Marvel Phase 6 and upcoming Marvel movies . Then take in the story so far with the Marvel timeline and the breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order .

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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Amazing Spider-Man #57 Tweet window.twttr = (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], t = window.twttr || {}; if (d.getElementById(id)) return t; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); t._e = []; t.ready = function(f) { t._e.push(f); }; return t; }(document, "script", "twitter-wjs"));

Tombstone finds himself in prison after the brutal beatings he dished out, and also took, in the previous issue. But if you know Tombstone, you know that this is not quite the end of a story starring Lonnie Lincoln... Rated T

Critic Reviews (6)
User Reviews (4)
Rate / Write A Review

Kingpin makes a play for his daughter. Heroes and villains wield the American justice system in their best interests. And Digger has a spectacularly uplifting experience in Amazing Spider-Man #57. Read Full Review

THIS IS A GREAT ISSUE. Read Full Review

Romia Jr. continues to create some great art throughout the issue. The visuals are wonderfully detailed and perfectly capture the mood and tone of the story. Read Full Review

If you like crime family drama, Amazing Spider-Man #57 will satisfy you. Tombstone has to rush to prevent himself from going to jail for a long time, but can he kill his own daughter? I guess we'll find out by the end of the story arc! Read Full Review

Zeb throws some major curveballs at readers here and the writer's strengths, for me, normally revolve around Peter's "lower stakes" adventures. Read Full Review

Amazing Spider-Man #57 ratchets up the stakes, action, and tension when Tombstone makes bail and takes steps to make sure he stays out of jail. Unfortunately, the goodwill created by building momentum is spoiled by a bizarre trap that's too dumb to believe. Couple a bad creative choice with bizarrely inconsistent art, and you get a wildly uneven issue. Read Full Review

Plot Spider-man, She-Hulk and Mayor Luke Cage take Tombstone to jail, however, Michele his lawyer manages to get him out on bail, until the trial begins, the detail is that the key witness is Janice Tombstone's daughter, who agrees to take her father to jail. Upon being released on bail, Randy and Janice are watched by Spider-man, while Tombstone sends Rabbit and his team to track them down when they are transferred, however, Spider-man turns them into a decoy, thinking that Tombstone doesn't know what he's doing. Sadly, Tombstone reaches where Janice is, we don't know if he eliminated Randy in the process. This is another exciting episode full of action and chases, where nothing is what it seems and th e plot twists will leave you shocked. The double splash page of the train is AMAZING. Art John Romita Jr. gets that gloomy, grim tone out of this situation and incorporates it into the unique body language he gives Spider-man with his art. It's a privilege to read comics illustrated by this legend who always evolves by using you. JRJR always shows one or more splash pages that define the comic. Summary Janice is the key witness to bring her father Tombstone to jail, so she must be guarded no matter what, but it's not easy to overcome the new Kingpin more

This issue was intense af. Turns out my prediction was the same one the characters made... and the wrong one. This is one of the strengths wells has that gets overlooked I feel. Our expectations are "Lonnie would never hurt Janice directly, hed just kill someone close" and at the beginning of this run he wouldn't have. Thats something Tombstone practically laid out himself over the course of the run, between gang war and even the planned wedding. He has for the entire run put Janice's wants over his own. Except for two times, the end of gang war and now. This calls all the way back to tombstones flashbacks early in the run, where he was powerless to protect himself. Now with that power in his sight and in his grasp, he isn' t willing to let ANYONE get in the way of it. He's become just like Fisk. Its a character shift; and a subversion but one thats been baked into the writing of the character from the beginning. Hes still the kid being taken on as a child, but now he sees Janice and spider man as the ones doing the harassing, and so the lion comes out. Also the train thing was a pretty clever and cool ambush both visually and concept wise. It made it seem authentic, something extreme Lonnie would do knowing what he's up against. So it being a ruse is harder to expect. Wells is going out with maybe his strongest arc. I wish it'd been this consistently great the whole time; but if he sticks the landing ill still give him props for this. more

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The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man Wont ever forget watching this movie when I was just 6 years old. Amazing Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/14/24 Full Review ashley THIS is how you make a Spider-Man movie!
A remake that's also a reboot movie review (2012)
136 minutes ‧ PG-13 ‧ 2012. Roger Ebert. June 28, 2012. 4 min read. We live in an age of speed-up, which may explain why the " Spider-Man " franchise feels the need for a reboot only 10 years after its first film, and five years after the most recent one. In its broad strokes, "The Amazing Spider-Man" is a remake of Sam Raimi's ...
Review: 'The Amazing Spider-Man' With Andrew Garfield
Like his debut feature, the bittersweet romance "(500) Days of Summer," Mr. Webb's Spider-Man movie works only because he keeps the whole package, at least until the requisite final blowout ...
The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review
The Amazing Spider-Man relies on many of the character and plot beats from Sam Raimi's original 2002 film, meshes them with a "real-world" Dark Knight vibe, and unevenly tries to balance these ...
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is not, in fact, "necessary," but not because we just saw this story ten years ago; it's just not a very good movie. Full Review | Mar 10, 2021 Mike Massie Gone With The Twins
The Amazing Spider-Man: Film Review
PG-13 rating, 136 minutes. Andrew Garfield. Emma Stone. Marc Webb. The Amazing Spider-Man. This satisfying reboot slings a darker Spidey, a stronger romance and a welcome slew of tongue-in-cheek ...
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man: Directed by Marc Webb. With Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary. After Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound, spider-like powers and ventures out to save the city from the machinations of a mysterious reptilian foe.
The Amazing Spider-Man Review
The Amazing Spider-Man Review. Raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field), outcast high-schooler Peter Parker (Garfield) gets duffed up by jocks, crushes on classmate Gwen Stacy (Stone ...
The Amazing Spider-Man [Reviews]
Summary. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors -- whose alter-ego is The Lizard -- Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to ...
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Graced with great performances from Garfield and Stone, The Amazing Spider-Man is a rare comic-book flick that is better at examining relationships than superheroism. If it doesn't approach the current benchmark of Avengers Assemble, it still delivers a different enough, enjoyable origin story to live comfortably alongside the Raimi era.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The Amazing Spider Man Review austinfl2000 10 July 2012. Warning: Spoilers. The Amazing Spider Man is a reboot of the popular trilogy called Spiderman. ... "The Amazing Spider-Man" is not a bad movie, but is a fast-paced reinvention of the hero and therefore I was a little disappointed with the story.
The Amazing Spider-Man
In his frozen state, the man's arms get blasted away with a shotgun, bit by bit. Policemen also empty scores of bullets into the beastie, obviously causing him great pain. Uncle Ben is shot by a criminal, a wound that leaves him bleeding profusely. The Lizard uses his fearsome claws to impale one poor soul.
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker, an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy, and together, they struggle with love ...
The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review
Parents say (57 ): Kids say (219 ): Director Marc Webb brings a realism to the proceedings that's hard not to like in this superhero reboot. He lingers on the teen romance, which is delightful, and serves up thrilling action sequences without the show-off-y quality that too many superhero movies rely on.
'The Amazing Spider-Man' Review
Amazing Spider-Man arguably gets more right than it gets wrong, but it is far from being a perfect film. At its core, the movie seems to be, in fact, two films: The hour-long teenage character drama that director Marc Webb ( (500) Days of Summer ) invests great time and care in telling - followed by a standard superhero blockbuster, complete ...
The Amazing Spider-Man Is a Superhero Coming-of-Age Story
Spider-Man's origin story is the general run of the mill. Garfield and Emma Stone are obviously too old to play teenagers. Movies. Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man mixes all the fun of a superhero blockbuster with the heart of a coming-of-age story, sprinkling in a teen romance.
'The Amazing Spider-Man': What the Critics are Saying
The movie also features Peter's first love interest, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). The Amazing Spider-Man has so far earned a 78% among top critics on Rotten Tomatoes thus far, while the 2002 Spider ...
The Amazing Spider-Man
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ChrisStuckmannTWITTER: https://twitter.com/Chris_StuckmannOFFICIAL SITE: http://www.chrisstuckmann.comChris Stuckmann revi...
Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man is familiar trajectory, but it's executed with such poignant patience that it feels uniquely new. This Spidey is spectacular, a superhero with soul in a story stuffed with sensitive sweetness. Yes, with all the ups and downs in this Spidey's life, he remains a pretty emotional guy. I can relate.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie review (2014)
Conversely, though, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is strongest when it's at its quietest and most intimate. One revelatory exchange between Andrew Garfield 's Peter Parker and Sally Field as Peter's Aunt May is so poignant, it made me want to cry. And every scene between Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter's sharp and assured girlfriend ...
'The Amazing Spider-Man' review: Amazingly, good
The Amazing Spider-Man. Action. Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans. Directed by Marc Webb. (PG-13. 136 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) Spider-Man is back again. He's young again ...
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Review
The female lead is one area where The Amazing Spider-Man clearly trounces Raimi's films. Whereas Mary Jane always felt like the damsel-in-distress, Gwen is smart, funny, and resourceful. We never ...
The Amazing Spider-Man
Webb is the man behind (500) Days of Summer, the 2009 hit with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt that is one of the best movie romances of the decade. Webb never loses touch with the film ...
Why The Amazing Spider-Man is good and you should like it
So, after the reviews came in for Spider-Man 3 things were slowed down. It still made a considerable amount of money, but put a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, and put the franchise in danger. Once the studio got the script for Spider-Man 4, featuring The Vulture and from I understand much, much worse than 3, they cancelled it.
Days After Leaving Netflix, This Spider-Man Movie Has Swung ...
The Amazing Spider-Man was helmed by Marc Webb, who made his feature debut several years prior on 500 Days of Summer, and also directed Chris Evans and Mckenna Grace several years after in Gifted ...
Spider Man Vs The Lizard Sewer Fight Scene The Amazing Spider Man (2012
Spider Man Vs The Lizard Sewer Fight Scene The Amazing Spider Man (2012) Movie CLIP HD by Marvel. Publication date 2012 Topics Marvel Language English Item Size 14.4M . Spider-Man Addeddate 2024-08-11 02:39:42 ... There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to write a review. 8 Views . 1 Favorite. DOWNLOAD OPTIONS download 1 ...
Spider-Man in film
Spider-Man in film dates back to 1977, the rights belonging to Marvel until 1999, when Sony bought them for $7 million. [1] He has been Marvel's most successful character in the cinema industry ever since. After selling the Spider-Man motion picture rights to Sony, Marvel eventually founded its own studio, developing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) based on the characters they still held ...
Renowned truth teller Andrew Garfield shuts down Spider-Man 4 rumors
Since his return as his Amazing Spider-Man iteration in No Way Home, the internet has been abuzz with speculation that Andrew Garfield will reprise the role in a future project; one prominent ...
Amazing Spider-Man #57 Reviews
And Digger has a spectacularly uplifting experience in Amazing Spider-Man #57. Read Full Review. 5.8. Weird Science Marvel Comics - mrgabehernandez Sep 11, 2024. Amazing Spider-Man #57 ratchets up the stakes, action, and tension when Tombstone makes bail and takes steps to make sure he stays out of jail. Unfortunately, the goodwill created by ...
Upcoming New Sony Spider-Man Universe Movies: 2024 Marvel Spin-Off
Here's a quick bullet list of all the movies and TV shows that are in various stages of development: Venom: The Last Dance (a.k.a. Venom 3) - October 25, 2024

A Teenage Transformation Like No Other

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