In 2012, The Amazing Spider-Man was released to a theater audience. The movie stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, and Sally Field, and has since gained the much-deserved love of superhero movie-watchers. It has become increasingly popular over the past few months, since  Spider-Man: No Way Home was released, a movie that intricately ties into The Amazing Spider-Man (TASM, for short). Recently, I re-watched the film in order to get a new perspective and provide an official “Bella rating,” something I do often. 

I set out on this journey with the intention to give this movie a solid rating on a scale out of ten. To do this, I looked at four categories: script/dialogue, character development/attachment, plot quality, and overall watchability of the movie. 

For the script, I would rate this movie a 7/10. Overall, the writing is good, though there are some cheesy moments throughout. Also, there are some moments where the movie is tense and cringe-y, partly due to Peter’s awkward characterization as well as an awkward script. Looking past those awkward moments, it’s quite enjoyable and has many funny moments and jokes interspersed through the over two-hour film. 

As far as the character development and the attachment we as an audience feel to these characters, I would rate it a 9/10. Though the main protagonists are awkward, they’re lovable, and we grow to care for and feel for them as the movie goes on. Even from the beginning, Andrew Garfield portrays Peter Parker, known by his alias Spider-Man, as a fuzzy, warm-hearted young man with a big heart and, despite his flaws (selfishness, awkwardness, and stubbornness). You tend to root for the protagonists’ budding romance as well, hoping that they work out despite the forces keeping them apart. The development of the antagonists is also good in quality. While you feel for their flaws and where they “go wrong,” you watch them progressively get worse and more dangerous, therefore loving and hating them at the same time, which is a good aspect in a villainous character. 

The plot quality receives, in my opinion, a 7/10. It is a quality plot which carries consistency from beginning to end, captures the viewers’ attention for the entire movie, and has enough twists and surprises to keep the excitement going. It consistently builds to its climactic moment (no spoilers ahead), with tension increasing especially towards the middle and end of the film. Andrew Zies, a sophomore here at Greenwood High School, says that if there is a fault in the plot, that it was “not tapping into Andrew Garfield’s potential.” He claims that there “was more that the movie could have done with Garfield’s immense acting talent, but ultimately did not do.” I tend to agree with this statement- there was a lot of potential in the plot given what Garfield has shown himself to be capable of, and the writers could’ve added more emotional range into the plot of the movie. 

Now, penultimately, the overall watchability of the film ganders a 9/10. Given what was mentioned before, the audience’s attention is captured by both the characters and the plot, and it is hard to disengage from the movie given all of the different ways the movie and plot go. It is a fluidly moving film that keeps going and does not allow for breaks of interest. The characters provide both comedic relief as well as a sort of reason for the audience to continue watching, as we want to see what the end result is and hope that our good guys pull out ahead. 

Finally, the average result for TASM equals out to be an 8/10, which is a high rating for the film. Andrew Zies gives the movie a 7.5/10 rating; Samantha Wittinghill, another avid Spider-Man watcher and sophomore at GHS, gave it an 8.5/10; both of those scores averaged to my average rating. I highly recommend this film, as it will demand your attention and give you a theater-worthy movie-watching experience.