The Amazing Spider Man

Bibliographic Information: Arad, A., Tolmach, M., & Ziskin, L. (Producers), & Webb, M. (Director). (2012). The amazing spider-man [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.

Plot Summary:  When a young Peter Parker walks into his father’s study, he discovers it has been ransacked.  Panicked, his parents take him to his aunt and uncle’s house to stay for a bit, but shortly after, his parents are killed in a plane crash.  Peter grows up and attends Midtown Science High School.  One day, Peter discovered his father’s concealed documents from the night of the ransack.  His father was working with Dr. Curt Connors at Oscorp, so Peter heads there to meet with Dr. Connors.  He and his father were working on a project to cure illness by combining animal and human DNA.  He arrives to find his school crush Gwen Stacy leading student interns on a tour of the facility.  While at the facility Peter is bitten by a genetically modified spider, effectively giving Peter his “spidey senses.”  When he discovers his superhuman abilities, he becomes a vigilante fighting crime street crimes, and starts to attract attention from the police.  Peter and Gwen’s relationship starts to gain speed, but she invites him over for dinner to meet her parents, Peter walks in and discovers Gwen’s father is none other than the police captain.  How long can Peter keep his identity as Spider-Man a secret?

Critical Evaluation: The Amazing Spider-Man is full of conflicts that move the plot along.  The first conflict Peter struggles with is the loss of his parents.  Growing up as an orphan causes him to question how he fits into society.  He knows his aunt and uncle love him, but he still misses his parents deeply.  This desperation is what causes him to become so intrigued in the documents he finds in his father’s old briefcase.  Seeking out Dr. Connors, who was his father’s partner, probably helps Peter feel connected to his father.  Peter’s experience through his physical transformation after the spider bite presented another conflict.  What was he to do with his new abilities?  Peter struggled to figure out his identity and purpose as Spider-Man.  Peter also struggles explaining his transformation and and new-found abilities to his aunt, often leaving her in the dark to wonder what he is up to.  The Amazing Spider-Man  is really a look into Peter’s coming-of-age story, and how he settles into his role as the crime-fighting Spider-Man.

Reader’s Annotation: One teeny spider bite bite transformed Peter Parker into a wall-clinging, web-shooting superhero.  This is going to be amazing!  

Information about the director: Mark Webb has produced and directed many films, but his most successful have been The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), and (500) Days of Summer (2009).  Webb also makes documentaries featuring music artists, and a plethora of music videos.

Webb grew up in Wisconsin, and then attended college at Colorado College where he received a degree in English (Wikipedia (n.d.).

Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Romance

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking ideas (one or two):

1. Where does Peter fit in?

Reading level/Interest age: 13+

Challenge Issues:  This movie contains “sequences of action and violence” (IMDb, n.d.)

To defend challenged material I would:

1.    Read/watch/listen to the material to become familiar with the content.

2.    Familiarize myself with the Arizona Common Core curriculum standards http://www.azed.gov/azcommoncore/teacher/ to defend how the material can support the learning of these standards.

3.    Refer to the Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

4.    Refer to the collection policy of my library.

5.    Collect reviews from staff/students/patrons who have used the material

Why I included this movie: This movie was very successful in the box office, and it is popular among the young adult population.  The Spider-Man saga has been around for a long time and is appealing to those who enjoy comic books.  

References:

IMDb. (n.d.). The amazing spider-man. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948470/

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Marc Webb. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Webb