Epic: A new take on the Amazing Spider Man (2012)

The IMAX with its brand new 20x26m screen was the perfect venue to see the brilliantly breath taking brand new Spider Man (in 3D). It was as though we were in the movie, rather than at the movies. I loved it. Every minute. All 136 of them.

The pro cast were fantastic. As a Spider Man virgin, I was thrilled to get introduced to the characters and be privy to some background. How Peter Parker (played by Andrew Garfield) became Spider Man (well perhaps Spider Boy, more accurately)...

Watching him come up against Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father's former partner whom one suspects knows more than he's letting on about the fate of Peter's father, I thought that the monster he becomes (something of a giant lizard that would not be out of place in Jurassic Park) bore many of the hallmarks of someone in active addiction.

Addicted to power perhaps. Entirely focused on destruction at any cost. In Dr. Connors it was possible to see the progressive nature of addiction, transforming and rotting his intention and ultimately his character.

Brilliance, bordering on genius is, in my experience, far from rare amongst addictive personalities. The shame of it is the way in which such creativity is channelled, fuelling only the addiction and causing the addict to plummet into an ever deeper abyss of devastation and destruction.

We even saw him injecting. More and more. Tirelessly chasing the effects he craved. Becoming unstoppable. An addict will go to any lengths to protect their habit. This is all too real a reality for many addicts whom become almost unrecognisable in the grips of their addiction. Transformed, from the inside out, and not in a good way.

It wasn't a pretty sight. The CGI graphics have received some criticism, but were plenty scary enough for this moviegoer. Watching the monster thrashing about was, at times, rather more terrifying than a 12A would suggest.

From the dizzy heights of the Shard-like tower which is home to Connors' lab, we see the mad scientist (and maybe addict) cause mayhem and chaos in his mission to conquer the world. But if the problem is really one of addiction, what might Spider Man represent...?

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