The Amazing Spider Man (2012)

It took me a while to catch onto this film as I had been turned off by the original Spider Man movie. Reasons for this could be repetitively watching it with my cousins or the fact that I was younger when watching it. However as this film began to captivate the Marvel audience, which I was not part of until I saw The Avengers, I began to find online references and gifs from Tumblr. When I saw it on special I decided to invest, a decision that I do not at all regret.

Although I do not remember much of the original Spider Man movie, I believe that while following a similar basic storyline, the Amazing Spider Man has told this story in a more engaging and emotional sense. One of my favorite differences being that Peter Parker never locates the criminal who murdered his uncle, but locating him is what motivated Peter to fight crime. Another huge difference being that Peters uncle died while looking for him after an argument, which displayed the underrated message that interactions with people should be treated carefully.

Another change that I admire is the character of Peters bully Flash. In the original movie he was a mindless bully who only ever hurt Peter, however in this film he is given a moment where he becomes more human that bully when he gives Peter his condolences for his uncle passing away, despite Peter acting aggressively towards him.

In the Amazing Spider Man, Peter is only given the power to climb walls, increases his strength and agility, and gives him super keen senses (or spidey senses for the classic Spider Man lovers). His ability to create webs comes from a device he wears on each wrist that he had to create himself. This adds a more personal connection between Peter and his incognito alias Spider Man, as he too has to contribute to the abilities given to him via spiderbite.

The last note I will make on the Amazing Spider Man is Peters sense of sarcasm and sass. Possibly my favorite part of the movie is when Peter catches a car thief by sitting in the back of the car and waiting for the car thief to notice. When the thief draws a small blade to intimidate Spider Man, Peter get's on his knees and begs for mercy sarcastically "you've found my weakness, it's tiny knives".

Since I saw The Avengers I have made it sub priority to familiarise myself with Marvels films, The Amazing Spider Man is definitely one I would buy if you can find a good price (I got it in a bundle of 4 blu-ray discs for $50). My spidey senses tell me that the sequel, Rise of Electro, will also be worth watching.