The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoilers)

[Ian Keldon]

Gaith wrote:

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Ahem:

There are some things that are central to the mythos, and Peter/MJ is one of them.

Lexcorp...excuse me...OScorp as sole reason for all the bad guys is not one of them.

[ToddKent]

JD wrote:

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I definitely plan on seeing this soon, but I'm doing it through Netflix, and ATM it's a very long wait for it.

That's weird. It usually takes forever to get new movies from Netflix (still waiting on the Avengers DVD for example) but this one shipped immediately for me.

Watched it for the first time tonight and I agree with most of what's been said. It was ok but seemed like a pointless reboot. I'm also getting VERY burned out on origin stories. Nothing sucks like watching a Spider-Man movie and having to wait an hour to see Spider-Man ( I expect a similar situation with next year's Superman movie).

On a positive note I will say I liked the "web spinning" scene in the sewer. It sure beats having the hero blindly stumbling upon the villain or worse, finding him without any reason given. It was also a good way to maintain the spider motif.

[Ian Keldon]

^Can you imagine how long it must've taken to lay out all those tripwire lines?

[Samurai8472]

ToddKent wrote:

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On a positive note I will say I liked the "web spinning" scene in the sewer. It sure beats having the hero blindly stumbling upon the villain or worse, finding him without any reason given. It was also a good way to maintain the spider motif.

I liked that Spidey was playing a game on his phone to pass time by. It's little things like that that I wish Raimi's version would have put in.

The only thing they missed was Spidey eating with half his mask up




I saw it for the first time tonight. The blu-ray looked fantastic.

Some observations-

- I know Marc Webb directed "500 days of Summer" and it was a teen love story. Even though I never saw that movie I could tell "Amazing Spider-man" was influenced by it.

-It was really hard to make out some of the dialogue during Peter and Gwens intimate scenes. They were almost whispering.

-The bioweb ordered by Peter Parker from Oscorp. Um how? Did he use his "internship" status to order the product?

-The invention of the webshooter and and making a police band radio seemed to come by real fast.

-Emma Stone looked so cute!

[Warped9]

Succinctly, I thought the movie was just okay yet also a pointless reboot. I liked Gwen's portrayal from Emma Stone basically but the rest was lacklustre for me. As such I've no reason to pick this up on DVD or BluRay.

[JD]

ToddKent wrote:

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That's weird. It usually takes forever to get new movies from Netflix (still waiting on the Avengers DVD for example) but this one shipped immediately for me.

I think it's a first come, first serve type of thing. You must have just been lucky enough to be in the front of the queue for your warehouse.

[Sci]

Samurai8472 wrote:

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- I know Marc Webb directed "500 days of Summer" and it was a teen love story.

No. The characters in 500 Days of Summer are in their mid-to-late 20s.

[A beaker full of death]

Ian Keldon wrote:

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Didn't like tying everything into Oscorp.

Couldn't agree more. I don't understand this modern compulsion to tie everything together, like the super-soldier formula being tied to the Hulk.

[shivkala]

^
I didn't mind that, as I'm a fan of tying things together, movie-wise. In the lead-up to The Avengers it was nice seeing the threads

I guess we'll have to see how the sequel handles things, but I can buy Conners and Richard Parker working for Oscorp seeing as how Norman needs their research to cure his mysterious, but obviously terminal disease.

[Gaith]

Ian Keldon wrote:

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Sorry, but I can't agree. It was lazy writing as it's been done in other Spider-Man stuff before...

...

There are some things that are central to the mythos, and Peter/MJ is one of them.

Lexcorp...excuse me...OScorp as sole reason for all the bad guys is not one of them.

So trying out a new motif is "lazy writing", but adhering to the most common story iteration isn't?

Oh, and if you want to talk "lazy writing", consider Raimi's SM1: Pete happens to be Harry's best friend (why is Harry in a public school?), both happen to crush on the same girl, who just happens to live next door to Peter, and Norman just happens to become evil at about the same time Peter gains his powers, and for absolutely unconnected reasons.

Now that's some lazy writing. Almost as lazy as a crime-obsessed billionaire being fixated on a crime-fighting girl who just happens to have grown up on his property.

[Skywalker]

I enjoyed this one a lot more than I did Raimi's origin story. I thought Andrew Garfield was great as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, and I really liked that they used Gwen Stacy as his love interest here. Yeah, Peter "belongs with" Mary Jane (whatever that means), but Gwen was his first love and that should be recognized. I'm interested to see how they handle her eventual death.

[Gaith]

Skywalker wrote:

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Yeah, Peter "belongs with" Mary Jane (whatever that means)

It doesn't mean s***.


Three million sperm are released in every load.


Maybe in the Webbverse, MJ is fugly. Or a dude. Or both.


I'd be perfectly happy not to see another MJ if an alternate love interest was engaging and well-acted. But fans will be fans, and demand adherence to certain things.


I'd rather get a good alternate than a(nother) bad MJ. If we happen to get a good MJ... fine. Doesn't bother me.


But if we do, maybe she can be left out of the next reboot round.

[Greg Cox]

Ian Keldon wrote:

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ETA - I also took points for using Gwen instead of MJ. Yes I know she was Peter's "first love".

Where's the love for poor Betty Brant? Who predated both Gwen and MJ?

[Ian Keldon]

^I know she's been featured in some of the newer versions, but was she ever a love interest in the older classic comics?

[Greg Cox]

Ian Keldon wrote:

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^I know she's been featured in some of the newer versions, but was she ever a love interest in the older classic comics?

Long before Gwen and MJ, Betty Brant was the original love interest in the early Lee/Ditko comics. Granted, this mostly consisted of Peter pining over her, and Spider-Man rescuing her from danger periodically, but I believe they dated briefly . . . before tragedy ensued. (Something about a dead brother put the kibosh on their relationship. My memory is fuzzy.)

Granted, one can argue that Gwen was Pete's first serious relationship, but Betty was the original female lead in the comic book. By which I mean she was the pretty girl the hero had a crush on--and who frequently needed rescuing.

(Of course, if you really want to get nitpicky, Betty was preceded by Liz Grant, Pete's high school crush, whom he is shown pining over in the very first Spider-Man comic in AMAZING FANTASY. But Liz never really caught on, and was quickly eclipsed by Betty, who was eclipsed by Gwen, who gave way to Mary Jane . . . .)