The Amazing Spiderman

Just saw the new Spiderman last night and loved it! Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield have wonderful chemistry, even though they don't have huge amounts of dialogue together. You can just feel they belong together - beautiful.

First off, I will freely admit that I loved the "old" Spiderman trilogy. I liked Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, although I wasn't much of a Mary-Jane fan. In that respect I prefer Gwen Stacy, who seems like a smart, more independent woman. Also, due to her scientific interests, she can relate to Peter's spidery condition more easily than Mary-Jane could. I always had a feeling that MJ was a much more self-centered character. Emma Stone portrays Gwen in her own unique way, lending the characters' relationship that note of adorable awkwardness of teenage love. There is one scene in particular when Peter is trying to ask her out but can't quite find the words and ultimately says something like: "We could go ... or we could go somewhere else instead," which shows his nervousness in a very sweet way.

Also, this Spiderman movie has some genuinely funny moments, like when Peter first discovers his new powers, struggling much more than the Tobey Maguire's Peter in the first ever Spiderman movie. This movie focuses more on the boy who becomes Spiderman, on the awkward moments his new life holds, on his personal relationships with people. In my opinion, this movie allows a more intimate perspective of Peter Parker's struggle with his new life. He seems more human, less like the hero.

However, hunting down a crazy, giant lizard-doctor called Conners is of course very typical of Spiderman movies. Peter Parker tries to reason with the doctor to abandon his dream of creating super-humans by using cross-species genetics during several fight scenes. And even though Conners stops Parker from dropping to his death at the end of the movie, it remains unclear whether he is a villain or a victim of his own power.

The first of the "new" Spiderman movies leaves several questions of Peter's past unanswered, but hints at secrets about his father that are yet to be discovered. I'm sure everyone is now excited to see what will become of Gwen and Peter's love, Peter's struggle with his new superhero-identity and his growing into a man. This was a beautiful coming-of-age story of love, justice and morality. I highly recommend this movie!

Love, x