The action scenes were very, very good. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were very good. But there's something about the tone and the timing that was just a bit off. I like the new light-hearted, comedic tone but at times it's mixed in with overly contrived and forced moments. I thought the music wasn't too hot. It was very forgettable. Overall, a solid summer flick, but I don't think it tops Spiderman 2 for me.
The Amazing Spider-Man |OT|
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A good start to a new franchise. I was lamenting seeing the origin story yet again, but it was tweaked enough to make it interesting and Garfield had a really strong performance. Didn't really dig the villain though, his motivation seemed a bit random, although you could argue the lizard juice makes you crazy.
Just got back from seeing it. For me, this is without question the best Spider-man film to date. It just completely smashes the Raimi trilogy in every way. When Spider-man was on screen, the way he moved, the way he fought felt 100% more like Spider-man then any of the other 3 movies combined. Andrew Garfield is a great Peter Parker as well. He's geeky, and a bit awkward but not a bitch like Tobey's was.
I saw it in 3D and I thought it made the web swinging scenes pretty breathtaking and the fight scenes awesome. Can't wait to get this bad boy on Blu-Ray. Might have to go see it again..
I saw it in 3D and I thought it made the web swinging scenes pretty breathtaking and the fight scenes awesome. Can't wait to get this bad boy on Blu-Ray. Might have to go see it again..
CielTynave
Member
Just got back from seeing it a bit ago. It was pretty good, but yeah that crane part was kind of dumb. Action scenes were great, and Emma Stone is hot.
The swinging scenes were good (though pretty familiar) but the actual fight scenes mostly revealed Webb's limitations as a director of action. The train scene is the worst example. It's way too fast to register as either funny or cool.
Connors goes from being a seemingly pretty good guy to a generic snarling supervillain who says generic supervillain dialogue and hatches generic supervillain plots,
.
So much of this movie is just going through the origin story motions. Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are attractive leads, so it has that going for it.
Oh yeah, I liked the crane scene.
Raimi did it better.
That's aside from it being a stupidly written scene. Why does literally every man on the carriage want to try and beat up this clearly overpowered kid, one after the other?
Connors goes from being a seemingly pretty good guy to a generic snarling supervillain who says generic supervillain dialogue and hatches generic supervillain plots,
but of course he gets his redemptive moment after being defeated, just like in the other Spider-Man movies
So much of this movie is just going through the origin story motions. Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are attractive leads, so it has that going for it.
Oh yeah, I liked the crane scene.
Raimi did it better.
The movie had some faults at a script and editing level, but on the whole the casting, acting and the quality of the production made TASM better overall than any of the Raimi flicks, which were far too idiosyncratic, uneven in tone and too-often dull.
Garfield is the Peter Parker that Toby Maguire should have been, and Emma Stone was very charming.
Also, while Rosemary Harris seems like a fine old lady, Sally Field makes a much better Aunt May.
About the only thing I think I preferred about Raimi's films was Elfman's score, which I actually missed here despite thinking it not too memorable.
And for anyone criticising Rhys Ifans and the characterisation of Connors / Lizard, can you honestly say that these issues weren't as prevalent (if not more so) than with Dafoe and Green Goblin?
I think you're confusing 'first' for 'better'. Nostalgia is clouding people's judgment - if TASM had come out first, people would be laughing at the horrible cheesiness and cheapness of Raimi's film.
Garfield is the Peter Parker that Toby Maguire should have been, and Emma Stone was very charming.
Also, while Rosemary Harris seems like a fine old lady, Sally Field makes a much better Aunt May.
About the only thing I think I preferred about Raimi's films was Elfman's score, which I actually missed here despite thinking it not too memorable.
And for anyone criticising Rhys Ifans and the characterisation of Connors / Lizard, can you honestly say that these issues weren't as prevalent (if not more so) than with Dafoe and Green Goblin?
I think you're confusing 'first' for 'better'. Nostalgia is clouding people's judgment - if TASM had come out first, people would be laughing at the horrible cheesiness and cheapness of Raimi's film.
Christ...
Would you care to respond? Raimi's films were far too idiosyncratic in that Raimi injected himself into the movie at every turn - 'hilarious' cameos, the Doc Ock horror movie sequence, the emo-Peter dance scenes, they were all quite funny moments but totally took over their respective films. All of Raimi's films are shocking uneven in tone, veering wildly from cheesy, to deadly serious, often in the blink of an eye.
Face it - Raimi's films were entertaining but oh-so-messy.
As far as TASM's script and editing issues go, I found them to be minor. The film did feel like it was missing a few key scenes (what happened to Ratha?), speaking most likely to a tortured editing process. The script also didn't give much to poor Rhys Ifans, who seemed kinda megalomaniacal even before he took the serum. Then again, this same issue was far worse in Raimi's Spidey, so it seems to be a persistent fault for the franchise.
Yup, this.
Idiosyncrasy is a good thing. I'll take messy but distinctly personal any day over this level of blandness.
Well that's a matter of opinion. I didn't find TASM to be bland at all - I found it to be consistent in tone, which is something I appreciate.
Don't get me wrong - Raimi's films were often a lot of fun (at times), but there's at least a dozen moments in each of them that ring false, cheesy or horrible. I don't even want to get into listing them, but sheesh. HAVE YOU PEOPLE FORGOTTEN THE MACY GRAY PARADE AND THE GREEN GOBLIN IN A POWER RANGER OUTFIT? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN NORMAN OSBORN HAVING THANKSGIVING WITH AUNT MAY BEFORE ACCOSTING HER IN HER BEDROOM? My gosh that movie could be awful at times.
blandness? Did you watch the same movie as I did?
Well yeah. Raimi's Spider-Man certainly had its fair share of obvious faults, but it was more interesting than this. It helped that it had freshness on its side.
The first movie is the definition of bland, its aged terribly and never really held up to any sort of rewatch.
Its not hard to understand why someone would prefer this over Raimi's movies. Better acting, more believabe chemistry between the leads, more heart, better action and choreography...the list goes on
Its not hard to understand why someone would prefer this over Raimi's movies. Better acting, more believabe chemistry between the leads, more heart, better action and choreography...the list goes on
Saw it tonight and really enjoyed it. My crush on Andrew Garfield only grown as he did a great job a Peter. I love Emma, but she was a bit bland in it. The movie has some goofy bits, but overall it's really good.
Not sure what the mid-credits sequence was about though...
Not sure what the mid-credits sequence was about though...
I think if you were to divorce both movies from any sort of historical context (which is admittedly artificial, but go along with me on this), and pretend that you were a person who had never seen a Spider-Man movie and was simply presented with Spidey 1 and TASM side-by-side, there'd be a lot fewer detractors.
So many people seem aggrieved by Sony's decision to ditch the geek-friendly Raimi that they were never going to give TASM a fair shake.
Simply comparing the two as films, well... each has their ups and downs, but I find Webb's film to be so much more consistent above the board. Maybe a little less quirky and tad more 'anonymous' than Raimi's film, but a far better representation of Spidey and his world. Most of it is down to the cast. They went from the irritating Maguire and Dunst and traded up to Garfield and Stone, who, let's face it, are super-engaging by comparison.
So many people seem aggrieved by Sony's decision to ditch the geek-friendly Raimi that they were never going to give TASM a fair shake.
Simply comparing the two as films, well... each has their ups and downs, but I find Webb's film to be so much more consistent above the board. Maybe a little less quirky and tad more 'anonymous' than Raimi's film, but a far better representation of Spidey and his world. Most of it is down to the cast. They went from the irritating Maguire and Dunst and traded up to Garfield and Stone, who, let's face it, are super-engaging by comparison.
I fell in love with Garfield and I'm straight
(also fell in love with Emma)
such a great chemistry
Ditto. I'm kind of in love with them both and as a hitherto straight male I am very confused.
I have to concur with the above poster, though, that the mid-credits scene was so ineffective. Was so abrupt and meaningless that it didn't even intrigue me one single bit.
Saw it tonight and it really clicked with me in a way the original Raimi flicks never did. I think it had a lot to do with the overall look of the film and the way the city was shot etc. I also really enjoyed all of the non spiderman being awesome scenes. I had reservations about Garfield, but he really made the flick for me.
Me and my wife went to see it this morning and came away from the movie kind of "meh" about it.
I'm a huge Spider-Man fan, so it pains me that I wasn't as satisfied by the film as I thought I'd be. My wife went in with low expectations (she was not a fan of it being a reboot), and she walked away less disappointed than I did.
Some quick thoughts on it, though:
Pros:
+ The cast. Overall, I thought the movie was well cast. Andrew, Emma, Charlie, Sally, Leary, etc, all did a great job, and fit the parts well.
+ The acting. As above, thanks to the solid casting, the acting wasn't a disappointment. I liked the scenes between Ben and Peter, and I thought that Andrew and Emma had great chemistry, almost to the point where I didn't buy that he was supposed to be awkward around her. I enjoyed most of the scenes between them as well.
+ Most of the visual effects. When Spidey and Lizard were alone on the screen, the effects held up rather well. I'll address the cons of this below. The animation team killed it when it came to Spider-Man's movements. He really did move like how I always imagined him to do in the comics. Quite a few iconic poses, and the ending bit was goosebump worthy in how awesome it was.
+ The little nods here and there to the comics, and a really fun bit I won't spoil here.
Cons:
- Flat first half. It's an origin story. Again. We really didn't need that, and a lot of time was wasted in retelling how Peter got his powers, and how he was influenced into becoming Spider-Man. Once that nonsense was out of the way, the story felt like it's own movie. The origin parts just felt like they had a list of all of the things that Sam Raimi had done, and then said, "Ok, we aren't going to do this, this, this, this, and this."
- The musical score. Some people said that Raimi's Spider-Man films didn't have a memorable score, but I disagree. I think Elfman did a great job crafting something iconic that fit the Spider-Man world. Here, the music was just damn forgettable. Nothing was rousing or pumped me up for some Spidey action.
- The writing was pretty mediocre in many, many scenes. The actors did a superb job with what they were given, but quite a few scenes felt really forced.
- Special effects. When Spidey and Lizard are on screen together, the CG just takes a nose dive in my opinion. It looked like two action figures going at it. The scenes themselves were great, and as stated above, the animation team fricking nailed Spidey's movements, but I wasn't as impressed by the action as I hoped to be. The quick cuts, and super fast speed made it hard to follow sometimes.
- Peter's hair. God damn, I hate that super thick, mane like hair that a lot of young men are sporting these days. It looks fucking stupid, and Garfield is no exception. Not to mention that every damn time he'd put on the Spider-Man mask, I kept thinking, "Where the fuck does his hair go?!" I kept imagining that his hair was just pressed against his eyes, and he really couldn't see shit, and was relying on his Spider Sense for guidance.
- It didn't really feel like a Spider-Man movie. What I liked about the Raimi films (yes, all 3), was that the world felt like something different. It was this hyper stylized, almost cartoony version of New York City, but it perfectly fits in with who Spider-Man is, especially given that Raimi is partial to the early Spider-Man comics. This felt more like that "angsty" 90's era gritty Spider-Man, and it just doesn't fit the character as well as the light-hearted camp of Peter Parker. It lacked the charm, , visually and narratively, of the Raimi films, despite Garfield being a rather likable guy as Peter.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but I felt that it was wasted potential, in that it really should have just picked up where the last one left off, at least, figuratively speaking. It could have started with Peter already as Spider-Man, and through the course of the movie we get some glimpes/reminders, of his origin and motivations for being Spider-Man. The rest of the movie could have stayed as is.
I'm looking forward to seeing where they take the series next, however. I'm a sucker for Spider-Man. Now that they got the reboot nastiness out of the way, hopefully they'll bring us a kick as Venom story arc in future films.
Overall, I'd give it a B. Good, but not Great. I wasn't as disappointed as the above write up may have come off.
For another bit of comparison, I can say that I loved The Avengers more.
I'm a huge Spider-Man fan, so it pains me that I wasn't as satisfied by the film as I thought I'd be. My wife went in with low expectations (she was not a fan of it being a reboot), and she walked away less disappointed than I did.
Some quick thoughts on it, though:
Pros:
+ The cast. Overall, I thought the movie was well cast. Andrew, Emma, Charlie, Sally, Leary, etc, all did a great job, and fit the parts well.
+ The acting. As above, thanks to the solid casting, the acting wasn't a disappointment. I liked the scenes between Ben and Peter, and I thought that Andrew and Emma had great chemistry, almost to the point where I didn't buy that he was supposed to be awkward around her. I enjoyed most of the scenes between them as well.
+ Most of the visual effects. When Spidey and Lizard were alone on the screen, the effects held up rather well. I'll address the cons of this below. The animation team killed it when it came to Spider-Man's movements. He really did move like how I always imagined him to do in the comics. Quite a few iconic poses, and the ending bit was goosebump worthy in how awesome it was.
+ The little nods here and there to the comics, and a really fun bit I won't spoil here.
Cons:
- Flat first half. It's an origin story. Again. We really didn't need that, and a lot of time was wasted in retelling how Peter got his powers, and how he was influenced into becoming Spider-Man. Once that nonsense was out of the way, the story felt like it's own movie. The origin parts just felt like they had a list of all of the things that Sam Raimi had done, and then said, "Ok, we aren't going to do this, this, this, this, and this."
- The musical score. Some people said that Raimi's Spider-Man films didn't have a memorable score, but I disagree. I think Elfman did a great job crafting something iconic that fit the Spider-Man world. Here, the music was just damn forgettable. Nothing was rousing or pumped me up for some Spidey action.
- The writing was pretty mediocre in many, many scenes. The actors did a superb job with what they were given, but quite a few scenes felt really forced.
- Special effects. When Spidey and Lizard are on screen together, the CG just takes a nose dive in my opinion. It looked like two action figures going at it. The scenes themselves were great, and as stated above, the animation team fricking nailed Spidey's movements, but I wasn't as impressed by the action as I hoped to be. The quick cuts, and super fast speed made it hard to follow sometimes.
- Peter's hair. God damn, I hate that super thick, mane like hair that a lot of young men are sporting these days. It looks fucking stupid, and Garfield is no exception. Not to mention that every damn time he'd put on the Spider-Man mask, I kept thinking, "Where the fuck does his hair go?!" I kept imagining that his hair was just pressed against his eyes, and he really couldn't see shit, and was relying on his Spider Sense for guidance.
- It didn't really feel like a Spider-Man movie. What I liked about the Raimi films (yes, all 3), was that the world felt like something different. It was this hyper stylized, almost cartoony version of New York City, but it perfectly fits in with who Spider-Man is, especially given that Raimi is partial to the early Spider-Man comics. This felt more like that "angsty" 90's era gritty Spider-Man, and it just doesn't fit the character as well as the light-hearted camp of Peter Parker. It lacked the charm, , visually and narratively, of the Raimi films, despite Garfield being a rather likable guy as Peter.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but I felt that it was wasted potential, in that it really should have just picked up where the last one left off, at least, figuratively speaking. It could have started with Peter already as Spider-Man, and through the course of the movie we get some glimpes/reminders, of his origin and motivations for being Spider-Man. The rest of the movie could have stayed as is.
I'm looking forward to seeing where they take the series next, however. I'm a sucker for Spider-Man. Now that they got the reboot nastiness out of the way, hopefully they'll bring us a kick as Venom story arc in future films.
Overall, I'd give it a B. Good, but not Great. I wasn't as disappointed as the above write up may have come off.
For another bit of comparison, I can say that I loved The Avengers more.
Really a very bad film. Which is a shame.
Its biggest problem is that it can't decide how it wants to diverge from what we've already seen, and sometimes whether or not it wants to diverge at all. On one hand there are a ton of little references in the film to indicate that being a bit repetitive is okay.
were clear nods to the original films. Obviously, the film is trying to convince us that it's okay that it's sort of similar to what we've seen. But in all the scenes it redoes the film is too uncomfortable itself to straight up copy. So instead of a longer form training montage, it's a shorter blurb. Instead of
. What Webb must not have realized is that making the scenes different in worse ways doesn't keep them from also being repetitive, so it's even worse. Give us time to savor
. Those alterations and other bigger changes scream "look how different I am!" because of how obvious they are. When you come incredibly close to saying a line like
The film is simultaneously shouting at the audience "it's okay that I'm the same!" The end result is awkward, stilted and boring.
The narrative problems don't even come close to ending there. Where to start...how about Connors. At the beginning he's shown to be careful and pragmatic, yet hopeful. He wants to help and think that help will be possible soon, but is wary of going too fast. Then he becomes Lizard. After that he's nearly a demon. He's rash, violent, and blind.
Connors' entire plot is the opposite of compelling.
Despite having a boring villain, the fights could have been tense. Instead we get a handful of fights in quick succession, all with just about the same stakes.
Thus, instead of a roller coaster of events, you get what's essentially one long drawn-out fight. Tedious.
Even with bad main villain fights, some of the Spidey's other hero activities could have been fun. Nope.
I've already discussed how boring that was. The rest of his activities were just as bad. And the result of those activities:
Some wit could have improved that. Peter firing off a few one-liners as he busts muggers? I'm game for that. Again, nope. He has several funny lines in that excellent carjacker scene and some unfunny attempts at wit ADR'd over other scenes. As Spidey he's just absolutely dull.
As Peter he's less dull, but he's still not exactly charming. For me it's not just that he's whiny, it's that he's nothing close to a nerd or any kind of kid that'd be unpopular in high school. He's into photography, he's really smart, he's good-looking, he wears American Apparel, he skates, and he's often awkward but nice. That kid in a high school today has a good group of friends, is decently respected. He's given no reason for being a loner other than "he's whiny." It's practically repellant.
That sucks because Garfield really brings up the material, and with better writing he'd be a truly fantastic Spidey. Emma Stone is much the same with Gwen: she elevates the material a lot, but it's still not enough. Mostly because her character isn't given enough to do. If these two were plopped down into a well-written Spider-Man story, it'd be great. They have amazing chemistry.
How about that first-person swinging? I had someone assuring me that wasn't in the actual film. Wrong! It's there and does not look good. The effects are pretty wonderful everywhere except for there and during the
Almost as bad as the ridiculous product placement. It was as bad as Fringe's, but instead of having maybe one close-up of a phone every episode, it was an insane amount of in-focus and visible Vaio and Sony logos and screens over 2 hours. In that dosage it becomes grating even to those experienced with ignoring product placement.
Even with such great effects, the Lizard looks awful. It's simply not a cool creature design. He's a joke. And his mouth while he talks is awful.
That's a lot. Writing about the film made me realize just how much I disliked about it. I didn't feel as badly walking out. But I still didn't feel good. And that's because despite the super strong chemistry and acting, the film doesn't work on a thematic level at all. There are two main threads: 1) what is the risk behind having secrets or behind secrets being uncovered? 2) in so many words, with great power comes great responsibility. The second one is sort of tacked on further into the film, and is developed only okay.
The first of those is left completely open, has only some movement from the beginning.
Dissatisfaction defines TASM. I was never a comics person, but I was a huge Spider-Man (1994) and Spider-Man Unlimited fan. And from that I grew to love a snarky Peter who steps up to serious challenges while remaining fun. The Amazing Spider-Man can't do that. It doesn't know how much of a reboot it wants to be, it doesn't know how or when to be humorous, it doesn't understand narrative flow or how to provide satisfying consequences, and it's a general bore. With a different director and writer, the sequel could be stupendous thanks to the brilliant leads. For now, all we get is an empty, uncomfortable and sour film.
Its biggest problem is that it can't decide how it wants to diverge from what we've already seen, and sometimes whether or not it wants to diverge at all. On one hand there are a ton of little references in the film to indicate that being a bit repetitive is okay.
The there's only one story anyway stuff, and the "who am I" that ended spider-man 1
Uncle Ben's death being focused on very intensely, it happens in the blink of an eye and falls to the background
Peter learning about his powers and hiding his identity. It was fun then, it would have been fun now
w/great power comes great responsibility and then don't say it, you're only drawing attention to the fact that it's not being said.
The narrative problems don't even come close to ending there. Where to start...how about Connors. At the beginning he's shown to be careful and pragmatic, yet hopeful. He wants to help and think that help will be possible soon, but is wary of going too fast. Then he becomes Lizard. After that he's nearly a demon. He's rash, violent, and blind.
Returns to his human state happening in between being the Lizard do not put his fury at bay, and he has to take more of the drug to become the Lizard again. He's still angry and all while he's a human though. But at the end, when he's cured again, he saves Peter? Maybe this round of antidote resulted in a different change than before. It brought back his more human side. Alright. However, he never seemed to be caught in a moral dilemma. He was one way, he changed, and then he was cured. So his turn to saving Peter isn't satisfying at all.
Despite having a boring villain, the fights could have been tense. Instead we get a handful of fights in quick succession, all with just about the same stakes.
Peter figures out almost instantly that Connors is the Lizard, and Connors figures out Peter is Spidey not too long afterwards. So their relationship is about the same throughout. Beyond that, Connors' goal never changes. He never has multiple objectives, just the one: be the Lizard and spread it to people. It's even edited together and paced so oddly and annoyingly: we go straight from a lizard fight to a maybe 2 minute scene of Gwen and Peter which ends in them swinging through the night, which jarringly cuts to the school as the lizard arrives. The hell?
Even with bad main villain fights, some of the Spidey's other hero activities could have been fun. Nope.
He spends the first section of his time as a hero hunting blonde-haired criminals, stopping somewhere around 3 to 5. Between all 5 of those, maybe 2 of them involved people actually in danger, and all were about stopping simple robbers. That has no impact on us and should have little impact on the city. Then, he encounters the lizard and saves those cars. Now, most of those were empty, but saving the one kid was cool. So that's about 5 people he's actually saved, and one interesting activity. Then the rest of everything...fighting the Lizard.
cranes join up to help him swing. I fucking lost it laughing at this scene. Like I said, he's saved about 5 people by my count. Even if we want to boost it a bit, that'd be 10 max. And it's not clear at all whether he was truly helping people doing that, he's had only cursory coverage so far. But a gigantic group of crane operators, who are all luckily located on the same street, make a path for him. All because someone they maybe know a little had their son saved by Spidey. This is all in the middle of a panicky city-wide evacuation. A dozen men who, at this point, should have had no huge interest in Spidey risked their lives for this. And the melodrama lent to the scene is laughable. If you have to do a "city loves Spider-Man" scene, don't make it so ridiculous and heavy-handed.
Some wit could have improved that. Peter firing off a few one-liners as he busts muggers? I'm game for that. Again, nope. He has several funny lines in that excellent carjacker scene and some unfunny attempts at wit ADR'd over other scenes. As Spidey he's just absolutely dull.
As Peter he's less dull, but he's still not exactly charming. For me it's not just that he's whiny, it's that he's nothing close to a nerd or any kind of kid that'd be unpopular in high school. He's into photography, he's really smart, he's good-looking, he wears American Apparel, he skates, and he's often awkward but nice. That kid in a high school today has a good group of friends, is decently respected. He's given no reason for being a loner other than "he's whiny." It's practically repellant.
That sucks because Garfield really brings up the material, and with better writing he'd be a truly fantastic Spidey. Emma Stone is much the same with Gwen: she elevates the material a lot, but it's still not enough. Mostly because her character isn't given enough to do. If these two were plopped down into a well-written Spider-Man story, it'd be great. They have amazing chemistry.
How about that first-person swinging? I had someone assuring me that wasn't in the actual film. Wrong! It's there and does not look good. The effects are pretty wonderful everywhere except for there and during the
Stan Lee cameo, where the fight in the background looks to take place in a completely different area. Speaking of this: what the hell at that cameo? Why keep doing these so distractingly? Make him a cab driver or something, not a dumb punchline.
Even with such great effects, the Lizard looks awful. It's simply not a cool creature design. He's a joke. And his mouth while he talks is awful.
That's a lot. Writing about the film made me realize just how much I disliked about it. I didn't feel as badly walking out. But I still didn't feel good. And that's because despite the super strong chemistry and acting, the film doesn't work on a thematic level at all. There are two main threads: 1) what is the risk behind having secrets or behind secrets being uncovered? 2) in so many words, with great power comes great responsibility. The second one is sort of tacked on further into the film, and is developed only okay.
It is established pretty well that Peter's only interested in revenge for a while, and the he shifts to being interested in public good. That's fine, but it happens about halfway through. So it's done by then.
Richard Parker's secrets put people at risk, but they aren't uncovered. They're impact Peter and have turned him into a superhero, but we get no hint as to what's going on. Peter's secret identity essentially hurts Ben. Richard's equation kills Captain Stacy and puts the entire city at risk. So the idea that secrets in general hurt others is communicated pretty well, but posing them through the enigma that is Richard only to give us zero information on him is not satisfactory. Yes, it's not as bad knowing that the answers will come in sequels. But as a standalone film, it really hurts TASM.
Dissatisfaction defines TASM. I was never a comics person, but I was a huge Spider-Man (1994) and Spider-Man Unlimited fan. And from that I grew to love a snarky Peter who steps up to serious challenges while remaining fun. The Amazing Spider-Man can't do that. It doesn't know how much of a reboot it wants to be, it doesn't know how or when to be humorous, it doesn't understand narrative flow or how to provide satisfying consequences, and it's a general bore. With a different director and writer, the sequel could be stupendous thanks to the brilliant leads. For now, all we get is an empty, uncomfortable and sour film.
There is the possibility that could've been a call on Marvel's part as they probably wanted to align this movie's Spidey more with the comics in that he builds his own web-shooters and is a pretty good scientist himself which was something I really didn't see in Raimi's flicks other than a conversation here and there, plus we all know how much Quesada was itching to restore Spider-Man back to his "roots" in the comics after they had originally carried over the organic shooters and whatnot from the first 3 films. I'm also sure Sony also wanted to completely divorce themselves from the Raimi flicks.
greycolumbus
The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
I thought this movie was hot garbage. The interplay between Stone and Garfield fell completely flat. I could forgive the film for some of its faults if it was paced better. There's also weird editing in spots; I'm not one to pick out minute continuity errors but I couldn't help noticing things like jackets on characters appearing out of thin air.
Mostly, the movie's just weird. The score/music is some weird noisy thing that in one particular sequence got so bad I thought something was wrong in the theater. Spider-Man's suit flip-flops from looking interesting and unique to garish and awkward. Story beats are lifted from Spider-Man 1 which I can't blame them too much for doing since it is an origin story, I just wish more was done to differentiate itself.
There are some few good points: I like the web-shooters and the look of the webbing. When the suit looks good it's usually because I can more easily make out that odd basketball texture (I find it fascinating). I like Emma Stone in it and wish she was more crucial in the film.
All in all, it feels like a cheap remake of Raimi's Spider-Man instead of a reboot with its own identity. The original's fluidity and looseness is replaced with fidgetiness and ugly, fast action with dull drama to complement it. It's like the worst bits of Spider-Man 3.
Mostly, the movie's just weird. The score/music is some weird noisy thing that in one particular sequence got so bad I thought something was wrong in the theater. Spider-Man's suit flip-flops from looking interesting and unique to garish and awkward. Story beats are lifted from Spider-Man 1 which I can't blame them too much for doing since it is an origin story, I just wish more was done to differentiate itself.
There are some few good points: I like the web-shooters and the look of the webbing. When the suit looks good it's usually because I can more easily make out that odd basketball texture (I find it fascinating). I like Emma Stone in it and wish she was more crucial in the film.
All in all, it feels like a cheap remake of Raimi's Spider-Man instead of a reboot with its own identity. The original's fluidity and looseness is replaced with fidgetiness and ugly, fast action with dull drama to complement it. It's like the worst bits of Spider-Man 3.
It's amazing when you read something and pretty much violently disagree with all of it. It just goes to show how different people's reactions can be. I mean, I literally disagree with every criticism in your post except for the sometimes weird editing - by that I mean sometimes it feels like there are subplots which have been crudely excised (Dr Ratha and the veterans hospital, Unble Ben's shooter, etc).
Joel Was Right
Member
Overall I really enjoyed it, and the crane scene got me choked up! But the romance seemed so rush that it was difficult to really imagine it being real - it didn't make sense [how quickly she fells for him].
The biggest contrast, however, was that Garfield's Peter Parker was far less likeable than Tobey's. Peter in this film was dull and uninteresting.
The biggest contrast, however, was that Garfield's Peter Parker was far less likeable than Tobey's. Peter in this film was dull and uninteresting.
ZeroGravity
Member
I was honestly curious if the first Spider-Man movie had held up or "aged badly" as some people claimed, as I hadn't seen it in years, and after just rewatching it - yeah, it's still awesome.
Aside from the outdated CGI effect, it absolutely shits all over The Amazing Spider-Man in every category. It's fun, it's funny, it's a little cheesy but not overly so, it's charming and endearing, it embraces what makes Spider-Man so great, and it's a just plain fantastic origin movie. I had sort of forgotten how much I loved it, but it's still as enjoyable to me as it was back when I first saw it in theaters 10 years ago...which just depresses me even more how badly ASM turned out. If there were any justice in this world, Marvel would have the rights back immediately.
Aside from the outdated CGI effect, it absolutely shits all over The Amazing Spider-Man in every category. It's fun, it's funny, it's a little cheesy but not overly so, it's charming and endearing, it embraces what makes Spider-Man so great, and it's a just plain fantastic origin movie. I had sort of forgotten how much I loved it, but it's still as enjoyable to me as it was back when I first saw it in theaters 10 years ago...which just depresses me even more how badly ASM turned out. If there were any justice in this world, Marvel would have the rights back immediately.
Shatters Tuesday records. A rating from cinemascore as well.
http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/spider-man-debuts-amazing-7-5m-midnights/
http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/spider-man-debuts-amazing-7-5m-midnights/
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
I thought it was a good idea, and the fact they wrote up a fresh plot was cool, but overall i thought it sucked ass, better luck next time i guess..
Amazing Spider-Man Shatters Tuesday Opening Box Office Record With $35M
TUESDAY 11 PM, 3RD UPDATE: More fireworks at the North American box office on the eve of U.S. Independence Day. My sources say Sony Pictures superhero reboot The Amazing Spider-Man opened with $35M (though some rival studios put the number in the neighborhood of $32M tonight). It easily sets a new domestic record for a Tuesday opening helped by its 3D premium pricing and is ahead of the original 2D Transformers ($27.8M) that debuted on Tuesday July 3rd, 2007. That is one huge number, a Sony exec gushed to me tonight. Unbelievable start to what should be a very exciting 6 days.
TUESDAY 11 PM, 3RD UPDATE: More fireworks at the North American box office on the eve of U.S. Independence Day. My sources say Sony Pictures superhero reboot The Amazing Spider-Man opened with $35M (though some rival studios put the number in the neighborhood of $32M tonight). It easily sets a new domestic record for a Tuesday opening helped by its 3D premium pricing and is ahead of the original 2D Transformers ($27.8M) that debuted on Tuesday July 3rd, 2007. That is one huge number, a Sony exec gushed to me tonight. Unbelievable start to what should be a very exciting 6 days.
greycolumbus
The success of others absolutely infuriates me.
It'll be interesting to see where things go from here box office wise. People seem to like it online.
EDIT: Oh my.
Discotheque
Banned
A decent film which I thought would be much worse. So I was pleasantly surprised I suppose.
The first 20-30 minutes were just fucking dull as shit for me. I felt they handled the origin poorly and the pacing felt off. It wasn't keeping my interest. HOWEVER, Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker was fantastic amidst all of this so it wasn't a total bust. Got more interesting once he finally donned the suit.
The chemistry between him and the super-adorable Emma Stone (she's never been cuter) was a huge step above the Raimi films. I like Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, a lot. But I think Garfield is a better fit and gave the better performance. The villain was also not Willem Dafoe. They tried to nail it with the talking to himself scene but no. Rhys Ifans can't chew the scenery like him and despite everybody's beef with the Goblin Power Ranger suit I still liked him a lot more than boring Lizard.
It sounds like I hate this film and yet I actually enjoyed it. The overall film lacks the charm of the first two Spiderman movies (and no it's not nostalgia, I just saw it again a few weeks ago. Still fun) and the movie feels uneven but Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone really hold this up. And the swinging/combat is very comic-book like which is awesome but Marc Webb isn't that great at filming action.
Soundtrack is just fucking forgettable. Danny Elfman wrecks this.
Despite all the cool moves that Spidey showed in here nothing topped the train battle in Spiderman 2 when he was cruising on a car door and launched himself onto the train again.
Series showed promise with this film though. The leads especially have me anticipating the sequel. But God-damn it's doomed already with Orci/Kurtzman writing it. Assholes, they could have had something special here.
My overall rankings: Spiderman 2 > Spiderman 1 > Amazing Spiderman > 3. I love Tobey Maguire in the Raimi films but my dream Spiderman movie would now be with Raimi directing, and Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as the leads. Keep it the same and God-damn.
Better than any of the Marvel flicks except Avengers.
The first 20-30 minutes were just fucking dull as shit for me. I felt they handled the origin poorly and the pacing felt off. It wasn't keeping my interest. HOWEVER, Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker was fantastic amidst all of this so it wasn't a total bust. Got more interesting once he finally donned the suit.
The chemistry between him and the super-adorable Emma Stone (she's never been cuter) was a huge step above the Raimi films. I like Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, a lot. But I think Garfield is a better fit and gave the better performance. The villain was also not Willem Dafoe. They tried to nail it with the talking to himself scene but no. Rhys Ifans can't chew the scenery like him and despite everybody's beef with the Goblin Power Ranger suit I still liked him a lot more than boring Lizard.
It sounds like I hate this film and yet I actually enjoyed it. The overall film lacks the charm of the first two Spiderman movies (and no it's not nostalgia, I just saw it again a few weeks ago. Still fun) and the movie feels uneven but Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone really hold this up. And the swinging/combat is very comic-book like which is awesome but Marc Webb isn't that great at filming action.
Soundtrack is just fucking forgettable. Danny Elfman wrecks this.
Despite all the cool moves that Spidey showed in here nothing topped the train battle in Spiderman 2 when he was cruising on a car door and launched himself onto the train again.
Series showed promise with this film though. The leads especially have me anticipating the sequel. But God-damn it's doomed already with Orci/Kurtzman writing it. Assholes, they could have had something special here.
My overall rankings: Spiderman 2 > Spiderman 1 > Amazing Spiderman > 3. I love Tobey Maguire in the Raimi films but my dream Spiderman movie would now be with Raimi directing, and Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as the leads. Keep it the same and God-damn.
Better than any of the Marvel flicks except Avengers.
Having also just re-watched the first two films, they truly, absolutely, DO shit on this one.
Raimi's an incredibly gifted director and it shows through the way every single scene is delicately framed and filmed. There's just an inherent charm to his style that sparks those movies to life: they're whimsical, light and true to themselves in a way that I can't help but admire what many consider "cheesy"; because even through that, they still manage to effortlessly encourage a strong emotional depth - say, Ben's death for example, which completely shapes Spidey's character and the film. Unlike TASM, where its role is near entirely absent and has no considerable weight whatsoever. Barf.
Where TASM only thrives for me, is through its very strong casting of Garfield and Stone. Their relationship is the film's saving grace and far more in line with how I'd have liked Peter and MJ to be in the original trilogy.
Also, BIG lololololol at people praising the musical score to this. Forgettable as fuck.
Raimi's an incredibly gifted director and it shows through the way every single scene is delicately framed and filmed. There's just an inherent charm to his style that sparks those movies to life: they're whimsical, light and true to themselves in a way that I can't help but admire what many consider "cheesy"; because even through that, they still manage to effortlessly encourage a strong emotional depth - say, Ben's death for example, which completely shapes Spidey's character and the film. Unlike TASM, where its role is near entirely absent and has no considerable weight whatsoever. Barf.
Where TASM only thrives for me, is through its very strong casting of Garfield and Stone. Their relationship is the film's saving grace and far more in line with how I'd have liked Peter and MJ to be in the original trilogy.
Also, BIG lololololol at people praising the musical score to this. Forgettable as fuck.
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
There was only one bit i actually noticed the music
when emma was hiding in the closet when lizard man is strolling about
Okay, that bit was actually cool. Major Silent Hill - alternative Midwich vibe.
Just came back from watching it. Was dragged into it by the wife and her sisters.
Here's what I thought:
-Garfield is a great actor
-Fight scenes were well done
-Man was it boring. Really slow paced. The origin part of it dragged too long especially cause I felt like I've seen it countless times.
-Super cheesy (crane dudes..come on)
-Seemed like a chick flick. Reminded me of the Green Lantern movie in that sense and that's not a good thing.
-Random swinging scenes were well shot but random at times
-Didn't flow well like the first two Raimi movies.
Overall I'd say this is an extremely passable and forgetable movie. If you want a good spiderman movie, go back to the Raimi one.
Here's what I thought:
-Garfield is a great actor
-Fight scenes were well done
-Man was it boring. Really slow paced. The origin part of it dragged too long especially cause I felt like I've seen it countless times.
-Super cheesy (crane dudes..come on)
-Seemed like a chick flick. Reminded me of the Green Lantern movie in that sense and that's not a good thing.
-Random swinging scenes were well shot but random at times
-Didn't flow well like the first two Raimi movies.
Overall I'd say this is an extremely passable and forgetable movie. If you want a good spiderman movie, go back to the Raimi one.
The movie is good but it's nowhere as good as Spiderman 1 or 2. I like Garfield but McGuire was just a bit more convincing. This new Parker is bit too emo.
Also, there are way too many night scenes for Spiderman. This isn't Batman and it just seemed off and possibly was just to be lazy with special effects?
They did a good job with the jovial spidey comments though. Haven't seen the older 2 (3 doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned) in a while so I can't remember who did it better.
Again, good movie but I'm just about done with reboots of Franchises less than 10 years old where they waste half the movie on the origin story again. WTF?
PS: Emma was looking good. <3
PS2: Did McGuire just not want to do it anymore? I wish they'd have done one more just to redeem themselves for the 3rd movie lol
Also, there are way too many night scenes for Spiderman. This isn't Batman and it just seemed off and possibly was just to be lazy with special effects?
They did a good job with the jovial spidey comments though. Haven't seen the older 2 (3 doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned) in a while so I can't remember who did it better.
Again, good movie but I'm just about done with reboots of Franchises less than 10 years old where they waste half the movie on the origin story again. WTF?
PS: Emma was looking good. <3
PS2: Did McGuire just not want to do it anymore? I wish they'd have done one more just to redeem themselves for the 3rd movie lol
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
... one of all maybe 5 things that were cool in the entire movieSame opinion here. Didn't care for TASM either, found it to be dull and sometimes outright bad like those scenes that you mentioned.
Matrix
LeBron loves his girlfriend. There is no other woman in the world hed rather have. The problem is, Dwyanes not a woman.
"I like Garfield but McGuire was just a bit more convincing. This new Parker is bit too emo"
Oh God Konex, :\ I can understand people liking the Raimi version better, but Tobey's Parker not emo? a better Parker/Spider-man than Garfield... I can't see that at all.
Then again its you...
Tobey Maguire is pushing close 40 now, he's like 37.
Maguire, Raimi and Sony couldn't come together on a solid story and yea basically google the history of how it ended with that shitty 3rd movie and the 4th sounded awful as well.
Oh God Konex, :\ I can understand people liking the Raimi version better, but Tobey's Parker not emo? a better Parker/Spider-man than Garfield... I can't see that at all.
Then again its you...
Tobey Maguire is pushing close 40 now, he's like 37.
Maguire, Raimi and Sony couldn't come together on a solid story and yea basically google the history of how it ended with that shitty 3rd movie and the 4th sounded awful as well.
Couldn't agree more. This film was tonally all over the place. The bombastic-at-all-times score did nothing to help.
Its first half was a weird mixture of "going through the motions" with "different for the sake of it, but mostly worse."
Few of the emotional beats in the second half registered. Characters come and go with little connection.
I think I might have preferred Raimi's first Spiderman over this. It had a better sense of family and suspense than this crap.
Discotheque
Banned
Absolutely. Otherwise I prefer the Raimi films on all other fronts. Marc Webb showed he can't really handle a big film like this, since the strong scenes tended to be Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.
dorkimoe
Member
Just saw it. Loved it. Very well done. Action scenes were awesome and Garfield was great. Didn't seem to focus too much on him testing his powers? But I enjoyed it.
I swear,,even knowing that
<not really a spoiler. But you never know...
I swear,,even knowing that
uncle Ben is going to die. It's still always sad
I just got back from it and like it quite a bit. There were some things I would've definitely liked them to focus more on or not speed so much past, but I'm actually quite surprised at how much they were able to get through in those 2 hours.
Andrew and Emma were sooooo good together on screen. I have no idea how you can say they weren't. All of their interactions felt real and genuine (guess that's why it carried over into real life). Peter was awkward in just the right ways without it being so cheesy and over the top like in Raimi's movies. I didn't cringe at any of the dialog between them like I did so often in the other movies.
Pros
Cons or things I was on the fence about...
Something I would like to see for the next movie is to Harry Osborn already established as Peter's and Gwen's friend in college. Start the movie mid semester or something so they've already had time to become friends and have met Norman.
Andrew and Emma were sooooo good together on screen. I have no idea how you can say they weren't. All of their interactions felt real and genuine (guess that's why it carried over into real life). Peter was awkward in just the right ways without it being so cheesy and over the top like in Raimi's movies. I didn't cringe at any of the dialog between them like I did so often in the other movies.
Pros
+ The web swinging and posing of Spider-Man himself were fucking amazing. There's nothing in the old movies that comes close to this one. I love the practical stuff where you can feel the weight and momentum.
+ As I said, Andrew and Emma as a couple worked great. In fact, I think all the major actors did a great job.
+ Not catching the criminal that shot Uncle Ben. I always hate when the killer gets caught right away (and killed) like in Spider-Man 1 and Batman Begins. The fact that he's always out there is what should be driving their guilt and commitment. If the dude is caught and sent to jail or killed, whelp, justice is served, guess I don't have to be a hero anymore.
+ Not killing the main villain at the end of the movie.
+ Flash being the bully, but then turning it around later and even sporting the Spidey shirt at the end.
+ Showing that Peter was really smart and could actually come up with the web shooters and formula for Dr. Connors.
+ Fight scenes were really well done I thought. You could follow everything and catch all the little things Peter did with his webbing to propel himself or tie up the enemy. His snarky-ness came through as well.
+ The police force not being completely stupid or incompetent. They were able to track both Lizard and Spider-Man and even mess them up pretty good.
+ Leaving Norman out of the movie (kinda) and saving him for later.
+ There's plenty more but it's late and I can't remember every little thing I was making note of while I was watching it.
+ As I said, Andrew and Emma as a couple worked great. In fact, I think all the major actors did a great job.
+ Not catching the criminal that shot Uncle Ben. I always hate when the killer gets caught right away (and killed) like in Spider-Man 1 and Batman Begins. The fact that he's always out there is what should be driving their guilt and commitment. If the dude is caught and sent to jail or killed, whelp, justice is served, guess I don't have to be a hero anymore.
+ Not killing the main villain at the end of the movie.
+ Flash being the bully, but then turning it around later and even sporting the Spidey shirt at the end.
+ Showing that Peter was really smart and could actually come up with the web shooters and formula for Dr. Connors.
+ Fight scenes were really well done I thought. You could follow everything and catch all the little things Peter did with his webbing to propel himself or tie up the enemy. His snarky-ness came through as well.
+ The police force not being completely stupid or incompetent. They were able to track both Lizard and Spider-Man and even mess them up pretty good.
+ Leaving Norman out of the movie (kinda) and saving him for later.
+ There's plenty more but it's late and I can't remember every little thing I was making note of while I was watching it.
Cons or things I was on the fence about...
- Felt like some things were glossed over a bit too quickly. I appreciate the montage of Peter learning about his powers, but I almost wish there was a bit more exposition there to explain how they worked or what his limits were.
- Lizard's overall plan was pretty lame. Turn everyone into Lizards so they'd be better off? Whatever, I let it slide though.
- No mention of Connor's family. He had his wedding ring on and his son was cast, but no wife or son were ever shown. I think it would've humanized him a bit more.
- Like said before, Peter not putting his mask back on after the fight in the school. I mean it's not a HUGE deal, but it did strike me as odd.
- Telling Gwen he was Spider-Man. I was hoping only Captain Stacy would find out at the end and tell him to watch out for Gwen, but even that didn't play out like I had hoped. I understand why they did it, so I'm not really angry about it.
- Uncle Ben's killer should've robbed that store at gunpoint. I kept waiting for the dude to pull the gun out after Peter left and at one point thought the guy was going to just bump Ben and knock him into oncoming traffic or something. Again, minor nit pick.
- Crane scene coincidence was a little meh, but again, whatever. It provided some cool visuals.
- Lizard's overall plan was pretty lame. Turn everyone into Lizards so they'd be better off? Whatever, I let it slide though.
- No mention of Connor's family. He had his wedding ring on and his son was cast, but no wife or son were ever shown. I think it would've humanized him a bit more.
- Like said before, Peter not putting his mask back on after the fight in the school. I mean it's not a HUGE deal, but it did strike me as odd.
- Telling Gwen he was Spider-Man. I was hoping only Captain Stacy would find out at the end and tell him to watch out for Gwen, but even that didn't play out like I had hoped. I understand why they did it, so I'm not really angry about it.
- Uncle Ben's killer should've robbed that store at gunpoint. I kept waiting for the dude to pull the gun out after Peter left and at one point thought the guy was going to just bump Ben and knock him into oncoming traffic or something. Again, minor nit pick.
- Crane scene coincidence was a little meh, but again, whatever. It provided some cool visuals.
Something I would like to see for the next movie is to Harry Osborn already established as Peter's and Gwen's friend in college. Start the movie mid semester or something so they've already had time to become friends and have met Norman.
- Status