Bill C’s Review – 3.5 out of 5
While there was no real need to reboot the Spiderman franchise so quickly, this is a good, but not great retelling of the origin of Spiderman. The story is not exactly the same as the n the Tobey McGuire 2002 version and focuses more on the mystery over the disappearance of Peter Parker’s parents and his coming to realize the responsibility to use his powers for good. It’s fun to see him learn how to control his powers. For some reason in this version, Peter Parker is a high school genius and invents his string power instead of it being a natural byproduct of his gaining other powers. I didn’t think his super villain was the greatest but he got the job done.
Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spiderman and Emma Stone as his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, were good. Spidey has had different girlfriends over the years, so no use in retreading the same girlfriend character (Mary Jane Watson) from the earlier movies. Since Garfield/Stone are an item off-screen, the couple had good chemistry on screen as well.
The special effects were good. I didn’t see this in 3D but could see how they could use this to good effect with him swinging back and forth all over the place.
This movie isn’t a must-see, but if you like the genre it is worth watching.
Note 1: Stay through the closing credits.
Note 2: The picture below has nothing to do with the movie. These people had their wedding reception at the Alamo Drafthouse and they were posing for pictures by the Moonrise Kingdom setup while I was getting ready to go into Spiderman. I asked our waitress if they actually watched a movie as part of the reception. They did: The Princess Bride!
