Back in 1990 Michael Chichton wrote a book called Jurassic Park. It's a really good read (despite some language). In '93 the book became a really good movie (despite the language). The catch though, was that they were two very different beasts (pun intended). The characters, locations and story were basically the same, however there were a lot of huge differences in the plot. But, they both worked.
Sam Raimi did the same with the first 2 Spider-man films (as said in my last post, the third didn't really happen). The characters, locations and story were basically the same, but the plot and way things transpired were way different from the comics.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a re-boot of that series.
It's selling itself as a dark, gritty, untold tale, truer to the original.
It's gritty, and that's about it.
I really, really wanted to like this movie.
However, I just can't. There is no character arch to any character, and even the attempt at an arch messes up. It comes off being a little fake.
If you know the comics, you will suto be able to call the shots with the film. That said, it sorta messes it up just enough to get you mad, instead of becoming it's own thing (see Jurassic Park or Spider-Man).
The villian is also drab. You never really understand what his motivation is.... other then moving the plot along.
On the bright side -- Emma Stone is really good as Gwen Stacy. She was great in The Help and really proved her chops here. She even looks like comic book Gwen. Kinda creepy really... Andrew Garfield was good too, he pulled off the "Punky Parker" quite well.
The action choreography was good. It stayed fast while not getting too complex.
There are already two (yes, TWO) sequels in the works for this film, here's hoping for a winner in 2 years!
