Movie: The Amazing Spider-Man

[Animeniax]

Comparing Amazing to the Sam Raimi version structurally, implying one is better than the other, is foolish. They're exactly the same. Replace Goblin with the Lizard, Jameson with Gwen's father, and you're there. They even share the "hero's mentor is actually the villain" plot-point.

You should probably have clarified this line, because it is easy to misread.

First superhero movie that ever did a hero's origin in detail? It's not even the first Sam Raimi superhero movie with a full origin story and a solid plot. That would be Darkman (and quite the good movie). There are a number of other movies from around that time which do the same. Superman in '78, Supergirl, Rocketeer, Swamp Thing, The Phantom (goofy, bleh movie), etc.

They had different goals and production requirements that affected what they did in the movie. Raimi's movie was the first major motion picture in the modern era featuring a superhero of Spider-man's pedigree and history. I remember distinctly the online discussions leading into the movie wondering how they'd pull off the special effects and CGI a character like this would require, as it hadn't been done before. Darkman, etc were hardly the same caliber of movie with a major character financially or technologically. I think in trying to be faithful to the canon, they spent the majority of the movie on origin, particularly the setup of the Osborn love/hate relationship with Peter that would be a common thread in all 3 movies.

I swear you read things people write to you and somewhere between your eyes and your brain it gets lost in translation.

Go back and read your post and maybe you'll see it, but I doubt it. You implied Capt Stacey's primary role in the movie was to reinforce Peter's relationship with Gwen. Not only is this ridiculous, as she's the love interest and that does not require reinforcement in any story without being redundant, but you're reading too much into it. Basically you're saying Peter loves Gwen, and Peter loves Gwen +1 because her dad asked him to take care of his high school sweetheart. He didn't even get her pregnant. The Stacey character was misused and discarded to add senseless "depth" to a weak story.