The Amazing Spider-Man Review and Discussion Thread (spoilers)

[Admiral James Kirk]

I'm going 2D as well. 3D doesn't look like it's going to add much to this movie and certainly not enough to justify the 3D surcharge.

[Emh]

It really doesn't but then I'm not best person to trust on that count because I despise 3D so much (and I only watch when I have no other option, which has been a grand total of 5 times over the last 3 years). The fast motion is definitely one of my biggest complaints, although I have to admit The Amazing Spider-Man wasn't quite as bad as other films, especially The Avengers.

[Mutenroshi]

Unfortunately our cinemas over here have such a huge hard on for 3D that it's impossible to find 2D showings.

[Professor Zoom]

Admiral James Kirk wrote:

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I'm going 2D as well. 3D doesn't look like it's going to add much to this movie and certainly not enough to justify the 3D surcharge.

True, especially if it's upconverted, which most seem to be...

[Dream]

Why The Amazing Spider-Man Can't Catch a Break

[Admiral_Young]

Another positive review.

http://www.newsarama.com/film/amazin...lm-review.html

[davejames]

Ebert gave it 3 and a half stars. Although beware, he gets a bit spoilery.

http://www.rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs....0629969/-1/RSS

[C_Miller]

I'm actually pretty excited about this one. Certainly not the same level of anticipation as Avengers and Dark Knight Rises, which we've all been invested in for years (2005 for DKR and 2008 for Avengers).

But I'll consider myself a Spider-Man fan. And this Spider-Man fan never really enjoyed the Raimi films. I never really liked Tobey McGuire. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I thought Kirsten Dunst was horribly miscast. She was okay in the first film, but just okay. It went down hill from there. And they also fell into the trap of superhero films being about the villain's character arc, rather than the hero's. I hate that. In fact all of the favorite superhero films are more about the hero than the villain now that I think about it.

All of them had good qualities, mostly from the supporting cast. Jameson, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Harry (until the 3rd film), were standouts. But that's not enough to make a film.

So I'm kind of glad they're rebooting and from what I see, this looks pretty good.

[Warped9]

I'm torn about this film. Part of me is intrigued because I've always liked Spider-Man, but I was also quite happy with the Raimi/McGuire version.

I even liked Spider-man 3 to an extent. I didn't think it was horrible, but that it just wasn't as good as the first two films. For one thing I feel they chose the wrong villain(s). I've never cared for Venom and I didn't care for how he was visualized in the film. I also thought the Sandman wasn't very interesting. I think it would have been far better to have stuck with one villain and go for something more interesting like the Vulture, the Lizard or Mysterio. Beyond that I would have liked a fourth Raimi/McGuire film that could have brought the franchise back to what it had been with the first two films.

The only thing that didn't really work for me in the Raimi films was Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. She wasn't horrible, but she was just serviceable. I just couldn't really buy her as MJ. I was happy with most everything else.


Now in this reboot I'm intrigued and I have reservations. Yeah, it's nitpicky, but I don't care for the redesigned suit. I think Raimi's version nailed it for live-action. I like the idea of seeing the Lizard as a villain, but I don't care for the whole retcon of Peter's origin as Spider-Man tied to his father's research with Connors. It's too much like the retconning we got that made the Joker the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents in the '89 Batman or having Ras al Gul involved with Batman's origins in Batman Begins. In Hollywood there is this compulsion that everything has to tie in together neatly because it's DESTINY or something. :roll eyes:

I do like the idea of Gwen Stacy instead of MJ as Peter's first love.


I'll see this out of curiosity, but I'm not really juiced about it, not like I was for the previous Spidey films. I am much more hyped for The Dark Knight Rises.

[the G-man]

Professor Zoom wrote:

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I've noticed a lot of friends are not particularly excited. I don't know if it's because it's so recent for them, but for me... it just doesn't look like fun. Not with all of the "secrets" of Parker's past... blah blah blah.

I'm sure the movie will do fine... I just don't know if I'll see it anytime soon.

This critic seems to confirm your suspicions...

'Amazing Spider-Man' Not Much Fun

• Here’s a cool idea for a movie: Teenage dweeb Peter Parker weathers the taunts and pokes of high-school bullies until one day he’s bitten by some kind of magical spider and starts shooting sticky webs out of his hands and scampering up walls and…
  
  Oh, wait—we’ve already seen this movie. Ten years ago, in Sam Raimi’s opening installment of the first Spider-Man series....
  
  Will The Amazing Spider-Man suck up millions over the long Fourth of July weekend? Sure. So did the goopy Spider-Man 3—even though that film wound up tanking the first Spidey series.

A few more reviews....

critics are divided down the middle on Sony's 'Spider-Man' reboot: The consensus is not unlike Parker's own superhero career: rocky at points, healthy at times and flat-out "amazing" in other areas.

Spidey Peters out: hardly awful but not coming close to living up to that adjective in the title either. Sometimes dull and mostly uninspired, it’s much less a satisfying reboot like “Batman Begins’’ than a pointless rehash in the mode of “Superman Returns.’’

Marc Webb's new Spider-Man is the superhero film for the Twilight generation: On paper Gwen might be the love interest, but in many ways she’s the main character, giving us a human perspective on the superhuman drama.


Looks like there are some positive reviews but the fact this is being viewed as essentially a remake of a ten year old film is doing the production no favors.

[Warped9]

the G-man wrote:

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A few more reviews....

critics are divided down the middle on Sony's 'Spider-Man' reboot: The consensus is not unlike Parker's own superhero career: rocky at points, healthy at times and flat-out "amazing" in other areas.

Spidey Peters out: hardly awful but not coming close to living up to that adjective in the title either. Sometimes dull and mostly uninspired, it’s much less a satisfying reboot like “Batman Begins’’ than a pointless rehash in the mode of “Superman Returns.’’

Marc Webb's new Spider-Man is the superhero film for the Twilight generation: On paper Gwen might be the love interest, but in many ways she’s the main character, giving us a human perspective on the superhuman drama.


Looks like there are some positive reviews but the fact this is being viewed as essentially a remake of a ten year old film is doing the production no favors.

Nothing I read there is encouraging. I'm still left with the same sense of ambivalence.

[the G-man]

From what I've read, the consensus appears to indicate that they should have just done Spidey 4, with the new cast.

[davejames]

Warped9 wrote:

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Nothing I read there is encouraging. I'm still left with the same sense of ambivalence.

Well yeah, but those are the negative reviews. The movie is still sitting at around 78% - 80% overall, with MOST critics saying the movie still works really well despite the rebooted storyline.

[davejames]

Warped9 wrote:

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Beyond that I would have liked a fourth Raimi/McGuire film that could have brought the franchise back to what it had been with the first two films.

I loved the first two Raimi films, but by the end I thought his zany, campy style was starting to feel a bit tired and stale (even without the third movie's story problems).

I really longed for some deeper characters and a more realistic approach, and thankfully the new movie seems to be trying for that.

And from what I can see, the critics who actually LIKE the idea of a new approach (and aren't still attached to the Raimi style) seem to be liking the movie a lot more.

[the G-man]

davejames wrote:

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Well yeah, but those are the negative reviews.....

Apparently, you failed to notice my link to an article that said critics were divided, with some saying positive things about the film. Furthermore, the last link was to a positive review as well. Of course, part of the reason that critic liked the film was because it "Twilighted" Spidey to make it more appealing to teenaged girls.