David Sexton reviews The Amazing Spider-Man

In this review in the London Evening Standard, film critic David Sexton describes Marc Webb's Spidey reboot as the opposite of Sam Raimi's colourful interpretation, calling it "slow and pretentious, a combination of a protracted origins story and the first superhero romcom". His opinion is already made clear.


He goes on to complain about the hour of Peter Parker back story before getting into the full Spider-Man outfit, stating that despite Andrew Garfield's accurate portrayal of the stereotypical nerdy teenager with troubles, "it's all a bit weepie for a feel-good".


Overall, he seems unimpressed. Could this be because the film is genuinely not up to the standards put in place by Raimi's series? Or is it simply a failure to reach the older audiences? If the latter is the case, then is there any problem? Surely this is a film designed for the adolescent masses rather than their folks.


I have yet to see the film myself, although I am extremely eager to get out to the cinema and discover for myself whether this is the next big thing for the age-old Marvel hero, or just another incarnation which will eventually be forgotten.


Either way, judging by word-of-mouth from my own age group, I'm excited beyond words.