The Amazing Spider-Man has always been (whether I loved it or at the time hated it) one of my must see movies of 2012, because I wanted to see the difference this one has on the original and how close they were to the comics as well as, well... The Lizard. Now even after people are starting to respect this movie more, I'm still seeing haters compare this to Batman Begins saying it's a BB wannabe.
I don't know about you but those posters SCREAM, different tone!
Story, The Amazing Spider-Man: "Peter Parker, an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy, and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance -- leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero."
Batman Begins: "How does one man change the world? It's a question that haunts Bruce Wayne like the specter of his parents, gunned down before his eyes in the streets of Gotham on a night that changed his life forever. Tormented by guilt and anger, battling the demons that feed his desire for revenge and his need to honor his parents' altruistic legacy, the disillusioned industrial heir vanished from Gotham and secretly travels the world, seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. In his quest to elucidate himself in the ways of the criminal mind, Bruce is mentored by a mysterious man called Ducard in the mastery of the physical and mental disciplines that will empower him to fight the evil he has vowed to destroy. He soon finds himself the target of recruiting efforts by the League of Shadows, a powerful, subversive vigilante group headed by enigmatic leader Ra's al Ghul. Bruce returns to Gotham to find the city devoured by rampant crime and corruption. Wayne Enterprises, his family's former bastion of philanthropic business ideals, now rests in the hands of CEO Richard Earle, a man more concerned with taking the company public than serving the public good. Meanwhile, Bruce's close childhood friend Rachel Dawes, now an Assistant District Attorney, can't secure a conviction of the city's most notorious criminals because the justice system has been so deeply polluted by scum like crime boss Carmine Falcone. It doesn't help that prominent Gotham psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Crane bolsters insanity defenses for Falcone's thugs in exchange for nefarious favors that serve his own devious agenda. With the help of his trusted butler Alfred, detective Jim Gordon--one of the few good cops on the Gotham police force--and Lucius Fox, his ally at the Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, Bruce Wayne unleashes his awe-inspiring alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses strength, intellect and an array of high tech weaponry to fight the sinister forces that threaten to destroy the city."
Choice of director
Yes both are excellent directors. When people heard of Christopher Nolan directing the Batman reboot. Yes alot of people were at the time skeptical because of the last Batman movie Warner Bros. had made *cough* Batman & Robin *cough* But the people who knew who the director was, knew that they were in for a treat and didn't pass it (which once it's sequel had came out and Inception, alot of people came out with the crazy notion that Nolan is god and does no wrong.) Marc Webb directing The Amazing Spider-Man, even I was like "WTF!?!?!?" Webb was definitely an odd choice for a Spider-Man reboot because you would think that they'd go with a more experienced director for it, but from what we've been given. I'm thinking that this was the perfect directing choice for the reboot. Now their styles are very different. Christopher Nolan likes to ground his movies into much realism as possible and tends to use the same actors in his movies. Now I know that Marc Webb has directed only one other movie, but his kind of directing he likes to focus on color but also like Mr.Nolan, character driven movies. That's why Webb's TASM has more of a comicbook look to it than Mr.Nolan's Batman Trilogy. But similarities and differences behind, both are extremely talented directors and good choices for the films.
Lead actor
Their only similarities are that their non-american born actors and the fact that their both extremely talented actors. Christian Bale is extremely horrifyingly dedicated to his roles, if he's required to be skin and bones (The Machinist) he will go that far. To me that's just scary lol. But even while skin and bones, he's still an extremely talented actor. Andrew Garfield is an up and coming actor, while I've only seen one movie of his (The Social Network) I feel he is a extremely talented actor and he's gonna blow up after The Amazing Spider-Man. While best to my knowledge, Christian Bale blew up after Batman Begins, these two are quite different actors but were odd choices or the roles they were given. But it just didn't seem like these guys would fit their roles. Super skinny Bale transforming into Batman? How is he gonna get that buff that quick? But he did it. Skinny, little Andrew Garield, him has Spider-Man? Even after the first official picture came out, everyone was like? "WTF!?!?!" But it payed off for Bale and for Garfield I know it's gonna be the same. But in my opinion, it's just not right to say on actor is better than the other. Especially with Bale having more known filmography than Garfield.
Visually (little fun fact, the Batman Demon is my favorite Batman scene of all time)
Both have amazing visuals. Batman Begins went with the less campy and more brooding and realistic look, pretty much comicbook Batman minus the fantasy. The Amazing Spider-Man decided best to just stick to the comicbook while maintaining a original story. Though some CGI of Spidey's newest villain look like he might need a little touch up here or there, they both look amazing but clearly very, very different.
Overall: Quite saying that The Amazing Spider-Man is a Batman Begins wannabe, their very different movies in every possible way. There is nothing about The Amazing Spider-Man that you can even say that makes it a Batman Begins wannabe. But as the saying goes, Haters gonna hate.