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.
No comments:
Post a Comment