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The Amazing Spider-Man: Gala Premiere – With Video

Clingfilm? Check. Giant red spider? Check. Adolescent in tight, blue-and-red unitard? Check. Well then – it must be the premiere of Marc Webb’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!

London’s Leicester Square yesterday was a scene of pure controlled chaos. From around 2pm there were already fans lining the sides of the the metal barriers, waiting to catch a glimpse of their brand new superhero star Andrew Garfield. And what better setting to meet him in – in front of a stage adorned with a giant, red spider wrapped in what can only be described as all the clingfilm in the West End. 

If you don’t know the story behind the reboot of the SPIDER-MAN trilogy, where have you been? Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker aka Spidey himself. Parker is what some may call a social outcast – doesn’t have many friends, keeps to himself. Since he lives with his Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen), Parker really wants answers as to why his parents abandoned him at such a young age. While digging around for clues, he discovers a mysterious suitcase, which leads him to contact his father’s old work colleague, Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans). However, Connors hides a dark secret – after a science experiment fails, he is transformed into Spider-Man’s nemesis, The Lizard. If you didn’t think this was enough action for one film, add into the mix Gwen Stacy (aka the lovely Emma Stone), Parker’s high school crush. The two have to battle against everything New York can throw at them just to keep their love alive, while Spider-Man has to figure out how to defeat Connors’ alter-ego.

With a plot so massive in construction, you’d expect something massive at the London premiere, right? Well that’s exactly what we got. Along with the huge, red-carpeted stage we were given an exciting performance from a group of free-runners who threw themselves across boxes, did push-ups off metal structures and back-flips right into photographers (nearly). But as their performance finished, we all knew what was next. The giant screen showed us that, yes, Mr Garfield had arrived. Screaming fans got even louder, thrusting forward hands clinging onto posters for him to sign. When he eventually made it round to our grouping area, the main question we wanted answers to was what was it like playing such a well-known comic book hero? He said,

It was my pleasure because I wanted to be Spider-Man since I was 3 years-old, so I get to…I get to kinda do it, which is kinda insane. To actually put on the suit and strike those poses and do that swinging is very, very surreal.

As he made his way onto the stage to be interviewed by Alex Zane, our presenter for the evening, who should come along but the director himself, Marc Webb (also known for taking the reigns on indie hit (500) DAYS OF SUMMER). When he was asked how is this film different to what we’ve seen before, Webb replied,

There’s so many stories to tell from the comics we haven’t seen before….it’s about a kid who goes looking for his father and finds himself and there’s the Gwen Stacy saga…Gwen Stacy is very different to Mary-Jane; she’s like super smart…there’s all these new layers that were really fun to explore.

As the interview rounded off we all knew who we were looking for next – and it happened. Gwen Stacy herself, Miss

Emma Stone, ready to tackle some questions.

I just hope everybody has fun. It’s two hours of good, solid…you know, that’s what movies are for.

And when asked why she only seems to work with some of Hollywood’s most attractive men (Andrew Garfield and Ryan Gosling (co-star in CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE and THE GANGSTER SQUAD)) she joked,

It’s pretty great to get that contractually!

As the stars left the red carpet and the excitement wound down, I can safely say that fans, press and hangers-on are all in for a treat when the film is released in July.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, directed by Marc Webb, is released in 2D and 3D from 3rd July 2012.

Considering Jazmine grew up watching CARRY ON SCREAMING, THE LION KING and JURASSIC PARK on repeat for weeks on end, it made sense for her to study film at London South Bank University. It’s also a good thing that her course requires a lot of sitting down because she’s very accident-prone. When she’s not examining her bruises, she likes pretending that she doesn’t live in Southend-On-Sea and spends hours mindlessly blogging. Favourite films include BLUE VALENTINE, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and TOY STORY 2.

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