Additional thoughts on Amazing Spider-Man

One interesting aspect of The Amazing Spider-Man is that it breaks an archetypal rule that has existed in comic superherodom from the beginning: Spider-Man's secret identity isn't much of a secret. Gwen Stacy knows who he is; he reveals himself to Stacy's father and the Lizard discovers who he is and one might even speculate that the shadowy figure at the end of the film also knows the secret.

Obviously, this kind of thing can only go so far. At some point you have to realize that the arachnid will be out of the proverbial funnel web, and then there's not much reason to wear a mask. Luckily, Capt. Stacy won't be telling anyone, although it's a pity Denis Leary won't be coming back—unless his ghost decides to haunt Parker and hound him at every turn for breaking his promise.

We can only hope that future installments will feature some of the more interesting Spider-Man villains. And maybe the sequels won't feel so rough and unedited. This first film really needed a really nasty editor to say, "No, we're not doing that."