Do We Really Need Another Spider-Man Movie?
The Amazing Spider-Man is amazingly similar to 2002’s Spider-Man. But it’s a perfectly enjoyable and competent summer blockbuster, and though I’d estimate about two-thirds of this film’s DNA comes from the earlier one, it’s fun to notice the small differences between the two Spideys.
This time it’s UK-bred actor Andrew Garfield (whose American accent is, as far as I could tell, flawless) who plays high school loser Peter Parker, a dorky photographer constantly bullied by cooler classmates but who attracts the notice of pretty Gwen Stacy (The Help star Emma Stone, blonde this time). Peter pursues the unfinished genetic experiments of his scientist father (Campbell Scott), who disappeared one night and left him in the permanent care of his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen, slightly overdoing the doddering act) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Those experiments take Peter to the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (veteran Brit actor Rhys Ifans, still best known for playing Hugh Grant’s wacky roommate in Notting Hill), where, in one of the film’s many groan-inducing coincidences, Gwen also works. Despite heavy security at the super-secret lab, Peter sneaks into the unguarded inner sanctum where he learns more about experiments meant to regrow human limbs — Dr. Connors is missing an arm. It’s here that he’s bitten by a genetically altered spider.
The usual sequences of discovery of super-powers follow, and there’s even a scene with Peter getting the idea of wearing a costume from accidentally falling into a wrestling ring that features masked combatants. But to me Spidey 2.0 is more interesting than the likeable goody-goody played by the mild Tobey Maguire. First, Peter Parker has been picked on for a long time, and turning the tables on his tormentors gives him a license to act like a jerk himself for a while, for instance in a scene with the bully Flash (Chris Zylka) on a basketball court, where Parker’s arachnid grip and reflexes are simply used to humiliate the other boy. Peter is even unforgivably rude to his guardians. Making Peter less sweet and innocent makes him seem more human and real, and I think we’ve all seen that teens are fully capable of being arrogant and obnoxious.
well, the first movies were not so flawless that the franchise should be declared finished, and Hollywood is still intent on adding 3-D versions of all existing films, so it was gonna happen.
But for Garfield’s accent – I’ve only seen a clip or two, but I thought it sounded horrible.
When you have guys running around in Lycra underwear, a little camp is appropriate, I think. I never thought Toby Maguire was a very good casting choice, if you wanted to “do” the comic. OTOH, Spiderman as a character has always (IMHO) been “camp”, too similar to Clark Kent as a journalist with a blustering chief, too underpowered compared to Superman or Hulk, just some guy compared to the mystery that is Batman, sort of halfway between Thor and Archie. Well, at least that leaves a lot of room for different movie interpretations.
Why in God’s green Earth would they redo the SAME story over (and over and over again). Geeky kid gets bit by a radioactive/magical/genetically modified spider. Kid goes for girl, learns about his superpowers and- surprise!- the powers mirror his new adolescent power to engage in conjugal bliss with a girl- right down to the clumsy spurting webs). During the movie the boy conquers his rivals with his new super powers and saves the world at the same time he learns to spew his web. Maybe he even gets an upside down kiss- how @%*-ing original!!
There are so MANY spider man stories that have never been told! Instead we keep reliving the SAME story so we can appeal to the new teenage audience. Pathetic. I will will wait for the Netflix version.
I’m waiting for a remake of LaserBlast.
The previous Spider-Man series really resonated with me as an extended allegory of post-9/11 America. I’ll be interested to see if this movie fits the zeitgeist as well.
Urgh! I utterly HATE what has happened to Batman.
The bullet-proof rubber suit. The tank for a car. The can’t-tell-what’s-happening fights.
Spare me.
I’ve enjoyed the Spiderman and Batman movies made over the past decade or so, but I’m not going to waste my time of either of them. Frankly I’m tired of the whole re-boot the series bit. What a sad lack of imagination.
The title of the latest Batman is hilarious. ‘The Dark Knight Rises’? I can hardly wait to see the names of the sequels. ‘The Dark Knight Stumbles to the Bathroom’; ‘The Dark Knight Shaves and Takes a Shower’; ‘The Dark knight Tells Alfred He Wants Bacon With His Scrambled Eggs’.
‘The Dark Knight Stumbles to the Bathroom’
And then like ‘The Avengers’ brought many superdupers together – ‘The Dark Knight Stumbles to the Bathroom and finds Abraham Lincoln, The Vampire Hunter, already siting on the pot reading a Wonder Woman comic’.
ten years from now the actor who played Batman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ will take Bob Doles place in those commercials about getting a ‘rise’.
The Dark Knight Rises and immediately makes the sign of the V.
The truth? No. I certainly peaked on this genre of movie about ten flicks ago. They’re getting tedious.
If I want to see freaks in Spandex acting out in public, convinced of their God-like powers, I’ll hang out in Haight Ashbury for a time. Or perhaps the White House…
Actually, I’d prefer Spandex. What’s with all the rubber? Why do their suits look like they’re cut out of non-slip shower mats?
Awwhhhh come on now we never have enough super heroes!!
I’ll take all the Spiderman,Batman, Superman, Ironman you have and then some.WHat this country needs isless socialism/communism and more super heroes. From Marco Rubio to Sarah Palin to BAtman/Spiderman,I’ll take em all and watch each and every one over and over.
“But Peter Parker, unlike Bruce Wayne, is a boy, and the Spidey films are for kids.”
And the Batman movies are for adults? Oh, man…LOL
Adults who still like kid stuff, maybe. The first two Dark Knight movies were entertaining, but let’s face it: we’re not talking Citizen Kane here.
Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking just because we like one action flick more than another that one is for adults and the other is for kids. Here’s a hint: comic book characters are only taken seriously by kids and/or nerdy twenty-somethings still living in their moms’ basements. For the rest of us, they’re just mindless entertainment and not much more.
Why not more ‘Scarlet Pimpernel’, the original dual identity story of which all the others are basically spin offs?
You ARE aware that there was an excellent adaptation of “Pimpernel” with Richard E. Grant, right? I don’t think I’d like to see another! I think that version was perfect!
Yes we need another Spiderman if this time they finally get it right. One of the best parts of the comic book was Spidey’s smart mouth. He and J Jonah use to get into it all the time. Parker is a teenager with a quick wit and quirky sense of humor for example “Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spiderman”.
Yes there was teenage angst but not like the “Drama” of the first three movies. Unrelenting teen drama angst is to put it simply boring. Give me lines like;
Peter Parker: Ahem, you know, if you’re going to steal cars, don’t dress like a car thief.
Car Thief: You a cop?
Peter Parker: You seriously think I’m a cop in a skintight red and blue suit?
Now that’s Spiderman.
The nice thing about these types of movies is the lack of bad language and the lack of bare naked or semiclad actors and actresses. Being able to tell a story that is lacking all the “adult” inclusions is getting to be an art form.
My wife and I took our 7-year-old grandson to see this Friday night. I’ve never been much of a Spiderman fan, but I really liked it. My grandson loved it (he is a huge Spiderman fan). I also noticed that there is no nudity, only one curse word, and only a couple of brief kissing scenes. This one is all about action – there obviously is a good bit of violence, which is why it earned a PG-13 rating.
We could use a few more Green Lantern movies. That character is a great role model for kids, and there are many exciting stories just waiting to be told.
I’m gonna miss J Jonah Jameson. For one thing, JK Simmons was note-perfect: J Jonah is a bombastic campy sort of guy. For another, Jameson is an ideal counterpoint to Spidey – the normal person who earned everything he got, resenting that someone should have gotten a short-cut to greatness, as it were. One major motivation for him is that he wants to prove that a freak like that doesn’t deserve respect merely for what he is, while a man who worked for everything he’s got is overlooked and ignored.
One of the earliest Spidey story arcs in the comics was that Jameson’s son was an astronaut, and a real role model for kids, compared to that goofball wiseass in tights. Then Spidey saves Jameson the Younger when his capsule malfunctions, only for JJJ to accuse Spidey of sabotaging the whole mission from jealousy. (Pot Notes Color of Kettle, page A1!)
Compared to that, a cop chasing Spidey as a vigiliante menace is, well… common. The idea that a man would use the power of the media to orchestrate public opinion unfairly? In the 60′s and the age of the trusted news voice (which would continue for the rest of the century) such a concept in a comic book was really outstanding. Nowadays I dare say it would resonate for entirely a different reason, though you’d probably have to make the Daily Bugle an online news outlet.
I remember when the first Spiderman movie came out, people seemed to love it for one of two reasons; they were either excited to finally see a big super-hero movie that didn’t completely suck, or it struck a chord with them after the horrible events of 9/11. I honestly believe that it would not have been the success it was without both of those factors. It’s not that great of a movie – it was well-done, it had a straightforward good-vs-evil message, but especially in comparison to what’s been done since, it was flawed in a lot of respects.
Releasing a reboot now, after eleven years of a rash of superhero movies, in the middle of a summer with both The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises… just seems like a bad idea.