Admittedly, it has been a while since I last wrote, but that is no reason for me to not review the latest movie Dylan and I caught:  The Amazing Spider-man.

Dylan didn’t get to watch The Social Network, so when he asked me about the new Peter Parker, I just told him the one thing he needed to know so we would watch it right away:  Emma Stone plays Gwen Stacy.

And a date was set.

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In this Spidey version, we see Peter Parker left behind by his parents at his Uncle Ben’s house.  We see a good background of the genius that was the Parkers, and we see how everything came to be.  There were still a few potholes, but nothing that cannot be managed in the coming sequels.

Here, Peter is not an outcast; he was an outsider.  The messy hair and the eternal love for skateboarding could easily explain the almost automatic affectation Gwen Stacy has for him, but of course, the hook-line-sinker was his kind heart.  He still loves photography, he’s still shy, but the chemistry is far more logical than the old “Mary Jane is love just because” argument.

I have to admit “with great power comes great responsibility” rings far better than “you have to be more responsible”, but I loved how the director – Marc Webb, the genius behind (500) Days of Summer – brought Uncle Ben’s death down to a micro level, something more realistic and more painful.

There are points when you will definitely miss Tobey Maguire’s web slinging action, but Andrew Garfield starts skateboarding and learning his skills in a half pipe by the pier with Coldplay playing at the back.  How you cannot be that hooked with this reboot after that scene is beyond me.

In general, what I loved so much more about this version is the fact that the characters have far more depth and substance than the previous ones.  They are more relatable.  They are more human.  They break your heart with their wide eyes, standing in the rain, tears coming in moments.  They hurt you when they try to mend a gunshot wound, or suppress a bleeding chest.  They make you feel more.

And really, who wouldn’t love a movie like that?

Plus of course, Emma Stone.