‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ doesn’t open Stateside until July, but a handful of critics have already swung into action with their verdict on the highly anticipated reboot. And although the friendly neighbourhood webslinger has proven to be one of pop culture’s most beloved superheroes, the flick is anything but a sure bet: It’s got an untested leading man (Andrew Garfield) and a first-time big-budget director (Marc Webber). Not to mention the fact that this do-over comes just five years after Tobey Maguire hung up his Spidey suit from Sam Raimi’s trio of Spider-Man blockbusters. So has this new webslinger spun gold? Sure looks like it: Many reviewers seem sold on the reboot, singling out its fresh cast and darker tone, with just a few holdouts dinging the flick for failing to live up to its predecessors. “Leaping back onto the screen with a new cast, crew, costume and a whole new array of daddy issues, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ reboots the top-grossing Marvel franchise to altogether satisfying results,” praises Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter. “Directed with emotional depth and plenty of comedic touches, this somewhat darker depiction inserts a touching portrait of adolescent angst into an otherwise predictable dose of CGI-fueled action. “Webb’s film is slow on plot, skimpy on character development,” writes the Evening Standard’s Nick Curtis. “The ‘RealD 3D’ is fine for the flying sequences, confusing in the fights, and gives that awful cardboard-cutout look to narrative scenes. Webb saves up most of the emotional punch for a downbeat, wet-eyed ending in which Garfield and Emma Stone are superb.”
