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

[Ian Keldon]

Never got to start one of these before...

Got it and watched it. My reaction was mixed.

• Liked the Lizard/Dr Conners for the most part. Minor issues with the design of Lizard's face, but not a "deal breaker".
• Liked most of the secondary casting (Aunt May, Uncle Ben, et al).
• Liked Emma Stone as Gwen.
• Liked Andrew Garfield (Peter) eventually, but it took me almost 3/4 of the film to warm up to him. His early performance was too edgy, almost emo, both as Peter and as Spidey. I think that was the way he was told to play it, because by the end he'd settled down nicely and was a much more Spidey-like.
• LOVED the crane scene. Hearkened back to the "You mess with one of us you mess with ALL of us!" scene in the first Rami film. Brought tears to my eyes to see the City help the Web-Head.

• Didn't like the pacing. The story took too long to get going.
• Didn't like tying everything into Oscorp. Osborne is only ONE of Spidey's villains, but the modern mythos has turned him into an all-powerful, omnipresent, Lex Luthor type menace.

Over all, it was acceptable.


On the technical side, the DVD had some decent extras (a rarity for the DVD version these days), including Deleted Scenes, producers' commentaries, a behind-the-scenes viginette about the stuntwork, and a concept art gallery.

 

[shivkala]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

I rented it from RedBox, so no extras for me. I have to agree with most of your assessments. However, I found myself liking Rosemary Davis and Cliff Robertson as May and Ben Parker better than Field and Sheen.

I did not like the Lizard's plan, though. I can't fully explain it, but it seemed too cliched. I did like Connors saving Peter though.

What really upset me was the constant unmaskings. I understand it's a problem with a movie like this that your lead constantly has their face hidden, but that's something you need to accept about the premise.

I'm also confused by the point in webbing those cars. If it was because there might be soemone in the car, like in the case of the boy, then why didn't Spider-Man hang around long enough to rescue all of them. If it was to prevent them falling into the water...how is that supposed to work? How were they supposed to save those vehicles before the webbing disintegrated?

I came away from this thinking it really was a pointless reboot. The little it had to offer different from the Raimi movies was the angle about his parents, but that was more tease than anything else. Now it seems they intend to use that for the sequel, but will it be too little, too late at that point? I missed the heart that was in Raimi's trilogy and I found myself liking more of the characters in that movie than in this one.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

^I thought both sets of Ben/May-s did good work, but that's me. I've never been a big "Aunt May" fan anyways. I accept their presence for their story function, but other than that I prefer not to hear or see either very often.

I thought of one more thing for my "Didn't Like" list:

I didn't like the fact that the web-shooters were basically Oscorp tech that Peter adapted. Once again, Oscorp tries to horn in on the scene, and it undercuts Peter's credibility as supposedly being a science prodigy.

The Lizard's plan may have been "stock", but at least it's true to the classic Lizard. He's always been a reptile-supremacist that way.

Good point about the cars, and I'm about 2/3 the way with you on liking Rami's films better. That's why I maxed out my grade at acceptable (C- equivalent).

ETA - I also took points for using Gwen instead of MJ. Yes I know she was Peter's "first love", and the actress was fine, but Peter belongs with MJ, but Editorial Politics at Marvel won't let them be together.

 

[shivkala]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

With the webshooters, it's like they wanted the best of both worlds: Peter having them, but not having to explain how a teenager was able to create them all on his own.

Speaking of which, did I misread the scenes, or did Peter pretty much adapt his father's notes and give them to Connors? I know he pored over the notes and Connor's research, but I never got the sense that Peter created it by himself, but he did pass it off as all his own work.

As for Gwen, I'm okay with it, if they intend to introduce Mary Jane further down the line. But, I'm with you 100% on the fact that Peter and MJ belong together, eventually.

I did like the character development with Flash. Raimi's first film was in a rush to get Peter out of high school, which is a shame, since there is so much drama there to mine. This movie, at least seems to recognize that, even though Peter doesn't look or act much like a high school student, aside from attending school. Though, I'm not a fan of him being "emo" which he comes off. Peter being late to class was played more of an attitude thing than a, "I tried my best, but was late because I was rescuing someone" thing. Spider-Man 2 pulled that off so well, it was painful to see that last scene in his school.

 

[Sci]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

I liked the movie. But it should have been titled Peter Parker Breaks Everything.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

With the webshooters, it's like they wanted the best of both worlds: Peter having them, but not having to explain how a teenager was able to create them all on his own.

yeah.

Speaking of which, did I misread the scenes, or did Peter pretty much adapt his father's notes and give them to Connors? I know he pored over the notes and Connor's research, but I never got the sense that Peter created it by himself, but he did pass it off as all his own work.

I think they tried as you put it to have it both ways. I think he used his father's notes as a base but "finished" them, which was why he was looking stuff up.

As for Gwen, I'm okay with it, if they intend to introduce Mary Jane further down the line. But, I'm with you 100% on the fact that Peter and MJ belong together, eventually.

Thanks! It sometimes feels like no one remembers her any more...

I did like the character development with Flash. Raimi's first film was in a rush to get Peter out of high school, which is a shame, since there is so much drama there to mine. This movie, at least seems to recognize that, even though Peter doesn't look or act much like a high school student, aside from attending school. Though, I'm not a fan of him being "emo" which he comes off. Peter being late to class was played more of an attitude thing than a, "I tried my best, but was late because I was rescuing someone" thing. Spider-Man 2 pulled that off so well, it was painful to see that last scene in his school.

The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series did a good job of mining the "high school angst" angle, better frankly than EITHER of the Live Action versions.

 

[theenglish]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

When I first started reading Spider-Man he was in university, so I have a fondness for the school life of Peter Parker and for Gwen. That said, I have not seen this movie and want to thank everyone for the opinions--I will wait for it to come out on cable. It does seem from what people have written that this version draws heavily from the Ultimate universe Spidey.

 

[JD]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

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

 

[Timby]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

[*]Didn't like tying everything into Oscorp. Osborne is only ONE of Spidey's villains, but the modern mythos has turned him into an all-powerful, omnipresent, Lex Luthor type menace.
[/LIST]

That didn't bother me, honestly. Film adaptations should be regarded and critiqued in a vacuum, not as a comparison to their source material, and one of the major themes (if not the primary one, honestly) of the film is that Peter Parker is trying to be the big dog in a world that is far, far bigger than he actually realizes and that there is so much stuff going on behind the scenes / in the bigger picture that he doesn't know. Establishing Oscorp as a multi-tentacled beast was a great creative decision.

Speaking of which, did I misread the scenes, or did Peter pretty much adapt his father's notes and give them to Connors? I know he pored over the notes and Connor's research, but I never got the sense that Peter created it by himself, but he did pass it off as all his own work.

Peter took his Dad's notes and added a little bit, but he was essentially passing off Richard Parker's research as his own, yep. Ties into the theme of Peter not having the slightest understanding of the implications of what he does.

As for Gwen, I'm okay with it, if they intend to introduce Mary Jane further down the line. But, I'm with you 100% on the fact that Peter and MJ belong together, eventually.

Shailene Woodley has been cast as Mary Jane; she is reportedly set to have a smaller role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (for lack of a better title at this point) and her deal includes an option for a third film (which basically says that they're killing Gwen at some point in one of the sequels).

 

[Spock/Uhura Fan]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

I didn't care much for it. It was just barely okay to me, and I did see it in the theater (wasn't my choice). I asked the guy giving out the tickets at the movie theater if it was good or not, and he wouldn't say. He kind of talked around answering the question, which didn't make me feel too good. After seeing the film, I understood why. It just wasn't as good as the first one. The movie was well-cast, but the pacing, some of the writing, and some of the emotional scenes were just "off." That is all.

 

[shivkala]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

It certainly is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. I just found myself getting bored by parts and thinking, "This has been done better elsewhere." I think it's a case of being good from a technical standpoint, but not hitting the right chords, emotionally for me.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

When I first started reading Spider-Man he was in university, so I have a fondness for the school life of Peter Parker and for Gwen. That said, I have not seen this movie and want to thank everyone for the opinions--I will wait for it to come out on cable. It does seem from what people have written that this version draws heavily from the Ultimate universe Spidey.

It very much does...as does most modern Spidey in the multi-media tie ins.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

Establishing Oscorp as a multi-tentacled beast was a great creative decision.

Sorry, but I can't agree. It was lazy writing as it's been done in other Spider-Man stuff before and is really just stealing a riff on Lexcorp, right down to the shortened name.

Shailene Woodley has been cast as Mary Jane; she is reportedly set to have a smaller role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (for lack of a better title at this point) and her deal includes an option for a third film (which basically says that they're killing Gwen at some point in one of the sequels).

Interesting.

I asked the guy giving out the tickets at the movie theater if it was good or not, and he wouldn't say. He kind of talked around answering the question, which didn't make me feel too good.

Yeah, BIG red flag. Theater employees can get fired if the management thinks they're bad-mouthing movies (which discourages ticket sales). You'll note that they never seem to mind praising a good movie to the nth degree. (Or at least that's been my experience.)

It certainly is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. I just found myself getting bored by parts and thinking, "This has been done better elsewhere." I think it's a case of being good from a technical standpoint, but not hitting the right chords, emotionally for me.

95% agreed. I do think they managed to mostly pull it together in the last 1/4 of the film, but the first 3/4 were just off.

 

[Gaith]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

Establishing Oscorp as a multi-tentacled beast was a great creative decision.

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

Ahem:

I also took points for using Gwen instead of MJ. Yes I know she was Peter's "first love", and the actress was fine, but Peter belongs with MJ.

 

[davejames]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

I thought they did a great job with the Peter/Gwen relationship, and I liked the more grounded and edgier tone.

But unfortunately it was all let down by a rather dull and generic origin story, and a cheesy, one-dimensional villain.

Ultimately, it just made me appreciate the Raimi movies even more in the end.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

Establishing Oscorp as a multi-tentacled beast was a great creative decision.

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

Ahem:

I also took points for using Gwen instead of MJ. Yes I know she was Peter's "first love", and the actress was fine, but Peter belongs with MJ.

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]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

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]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

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

 

[Samurai8472]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

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]

Re: The Amazing Spider-Man DVD review, discussion thread (poss. spoile

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.