OLIVIA MARNE
Hello. Olivia here!
The first media screenings for “The Amazing Spider-Man” – Note : I believe those who were participating in the junket were only allowed access to these particular screenings, unless, of course, they were lucky enough to be snuck into a screening – were held last week in the U.S.
While I’ve personally heard mixed reports, with a couple of tougher critics even comparing it to the comic-book catastrophe “Spider-Man 3”, most of the word on the various website Forums & Twitter seem to be bordering on the positive (well, most). By-and-large, sounds like it’ll be a fun movie in the least, and offer something different from the previous “Spider-Man” films.
Now, first of all, we won’t be linking to any Twitter statuses nor posts in forums where those that have seen the media discuss it or offer up their verdict. We will simply say..
The Critics : Seems some critics thought it was hokey and a bit messy (some even comparing it to “Spider-Man 3”) with a couple of my personal favourite writers really despising it. The not-as-tough blogger seemed to enjoy it, however. Interesting to note that those that weren’t huge fans of the Sam Raimi “Spider-Man” movies are enjoying this one more so than others – likely because that something ‘different’ that it offers is what they’ve been hoping for in a Spidey movie. At the same time, those that were never fans of Tobey Maguire in the role, love Andrew Garfield. Garfield apparently makes the role his own by bringing a lot of charm and dorkish humour to the role of Parker. Those same writers also claimed it’s storyline goes a lot “deeper” than anything in the first three “Spider-Man” movies, particularly the back-story of the parents. Visual effects have also been commended.
The Non-Critic : The common comic-book fan who got into see the film (by one means or another) enjoyed it. Most positive notes have been for Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans and the amount of back-story in there about Peter’s parents. Apparently the movie even encompasses a couple of surprise character cameos. The film’s 3D, as well as the ‘first person’ way they’ve shot the ‘swinging’ scenes, and the big inevitable battle between Spidey and The Lizard is apparently one of the more entertaining superhero movie fight sequences, according to most. The public that have so far seen it seem to agree that it’s on par with “The Avengers”.
Finally, nearly everyone agrees that the only way to see this thing – because of the effects and the first-person ‘swinging’ – is in IMAX. Nice plug for those big screens!
There’s an embargo on all reviews of “The Amazing Spider-Man” for a couple of weeks, so until then… just hold out hope that your favourite writer, lucky enough to have seen it, is on the money with their advance verdict!
