The Amazing Spiderman Review

The Amazing Spiderman is as every bit as amazing than it sounds. This is a 2 hour and 10 Minute movie that does nothing new or tries to be as every bit as interesting as its predecessors were, leaving the viewer with a incomplete feeling of unanswered questions and unoriginality followed by some surprising aspects that are the only saving grace of what is overall a incomplete mess of rushed and overdone storytelling that is as every bit as cliché as the Summer of blockbusters that have already come and gone.

If people were expecting another X-Men First Class then be warned now because The Amazing Spiderman is 2012 Summer’s slightly better done version of Green Lantern.

The Amazing Spiderman goes for a more dark and gritty atmosphere of visuals while re-telling and re-using every single bit of what made the original Sam Raimi Spiderman such a hit. In other words The Amazing Spiderman is a reboot in word only and a Remake in all its unamazing form.

What ended up first as a sequel to Spiderman 3 before been turned to become the next so-called Batman Begins has become just the more modernized and rushed version of 2002s Spiderman. Why is this a bad thing? Because we’ve seen it before and again and again and therefore this film does nothing to surprise us and feels like the typical Hollywood cash-in that has plagued many films in the recent years.

Trying to approach this film with the same style and attitude that made the likes of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins such a hit to both Audiences and Critics goes to show the uninterested or caring manner at which Sony has shown its most prized form of profit because in the end of the day that is what the Amazing Spiderman is to them. A means to get in the green and a whole lot of it and make no mistake, the title been slapped on this product alone will help sell it to Audiences worldwide, ensuring a successful mission accomplished to the filmmakers and Executives.

But again, why is retelling the original and reusing previous elements such a negative opinion? Because it shows that they don’t care about the intelligence of the audience and believe we just want to see the same heap of crap over and over again without ever accomplishing anything new or taking risks to further a goal in achieving a standard set by several comic book movies already.

Batman Begins did so well because it told the origins of Batman. Yes, Audiences were familiar with the whole narrative that involved witnessing the death of his parents at a young age but never exactly how he got the suit, gadgets and how he became the Batman that Gotham City feared in. Batman Begins did that while at the same time constructing the narrative in both a visual and psychological element that helped spawned its own universe of characters and rules.

The Amazing Spiderman succeeds at creating a new universe but it’s done in such a way that rebooting it was totally unnecessary and a sequel with a vision and new shine would’ve done the job either way. Add the huge amounts of similarities to the original film is further evidence at the lack of risk the filmmakers took with the story and characters, ending up with a cliche of things Audiences are already and always will be familiar with for the rest of their life’s.

Why were the likes of such films like The Dark Knight and Iron Man so good? Because they broke away from the cliches that plagued superhero films, taking risks and redoing everything Audiences had come to know about the genre while each creating its form of universe and entertainment that appealed to various different audiences around the world.

The Amazing Spiderman tries to be fun while at the same time trying to dark, gritty and serious. While that may not be a bad thing and is a unique approach to take after the campy and cheese that was the Sam Raimi era, the character of Peter Parker and Spiderman themselves are not dark characters such as Bruce Wayne or Batman.

He is a young and inexperienced teenager boy learning to grow up in a dark and tragic world while also seeing the hope and good in others of various people that surround him and shape him into the hero he becomes while retaining his morals of good and justice and having every reason and right to go down a dark path but proving that he is better than that by taking responsibility and doing what he can with the gift and curse given to him.

However, the Amazing Spiderman tries its hand at telling a story everyone in the world knows and does more injustice at recreating the same mistakes that many were left displeased after having watched the horror that was Spiderman 3. Where that had a sense of direction and themes it tried to convoy this new installment fails at delivering any form of an emotional punch for the audience to take in. But to go ahead and say that The Amazing Spiderman is a piece of shit would be a false understatement.

For one thing the Acting performances of the cast are a positive that will be enough to keep the viewers engaged with the amount of drama and romance they throw in over the lack of action scenes.

Andrew Garfield proves to be worthy to helm the new costume, which surprisingly for this new take actually looks stunning. As Peter Parker, Andrew manages to bring a level of intelligence and caring to a character that Tobey Maguire sadly played as too wimpy and somewhat childish. Yet where Tobey had the look of a Nerdish person, Andrew portrays it more with an outcast and yet cool look and feel to it.

However both Actors characters felt and are different. Tobey embraced the personality of the 60s Spiderman where’s Andrew inhabits the characteristics of a more modern feel and current more genius sci-whiz take of the character and as Spiderman he manages to incorporate the aspects that make Spiderman so recognizable which include the transition from Raimi’s organic webbing to the more traditional web-shooters including Spiderman’s wisecracking humor.

Witty and Emotional he Andrew does an outstanding job with the material given, managing to balance between the various emotions of teenage and costumed egos. 

Emma Stone deserves massive praise for her performance as Peter’s actual first love interest in the comics, Gwen Stacey. Here she gets the Spectacular treatment of been a equal to Peter’s science part, serving as a Inter to the film’s villain Dr. Curt Connors.

Unlike Dunst, Emma gives out an performance that stands her out from the rest of the cast, been more than just a damsel in distress and actually having to do more in the outcome of the events to come in the film while managing to create a character that is just as smart, funny, sad and heroic then anything Dunst was able to accomplish in the originals then just been the bimbo red hair that bitched all the time, managing to prove that even the female characters can get things done and kick ass as much as their male counterparts.

Adding to what makes this film stand out particular from its predecessors is Andrew and Emma’s romance, which is a key highlight of this new reimagining and for all intents and purposes it works and it is the film’s main strength.

Taking what he did with 500 Days of Summer, Director Marc Webb gives us a teenage superhero romance that helps to develop and grow the characters of Peter and Gwen, giving us a drama of scenes that are funny, sometimes cheesy but sweet to watch, knocking out the failures of the originals repetitive nature and also managing at the same to quickly establish the relationship between costumed hero and caring lover instead of having to draw it out for another sequel.

But doing so the relationship suddenly goes into a rushed territory. Instead of leaving it before the climax, the last hour of the film already has several people knowing who Spiderman really is and the whole secret identity just becomes meaningless without allowing for any actual twist and turns to be made.

A negative opinion to this film is the lack of the Daily Bugle Staff, namely J.K. Simmons as the memorable J. Johan. Jameson to offer us some form of manly timed humour but that void is quickly filled in the second act by the performance of Actor Denis Leary as Gwen’s caring and tough yet funny sarcastic Father, Police Captain George Stacey.

Surprisingly, this film doesn’t take the route of the comics with Spiderman and the Captain been secret allies and instead George Stacey very much becomes the more action driven version of J.J. Jameson, who wants to hunt down and arrest Spiderman, giving the film that much needed Police Vs Spidey moments that weren’t much of a driven mechanic in the originals and showing us that the title character has a long way to go before becoming accepted into the society that he wants to protect.

Then there is Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Besides Martin Sheen who too gives off a strong performance that almost rivals that of the late Cliff Robertson, Sally Field while looking good and more believable as a caring and heartbroken Aunt doesn’t offer much in driving the story forward once past the first act of the film.

And while Sheen does get more screen time to spend with Andrew they aren’t as over-emotional as those with Cliff and the circumstances of his new death isn’t as accurate to the comics and most importantly make the character’s death in all honestly his own fault and not Peter’s thus removing all notion of the moral lesson of “With Great Power Comes With Great Responsibility” but it does shock and it does serve in bringing out the tears when the act itself occurs even if it is expected.

Next up is Indian actor Irrfan Khan as Dr. Ratha who adds nothing to the already populated character driven plot besides been Dr. Conner’s Boss so to speak and been the reason he becomes in the Lizard in the first place and also throwing all the hints at Norman Osborn’s involvement in the film. But other than that the character feels shoehorned in and doesn’t do anything interesting to be of any importance.

Any scenes of those sorts have unexpectedly been cut from the final product that would’ve gave this new take a whole new different meaning as to why Peter becomes Spiderman and instead all these unique possibilities and hype from the marketing and adverts is thrown out, further showcasing that Sony and the Developers themselves are unconfident in their own product, resorting to having the final act of the film be a cliché of action scenes and poor pacing and editing that throws all the character development needed for the film’s villain and relationship to the Hero and his mission out the window.

Indeed, the film’s Villain, Dr. Curtis Connors played by Rhys Ifans is unfortunately the weakest point in this movie. Why? Because he just isn’t that interesting of a character. When we’re first introduced to him there is a sense of establishment been made along with a hidden guilt inside him. But its never more than just a plot device used to get Peter to Oscorp and be bitten by a Spider because after that the character just feels forced into the plot with no reason at all than to have Peter face off against a psychical threat.

By the time the film reaches the final hour and he transforms finally into the Lizard, what should become a theme of Man Vs Beast is lost over the amount of already introduced and still growing plot points between the various other characters and relationships.

The Lizard itself regretfully is nothing amazing and his goals are never truly clear. One minute we find Connors actually trying to pervert a possible outbreak of this infection, the next he starts setting out to do the exact thing and then next time he starts having a split personality disorder with no clear goal of who is in the right or wrong and what each character really wants. It feels pointless and rushed to the point where the overall climax does nothing for the overall ending and just sets up the villain as weak and uninteresting to be used ever again because the problem is this type of villain has been done in all the three films already but better.

GIVE US SOMETHING NEW FOR FUCK SAKE YOU LAZY CUNTS!

The Visuals are superb. At times it really does stand out far more than anything the originals ever could accomplish but that is because the majority of the action has a mix of visual and practical effects merged together to create a level of realism that is enough to convince oneself that what they are seeing is actually happening. But then there are certain points where the obviousness of special effects pushes the boundaries of what to take serious or not and the Lizard’s overall facial design is one to laugh at every time he screams, managing the effect to have a resemblance to that of a Gooba from the Super Mario Brothers Movie taking away the threatening aspect of the villain.

The Action Scenes are few but what there is has a feel of a rushing effect to it that mixed with the visual and practical effects absorb you into them, however the hero Vs villain are short and except for the excellent stunning high school fight towards the end, the climax of the film leaves you wanting more and doesn’t give it that fantastic final that the climaxes in the first two Raimi films gave, again establishing the uninteresting major weakness that is the villain of the film and the overall unoriginal story.

The Soundtrack Music by Composer James Horner is no Danny Elfman and isn’t as memorable but in the context of the film it works but nothing to sing or hum to disappointingly.

The Editing and Pacing is mixed here. The first one hour where it sets about establishing the characters and plot-points are well developed even don it pretty much copies the majority of the original film’s moments but the flow of the film feels natural where’s by the second hour, once the Lizard comes in everything feels rushed and straight to the point without there been any development and the story jumping from one moment to the next without any sense of growth to the events occurring in real time. 

Overall, while it does leave plenty of questions and plot-points open to explore and develop in future sequels, this origin story just feels bland and unnecessary with a narrative that may fail in hooking us into something that should have by all obvious reasons been a sequel but does manage to give us a decency of credible acting performances followed by some impressive visuals, action and romance that far surpass anything the original ever gave us but that isn’t saying much because in the end of the day the Original Spiderman still manages to stand above what Director Marc Webb has achieved.

SCORE: 6.9/10

LIKE:

·      Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spiderman.

·      Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey and not simply been a damsel in distress.

·      The Relationship and Romance.

·      Denis Leary as Captain George Stacey.

·      Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben.

·      The use of practical effects in the Action Scenes.

·      Chris Zylka as Flash Thompson who will hopefully become this universe’s version Peter’s best friend and possible Venom.

HATE:

·      Rhys Ifans overall performance as Curt Connors and The Lizard.

·      The Lizard’s look.

·      Narrative was unoriginal and just a paste and copy of the original.

·      The Lizard Men. What was the point of throwing that into the climax if Spidey wasn’t actually going to fight them? Waste of time and pointless to the overall plot.

·      Irrfan Khan was pointless.

·      Climax just wasn’t that epic.

·      The Crane Helping Scene was cheesy and campy.

·      What happened to the Lizard Rat?

·      Plot-Point of Peter’s Blood and his Parents having something to do with becoming Spiderman been cut from the final version.

·      End Credit Scene.

THE HUNGER GAMES REVIEW

A bit late, very, very late but what the hell, this film isn’t as overly complicated to discuss and analysis than the majority of others that have been released over the last few months. Let’s get started…

The Hunger Games, slips right off your tongue doesn’t it? So do titles like Battle Royale and The Running Man. Why do I mention those two specific old films? Because Hunger Games is what you get when you merge the plot of children killing each other to stay alive until one comes out a victor while in the background you have a world ruled by the rich and using the poor to create a horrifying gladiator like game show out of it. 

Of cause I’m not saying its an obvious rip-off, because it is, but it tries its hands at adding some originality to it too, like a love triangle between the main female character and her two one skinny and another buff looking boyfriends…oh wait…Twilight already did that. 

Okay, so the narrative doesn’t scream out original but see it like the modern day version of those two stories and the stories those books and films were inspired by. What I’m trying to overall say is, The Hunger Games is this decade’s Battle Royale or Running Man, just without the sweet over the top violence and blood. But it still gets the job done, to some extent.

The story is as straightforward and predictable as the previous predecessors before it but with some added in elements that make it stand out ever so slightly from those stories.

The story begins in District Twelve; one of thirteen Districts that resemble a slum or war tore like village. The Main Character is Katniss who lives with her mother and little sister. Their father died in a mining accident and Katniss pretty much looks after her family. She goes out hunting with her best friend and obvious love interest Gale where they catch wild animals for food. 

During a traditional event called the Harvest, the children of each district are forced to put their names into a drawing contest for the chance to win supplies and food while at the same time risking the chance of also been picked for the Hunger Games that finds one boy and girl of each district battling it out with the children of the other districts for survival.

Katniss’ sister gets picked and faced with a decision that will change her live and those around her, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games. The Boy picked is Peeta who secretly has a crush on Katniss and this creates an interesting element that finds friends having to either fight each other or become unlikely allies. 

And that’s pretty much the basic outline of the plot but its what comes before the conclusion and the obstacles the characters face that makes this so interesting and surreal.

We travel with Katniss to the rich capital where the people there look like clowns and Goths with over the top make up and fashion. It’s a ridiculous lifestyle where the rich look like freaks and the poor look and act like normal people. The Rich look stupid (at least some of them) and this is visually presented from the dark and grey poor real life like environment of District Twelve to the colourful and digitally enhanced visuals of the rich Capital and its people.

The story also involves the chosen contesters to make sure they look good, act surprising and are interesting to the Capital Audience so as to attract sponsors who will support them with supplies during their time in the games.

This is done through the use of several moments in the story where each district boy and girl is given their own unique fashion look, to live Interviews where they gather the interest of the audience and finally their training where the game masters observe and score them the points they need for the Audience and possible Sponsors to gain interest.

All of this is done through the first hour of the film. It feels long and developed and breezes through until we get to the main event of the story, The Hunger Games themselves and this is where the second hour of the film falls short.

Where the first hour set up the characters and developed the plot threads to come, the second hour is the action duration of the story plus the bonding and relationship between Katniss and Peeta. And this is where the story slightly treads into Twilight territory and becomes pretty much a teen romance story.

However, unlike those films the romance here is done with a somewhat twist. You have Peeta who loves and wants to protect Katniss and you have Katniss who pretends to love Peeta in return, creating a fake love couple situation for Audiences in the Capital watching to feel emotionally invested in them as much as we, the real audience are emotionally invested in seeing what happens next.

And right there is a major compliant I have for both film and book. We are only ever invested in Katniss and Peeta’s characters. The rest of the cast of children never get any major development. We don’t really understand them or who they are and why we should feel sorry for them. They are just cannon fodder and obstacles in the way.

The Book did this and the film follows it and this is the disappointing aspect of it. The film takes the time to have extra scenes between the villains of the film and developing them and their reactions and understandings of what is happening in the games and their attitudes towards Katniss and the effect she is having. But it never takes the time to have personal scenes with the other supporting characters.

How fun would it have been to see a brawl between Thresh and Cato and actually seeing Cato kill Thresh or a scene between Cato and Clove and how their relationship mirrors that of Katniss and Peeta?

The film is already round two hours long and as an adaptation from a book it pretty much has all the major and important events in it with some alterations but overall book purists should be overjoyed and happy with the completed product but the film could’ve been so much more but that doesn’t stop it from been a entertaining and intelligent piece of work.

The idea of combing all the elements of media entertainment to create a game show out of it that both entertains the rich and is used to punish and keep the poor at bay is something seen before but add in the visual representation of it between how the two sides are different and already you have something original to show for it and the film never treats the audience as stupid. It may have the gagging romance that some people will love or hate but in the end the product comes off as very serious and horrifying at times.

The thing that let it down is the way the action scenes are shot. The first time all the contesters appear in the arena and the countdown ends there is a real sense of panic as the camera and shots move all over the place in a chaotic manner, expressing the horror that is occurring in a visual presentation.

But after that the majority of the action scenes are shot the same way and you can’t see what is happening at all. It’s all over the place and it gets annoying very quick, very fast. Not to mention one or two scenes occur in the night-time, making it even harder to determine what is happening.

For a story that is meant to up the excitement with action in the second half it never really delivers. There are moments that work but most of it just doesn’t and we’re left with the characters and their ongoing struggle to invest and be excited in and that is the main strength of the film because we as an audience become so emotionally invested in Katniss and Peeta’s journey of survival. 

Performance wise every single person in the cast does a great job. Stand outs include Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane who gets much more development as a character than he his mentioned appearances in the novels along with Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, the drunken and yet knowledgeable mentor to Katniss and Peeta.

There’s also Donald Sutherland whose role as the Character of President Snow gets a much-needed introduction, development and understanding behind the scenes of the games before his more direct villainous approach in the coming sequels. 

It is however Elizabeth Banks’ unrecognizable appearance in make-up and costume as the character of Effie Trinket that makes her stand out from her fellow cast members, truly losing herself in a role that one would not been able to tell its her.

But it is the performances of Jennifier Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as the characters of Katniss and Peeta that makes the audience emotionally invested in their plight, showing off remarkable chemistry and staying true to the characters of the book while adding a bit of originality into it to give off that real sense of pain and love to each other.

In conclusion The Hunger Games is a film adaptation that keeps true to the hook of its source material while at the same time giving off a unique bland of realism and visuals to create a contrast between poor and rich elements of the this film’s world while balancing between telling a story of love, trust and survival interwoven along with the message of horror that this interest in fame and competition that all forms of media can bring to a rich world that seeks to only be entertained while letting the less fortunate suffer for their amusement.

A flawed film on all accounts but an adaption done well with strong performances and somewhat entertaining action that gets the tension going. 
Overall Score in Total is…8/10
 

LIKES:

·      All the Performances in the film.

·      Great Visual Story telling with the realistic settings of the Districts and Games with the more special effects visuals of the Capital to create a difference between the three.

·      Good Adaptation.

HATES:

·      Shaking Cam in Action Scenes and sometimes to quick or dark to see what’s happening during Action Scenes.

·      Lack of Development for any of the other Characters in the Games.