THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2012)

[Vic Sage]

Surprised to see no poll up yet. thoughts?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Liked Garfield... a lot. Liked Emma Stone... a lot. Liked their (improvised?) awkward romance.

But with the last one coming, what, five years ago? A reboot like this-- with yet ANOTHER origin retelling, a flat villain, and little else of interest-- is... well... unnecessary.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

It feels like these comic book superhero movies are coming out every month like, well, like comic books.

[Benjamin Grimm]

For the last few Marvel movies, I've been there opening night. (Iron Man 1 and 2, Hulk, Cap, Thor, Avengers.)

But this one... not yet. Still plan to see it, but I don't feel much enthusiasm.

[Vic Sage]

they got Peter Parker completely wrong... but besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, i liked the play OK.

Peter Parker isn't a brooding, alienated, disaffected teenager with cool skateboarding skills, looked on with longing by the beautiful brainy blonde Gwen Stacey. Peter Parker is a pathetic, uptight unathletic nerd who no cute girl would look at twice. That's why his transformation as Spider-Man is so intoxicating and liberating for him... and for the nerdy kids who've been reading his 4-color adventures for the last 50 years.

That being said, Garfield and Stone are excellent. The Lizard isn't a very interesting villain, but the action is staged pretty well. The lack of JJJ creates a noticeable vacuum of humor and negative energy not adequately filled by Dennis Leary's CAPTAIN STACY. Martin Sheen and Sally Field aren't given much to do as Uncle Ben and Aunt May. And the inclusion of Parker's invention of the webshooters is offset by the desecration of Spidey lore inherent in inventing a backstory about his parents that screws with continuity. And rewriting the "with great power" speech (along with the details of Ben's death) is just so inexcusable.

All in all, i felt there was a laudable focus on character over plot, but they got the main character wrong, so they lose the bonus points. Overall, i was entirely unaffected by the movie, and only moderately entertained. I would give it 2.5, but i only gave myself options of 2** or 3*** (stupid poll!), so i gave it 3.

[Edgy MD]

Edit the poll, man. Ten degrees beats five all day and every day.

[Vic Sage]

too lazy

[Edgy MD]

Vic Sage wrote: they got Peter Parker completely wrong... but besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, i liked the play OK. .

Pretty funny considering Mrs. Lincoln turned out to be in the movie.

I liked what they brought out in this Peter. He's very much a recognizable teenage boy --- energetically twitchy, inarticulate, emotionally mercurial, kind but inconsiderately forgetful, self-loathing, and ashamedly guarded. He was nerdy enough for me, and neither the quality skating skills nor his appeal to Gwen appear until after his bug bite.

The pantheon of Spidey's villains are almost universally kinda stupid, amiright?

I mostly have seen Rhys Evans play milquetoastes --- Deckchair Danny, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands --- which must be an accomplishment because he's a pretty big dude to always be playing wimps. (I recommend either of those two titles.) Anyhow, he was goodish.

[nymr83]

I think you'll find the villanous rosters of most superhero books to be rather thin. There is a reason the green goblin, dr doom, magneto, etc keep coming back for more.

[Edgy MD]

A lot of over-ambitious scientists, I think: Goblin, Doc Oc, Looter, Lizard, Molten Man, Morbius, Jackal...

You want a right-wing plot? How about the demonizing of the scientific community in Spider-Man?

[Vic Sage]

best Spidey villains (in descending order):

Green Goblin
Kingpin
Venom / Carnage
Doctor Octopus
- The Sinister Six (Doc Ock teams up with Vulture, Electro, Kraven, Mysterio, and Sandman)
Lizard

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Venom over Kingpin, hands down. As a matter of fact, as a Spidey villain, Kingpin's barely top-5, if that.

Also notable: Kraven himself (the storyline where he killed/"replaced" Spider-Man is in my personal top 3), the Jackal (cloning Gwen AND Spidey, siccing the Punisher on Spider-Man), and J. Jonah Jameson (without whom, there is no Scorpion, among others).

[Guest El Segundo Escupidor]

Did not like.

Spiderman didn't need another origin story, and the way they tried to distinguish the origin story of the previous trilogy was completely superficial. The only thing that save this from being a totally bomba were the above average action sequences.

I think the rights to Kingpin (along with Daredevil) have reverted back to Marvel Studios (previously held by Fox) so he's a no-go for Spiderman films.

[Ceetar]

Finally saw this. Beyond the silly reboot (did anyone see this that DIDN'T know the origin story?) it just..

are we sure it wasn't a Godzilla remake?

[Vic Sage]

i mentioned their screwing around with the origin story above.
They're currently shooting the next installment, with Jamie Foxx as Electro.

[Ceetar]

Vic Sage wrote: i mentioned their screwing around with the origin story above. They're currently shooting the next installment, with Jamie Foxx as Electro.

Yeah, I sometimes Google what's filming with the thought of wandering around nearby in a Mets cap. Wandered through a crowd shot of Ninja Turtles that way.