"The First Day Release of The Amazing Spider-Man Impresses with a refreshing reboot of the story and a Comics-Oriented Approach to a Quirky and Flawed Superhero, but is it Enough?"

Yes, I must admit that I was one of the fanboy type people flocking to the cinema today for the Marvel reboot of the Spider-Man series. Amidst all of my skepticism, I nonetheless traveled out there in order to watch the movie, and came away slightly impressed. While it was not by any means a perfect movie, nor a terrible one- it did a good job of speeding up the origins which Tobey Macguire and crew familiarized for us some years ago, and quickly broke into a new story in grand old Spidey fashion. Introducing a character somewhat new to the movie adaptations, but of longstanding flawed moral in the comic world, Rhyfe Ifans wonderfully portrays the personage of Dr. Curt Connors, also known as The Lizard.

Now, returning to my earlier statement of this movie being a "more flawed and humanistic" approach to the Spider-Man we all know from the comics, instead of being the more reserved, non-rebellious and more matured Parker from the original trilogy- I must say, Andrew Garfield does impress, as does Emma Stone's portrayal of Gwen Stacey. Not only does this fresh story take a slightly different approach to reach the same destination as the previous movie adaptations do, but it does so in a way more true to the comic series than any before. You truly feel as it it is the Spider-Man who badmouths villains and taunts thugs who is standing before you this time around, not somebody who- while portraying the character perfectly for the most part, doesn't quite capture the true essence.

Of course, as with all things Spidey, Stan Lee also makes a cameo appearance, during one of the major first fight scenes between Connors and Parker. As they crash through a library to the sound of classical music playing on an old set of walkman headphones, who should be standing there gloriously oblivious but our good ol' Stan. Also, *cough where's MJ *cough?

Yes, you'll also notice this time around- a certain other red head does not make an appearance, which may throw off some fans of the series in terms of the movies and comics both. However, there is no need to fear, as Captain Stacey's daughter, Gwen, not only makes a perfect complication int he plot, but also has plenty of love for Peter in store for when the hero has his tail whipped and retreats to his sanctum sanctorum at the end of the day. This is a PG-13 movie kids, so you know that's not what I meant.

Anyway, not only are the character models beautifully crafted in this movie, as with the others- but the mixture of classic Spidey suits with a prototype model somewhere out of Spider-Man 2099 makes for an interesting time winging around the city as well. Although this movie was originally intended to simply be Spider-Man 4 and feature Macguire and the rest of the crew again, I'm actually glad we got a change of pace with a younger, less mature cast. Now, that's not to say Garfield and the others are immature, simply...less learned in this movie, or so they seem.

This is of course, as much of a coming-of-age story as Spider-Man 1 was for Parker then, and also a battle of wills between two great and creative minds as well. While Macguire's Spider-Man and Garfield's are actually two completely different characters aside from sharing powers and a suit, they both come to stand for the same symbols of justice and peace. Without Spider-Man, where would New York City find itself? In the clutches of some manic madman?

Here's to hoping they never go the route that The Dark Knight Rises seems to be taking, as this Spider-Man movie was trying on its own to be a tearkjerker at some points already...

Hopefully I haven't divulged many details or ruined the show for you, as this was simply a tiny little review on some of the new and improved things done with this film. As usual, Marvel impresses to some extent- and I walked away willing to give this a solid 4 stars. Congrats Marc Webb, on one more film to add to your collection. even though that only makes it two- right beside 500 Days of Summer. (You may not have been the obvious first choice, but a god job, you have done- as Yoda would say.)

Cheers!