The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Predicted Rating: 3.5 Stars

Directed by Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer). Starring Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Emma Stone (Superbad, Zombieland, Easy A), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill) and Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now).

The Amazing Spider-Man is a re-boot of the Spiderman franchise. It tells the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), a nerdy teenager who's life was turned up-side down as a child when his parent were killed. As a result he was raised by his Auntie (Sally Field) and Uncle (Sheen). After visiting a lab run by Peter's Father's long time friend and colleague, Dr Curt Conners (Ifans), Peter is bitten by a genetically modified spider. He then develops spider-like super powers that allow him to climb walls and jump long distances. After Uncle Ben is killed by a street thug, Peter must battle hiding his identity, pursuing his love interest, Gwen Stefani, I mean Stacy (Stone), and fighting Curt Conners/The Lizard.

Since this movie is just a re-boot of a franchise that started 10 years ago and ended just 5 years ago, I will do a comparison between this movie (The Amazing Spider-Man) and the first movie of the previous series (Spiderman). I will run through a series of categories and see if I can decide which of the two movies is the better one.

Plot
Essentially the plot of the two movies are identical. Peter Parker is a jittering teenager that is bitten by a spider on a visit to a research lab (the only difference between the two is that in Spiderman he is bitten on the hand and in The Amazing Spider-Man he is bitten on the neck). Spiderman focuses more on the relationship between Peter and Mary-Jane as well as his transition from dorky teenager into Spiderman. The Amazing Spider-Man looks further into the death of his father and how Peter deals with that. The Amazing Spider-Man is definitely a victim of The Dark Knight factor, it is definitely more dark and gritty than it's predecessor, whilst Spiderman seems more cartoony. This definitely only reflects the year they were both made. This is a really hard one to split but I think I will give it to The Amazing Spider-Man, for no reason in particular, I really just thought it was more complete.
Advantage: The Amazing Spider-Man

Director
The Amazing Spider-Man - Marc Webb
Spiderman - Sam Raimi
Neither man really has a big effect on the proceedings of the movie.My favourite directorial performance in a movie ever is from Sam Raimi in Evil Dead 2, so the man definitely has talent. However, his talent are obviously suppressed in Spiderman, most likely thanks to Sony. The same thing really happens in The Amazing Spider-Man, when Marc Webb just goes out there and does his job. I am giving this one to Webb, just because his name is Webb. Coincidence, I think not.
Advantage: The Amazing Spider-Man

Spiderman
The Amazing Spider-Man - Andrew Garfield
Spiderman - Toby McGuire
I am going to throw this one out there at the start, Andrew Garfield plays a much better Spiderman. McGuire plays the dorky Peter Parker better but when he starts crying after (SPOILER ALERT!) Uncle Ben is killed, it is nothing but a laugh. Garfield is much more sassier as Spiderman and plays more of an awkward Peter than the quiet guy that McGuire plays, something I think works better in the scheme of things.
Advantage: The Amazing Spider-Man


Love Interest
The Amazing Spider-Man - Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone)
Spiderman - Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst)
This seems to be a re-occurring theme but even though they have the different names, they are the same character. Emma Stone plays the role better because she is clearly the better actress. OMG I love Emma Stone! As far as the characters go, you really can't go past Mary-Jane in a Spiderman movie. She really plays a bigger part in the first movie. She is really integral to the stability of the movie, where Gwen is really just there. Also Peter really doesn't have to fight for Gwen at all, she asks him out. The pursuit of Mary-Jane just adds another string to the bow.
Advantage: Spiderman

Villain
The Amazing Spider-Man - Curt Conners/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans)
Spiderman - Norman Osborne/The Green Goblin (Willem Defoe)
The increased research in special effects has made it easier to make a villain like The Lizard in the most recent movie, hence the inclusion of him in the first movie would be pointless. As a result I will leave the special effects out of it. I think this category comes down to how well anyone knows the two villains. When you think about Superman, you say Lex Luther, when you think of Batman you say The Joker, when you think of Spiderman, you say the Green Goblin. I had to put The Lizard into Wikipedia to see if he was an existing villain or if he was made up for this film (for those playing at home, he is an existing villain). Rhys Ifans does do a good job as Curt Connors but you just can't go past the suaveness of Willem Defoe. The Amazing Spider-Man's saving grace is that the Green Goblin will be the villain for the next film but alas the rules dictate that this round goes to Spiderman
Advantage: Spiderman

Supporting Cast
The Amazing Spider-Man has the better Auntie and Uncle based on the fact that they are played by name actors (Martin Sheen and Sally Field). However, when watching the film I realised that there was something missing from the cast. I believe this was the best friend of Peter. In Spiderman, James Franco's character doesn't really add much but he really acts as a partner in crime for Peter. This was missing in The Amazing Spider-Man, hence the points go to Spiderman. On a lighter note, I did find the Stan Lee cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man, and it was awesome that from the reaction of the crowd I wasn't the only one who knew who he was. I have a suspicious feeling that was a result of the unfortunate over-popularisation of The Big Bang Theory. Way to ruin a good show everyone (that is another discussion for later though).
Advantage: Spiderman

In the end this movie was ok. It really wasn't anything special but it is an enjoyable watch. It was a tad long because I did lose interest for a few minutes about 100 minutes in. I also ended up feeling a bit nauseous during some of the web-slinger scenes but that may be a result of me being really hung-over during the viewing. Even though the above categories came out even, I think The Amazing Spider-Man was the better movie but it probably isn't worth the effort to go watch in the cinemas. However it would be a good movie to curl-up and watch on the couch when it is out on DVD

Overall Rating: Pretty good but needs more Emma Stone, 3 Stars

Next Week: The very appropriately titled movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I have has the promotional photo up on my wall for ages and are looking forward to watching this movie, but I really have no idea what to think of it at the moment.

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Predicted Rating: Top 100 Movie

Directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception). Starring Christian Bale (American Psycho), Tom Hardy (Inception) and Anne Hathaway (Get Smart).

This movie kicks off 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight. Harvey Dent i.e. Two Face, is still the hero of the town, with only Commissioner Gordon and Bruce Wayne knowing of the true events of that fateful night. A law has been named after him that single handily forced all organised criminals in prison and essentially cleaning up the city of Gotham. The Commissioner is initially tempted to tell the town of the real events but backs down after he realise how the story of Harvey Dent opposed to Two Face, has such a positive influence on every citizen. Batman has not been seen since the last film left off. Bruce Wayne is feeling the effects from his days as the Batman being confined to his house and required to use a cane. Commissioner Gordon is investigating a crime in the sewers when he is attacked and almost killed by a new criminal, Bane. This forces Bruce Wayne to revisit his days as the Batman. Bane, also trained by Ra's al Ghul, is more than a match for Batman, and consequently holds the entire population of Gotham hostage.

I will tell you straight out that this will not be one of my good reviews for two reasons. The first is that my best ones are those where I can constantly criticise the film. I cannot do this with The Dark Knight Rises because it is absolutely fantastic! As I predicted, it has past Prometheus as the best movie so far this year, quite possibly since it's predecessor. This thoroughly deserves a spot on my top 100 movies list (which I will explain later in this review). The second reason is that usually I will write the review in my head whilst I am watching the movie. This time I was so encapsulated in watching it I completely forgot about my review. As a result I may forget some minute details I like to cover.

I have been waiting for this movie for years so I have was really setting my self up to be disappointed as I was a bit with The Avengers. Don't get me wrong Avengers was a fantastic movie, thoroughly deserving of a 4.5 star rating, but it wasn't quite the movie I expected prompting me to pick holes in it. From studying what characters will be in this movie (having my fingers crossed for the Riddler) to monitoring who is being cast (the battle between Rooney Mara, Emma Stone and Anne Hathaway for the role of Catwoman),  have been following the progress of this movie since the last one ended. I can tell you this now, I was not let down at all. Yes it wasn't as good as the previous one but that is almost impossible. I will keep the promotion poster up on my wall for a long time.

Most of the talk after the movie finished was around the choice of Bane. Bane has never been the strongest enemy in the Batman repertoire despite the efforts of some writers. I feel that Bane was the right choice for this film script itself and also the entire series. This movie, and series, really plays on the aspects of fear, anger and the ageing Batman. To really accentuate these themes, the enemy for this film needed to be a physically imposing presence, something that Bane can easily provide. Other villains that could have been used include The Riddler, The Penguin and Dr Fries, however these don't provide the muscle mass required as well as being very cartoony, something that the Nolan brothers are steering well clear of after the last series of films. The other characters do provide a good supporting cast. Anne Hathaway is fantastic as Catwoman and Gary Oldman is good as always as Commissioner Gordon.

I can tell you what, the Nolan brothers can definitely write a good script. There are essentially no plot holes present that are often so prominent with recent movies. I also really enjoyed how the story went full circle, linking back to the last movie and in particular the first movie. I would love to tell you more about the story but I am worried that I will give too much away. All I can say is that the ending is fantastic and actually sets-up for more movies. Since the Nolan brothers won't be working on it, I better get cracking on writing the next film. Even though the script is almost perfect, the story I really wanted to see was compromised by the untimely death of Heath Ledger. I would have love to see the Joker return after being broken out of Arkham Asylum by Harley Quinn

Final Verdict: Go and see this movie before it is ruined for you. In the region of 50-60 on my top 100 list. I will explain this rating more in my overview but essentially this film is to good for just a 5 star rating and must be included in my Top 100 movies ever list

Next Week: I was thinking about watching Magic Mike something that has the potential to be hilarious but I think it is a chick flick involving Channing Tatum taking his shirt off periodically throughout the movie. In this case I might catch up on the Amazing Spiderman