DanSlott

Dan Slott · @DanSlott

10th Jul 2012 from Twitlonger

For the sake of fairness: Did I have problems with THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN? Sure. Did they detract from me loving the HECK outta that film? Nope.

So what bugged me? (SPOILERS below)

These things:

Human Curt Connors and the rest of the cast:
Not enough screen time with (human) Curt Connors and the rest of the cast. They SET UP that Gwen works for him, but she only has ONE tiny sequence with him. (That felt like a waste). And, given that Captain Stacy KNOWS him, pulled a file about him, and has the Gwen-connection-- it would have been nice if Captain Stacy had at least ONE scene with (human) Curt Connors BEFORE the Lizard killed him.

Once Curt becomes the Lizard, there is only ONE person in the cast (human) Curt Connors really interacts with: Peter. That's it. And that bugged me.

The Gambaldi (sp?) Device:
The set up for the MacGuffin for the end of the movie (the way the toxin/anti-toxin) is delivered was a little too "on the nose" when Peter comes to Oscorp a 2nd time. Yes, we need to see "Chekov's gun on the mantle" for the later scenes to be "fair." But it was still a little too ham-fisted. That said, I don't know HOW you'd fix that. And it IS important to get all of that across-- especially for the younger viewers.

Webbing the Wound AND the Helicopter:
The second Spidey webs his gunshot wound, everything's "okay." That drives me a little crazy because he COULD have done that a LOT earlier.

Add to that...

He's GOT to get to Oscorp. He's hurt and not web-slinging all that well. So Dad-from-the-bridge and all of his hard hat/crane-operating buddies move the cranes in place for a clear shot. LOVE that! New Yorkers helping Spidey-- ALWAYS a plus. But then there's the HELICOPTER! (Is it the news helicopter that spotted the Lizard from earlier? Or another Police helicopter? Not sure. But it's THERE.) For a second-- it puts Spidey in a spotlight-- OH NO! Are they gonna catch him? No. Instead, they help light the way! Another nice moment? No. Why not? BECAUSE THEY'RE IN A HELICOPTER! If Spidey has to get to FRICKIN' OSCORP and the guys in the HELICOPTER know this enough to light the way... JUST LET HIM WEB THE FUCKING HELICOPTER AND TAKE HIM TO OSCORP!
Man, that BUGS me to NO END.

Curt's boss at Oscorp:
WHERE DID HE GO? The Lizard tried to kill him on the bridge, but Spidey SAVED him! So where was he? I'm totally cool if he skips town because he knows a giant Lizard is out to get him-- THAT would make total sense, right? But there should at least be a line of dialogue to tell us that he's not coming back.

And lastly...

Peter should learn that his powers are NOT killing him:
They raise the question that Peter is afraid that his genetic splicing might be killing and/or changing him. THAT is why he goes to Connors and gives him the formula! THAT is why he stays too late at the lab working with Connors-- which eventually sets up the argument with Uncle Ben-- that leads to Uncle Ben wandering the streets that fateful night.
And that question is NEVER answered. It's a pretty IMPORTANT question too-- and it just falls away and is forgotten.

And, honestly, that's about it. Those 5 or 6 nitpicks.

And none of those points take away from my enjoyment of the movie.

I LOVE this film! Especially Garfield, Stone, and Sheen's performances! Love them SO much! I now prefer Garfield to Maguire, Sheen to Robertson, and Stone is one of the best damn love interests in a super hero movie EVER! She's WONDERFUL!

This one is now in my Top 3 for super hero flicks.

Okay... I'll say it. I still like SPIDER-MAN 2 more-- love Doc Ock, the amazing super hero/super villain fights, the stuff with Harry, the Spider-Man No More riff, the chocolate cake scene (PURE Peter Parker moment there), the Spidey-has-to-save-Aunt-May sequence is priceless, and J.K. Simmons as Jonah is PERFECT! Hard to beat SPIDER-MAN 2...

But after this first installment of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN trilogy? I have HIGH hopes for THEIR next installment! :-)

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