July 4, 2012

  • The Amazing Spiderman

    Though I'm likely in the minority, (for some reason I cannot possibly fathom,) I thoroughly enjoyed the newest Spiderman. It was awesome. Like VERY.  And in all my excitement, I had this great mini review typed out on it, but unfortunately it got lost in cyberspace even AFTER it was safely submitted. It even stayed on the screen for a few minutes and then....gone.  Stupid me for not copying it, I know.  Anyhow, I can already tell that whatever initial reaction I had in response to the movie was lost with that baby review, so whatever I say here won't be as sparkling as my original.  But alas, I will not be stopped. You'll have to forgive me if this review seems all over the place as I'm trying to grasp what I had last night before I fell asleep.

    As I was saying, I thought the movie was quite awesome.  I do still think a reboot of the franchise was a little premature, but fortunately, I still thought it worked.  I wish I can venture to say it was "amazing" simply for the sake of utilizing the pun, but alas, "amazing" only applies to my current hero favorite The Avengers. Anyway, to quote myself after my sister asked if I liked this one better than the original, "It tears them ALL up."  I admit, though, that that's a slight exaggeration. I remember a time when Raimi's Spiderman was always my favorite back in the day, surpassed only by its sequel.  That is before the Iron Mans and eventual Avengers came into my life. I mean, the Spiderman movies were definitely awesome.  J.K. Simmons' portrayal of Jamison is still to this day unbeatable.  But.  BUT! Because Spiderman 3 left such a bad taste in my mouth, I found myself turning my back on the franchise altogether when they seemed to have lost their chance to be cool again.

    The acting from EVERYONE was by far the most effective aspect about the movie, especially from Andrew Garfield, our newest Spiderman.  He was practically genius, a perfect pick.  I didn't see it before and wasn't sure how I'd like it, but now I'm totally hooked.  As Peter Parker, he really had me believing he was truly going through all the emotional strains a teenager in his predicament would be going through, from impulsiveness and premature delusions of grandeur, to self-control and acceptance of responsibility.  And of course, his high school crush, someone with an extremely likable personality and who wasn't there to be just eye candy.  The chemistry between Emma and Andrew was superb and so very teenager-ish.  The hesitance, the nerdiness, the boyishness. It totally won me over.  But his most notable performance for me personally was pain.  Complete and utter PAIN, especially at the loss of those he cared about and loved.  There was such childlike innocence to Garfield's Peter Parker and you really, REALLY feel for him.  He had me choking UP when Uncle Ben died.  Though I think the execution of Ben's death could have been handled better, it was still genuinely so very sad, I kid you freaking not.  Man I felt so bad for him, and this is fiction!

    Speaking of Uncle Ben, Martin Sheen was absolutely wonderful.  Thankfully his acting chops came to good use here, and his portrayal of Uncle Ben was seamless.  It was a portrayal that was also slightly different than what we've seen of Uncle Ben in the original Spiderman, however.  Sheen's Uncle Ben was, to me, just a tad bit more confrontational and a bit less gentle than his predecessor, but it wasn't drastic and not at all bothersome.  He still had the correct emotional pull as an elder man with much wisdom that was needed to draw me in.  As I mentioned earlier, his death could have been executed a little better (having him outright lunging at the guy with the gun was a little silly, when he could have simply thrown himself in the path of the bullet to protect someone or something.)  But it was still just as tragic.  And Sally Field as Aunt May was actually, (and surprisingly) very good.  And she DEFINITELY had that protective, extremely gentle, and motherly "old lady" vibe about her that was very cool.  She was very sweet in her Sally Field way. Perfect. 

    And of course Spiderman himself, while still took some getting used to, was great. From what I'm told, Spidey's supposed to be this huge blabbermouth when facing off against his many villains, always wise-cracking.  And this is what shines in this film.  But it was also what took getting used to, since Toby's Spiderman's scarce witty remarks weren't even really that witty, and almost felt forced and awkward.  This time around, you can very much tell our Spidey is a teenager who, quite simply, can't keep his mouth shut and I LOVED that.  His overall look was great too, very lean and muscular, not overly bulky.  Sure, Toby Maguire has a nice build, but I guess I can see why a lean Spidey is ideal.  Lean and tall.  I can believe he'd be able to slither through the city with his web shooters.  His INORGANIC web shooters.  His transformation into Spiderman was actually SUPER fun, all his crazy realizations about what he can now do.  The visuals were absolutely stunning too, very well-done.  The Lizard was very realistic-looking and I thought he was a very cool villain. I know not much about the Lizard, so I can't properly comment on how right or wrong he was.   But he sure seemed right to me.

    But what I really, really, REALLY loved--and I'm willing to say that this is one of the many reasons why the movie won me over--was the female lead, Emma Stone and her character Gwen Stacy.  In both Spiderman 3 and Amazing, I loved Gwen. But I never really was opposed to Mary Jane before their version of her in Raim's Spidey movies.  I'm no fan of Kirsten Dunst already, so my distaste of her portrayal of the usually cool Mary Jane (at least from the toons) wanted to make me freaking gag every time.  I understand that this is perhaps strictly the female in me declaring this complaint, or maybe just my aversion to Dunst, but whatever.  It doesn't change the fact that I finally, FINALLY no longer had to deal with that freaking needy, self-involved, whiny, manipulative, classless, devious, screamy, damsel in CONSTANT distress (for all 3 friggin' movies,) with her "look at me as I parade my soaked boobs in your face even though I was almost just raped" ANNOYING Mary Jane, who seemingly was strategically placed in those movies as something to be objectified and glorified for God knows why, other than to just be Peter's inexplicable obsession.  FOR 3 FRIGGIN' MOVIES. That crap got old WAY fast and frankly, I was more than eager to say goodbye to that plot line.  I wanted out.

    Now I'm not gonna say this movie doesn't have its flaws.  It does.  In fact, it probably has many flaws.  But for me, they weren't enough to put me off.  There was too much to love for me to hate what wasn't right.  Maybe they weren't even really flaws, since what some people dislike are what other people LIKE, and that certainly applies to me.  As any other movie, it's a matter of opinion.  I haven't read any negative reviews, but I'd venture to guess a big problem people have with the movie is the pacing, its length, the score, its copy-cat similarities to its predecessor, and perhaps whatever inaccuracies it had in comparison to the comics. The pace is slow and took its time, but it worked for me, as it built up a Peter Parker first before Spiderman.  Plus, it was entertaining.  As far as its length, it's noticeably long, but I'm usually not one to complain about sitting through a long movie. I hate when they're rushed and short, so I say, take your friggin' time as long as you present to me something interesting.  And the score, my gawd the score.  What an amazing score.  It was like magic mixed with fantasy mixed with heroism and all for the purpose of budding a new hero in a fresh way.  I purchased it on itunes like a half hour ago too.  But I'm probably too biased, as I'm a rabid James Horner fan and it's hard not to like his work.  As far as this movie's copy-cat similarities to its predecessor? So minor.  It's all from the same comic book series anyway, so by all means, give me different translations and just make it cool.   As far as inaccuracies compared to the comics, well...I wouldn't know since I don't know the comics very well.  But I do know I'd be plenty of annoyed too if my beloved source material was brutally ravaged and used improperly, so I don't blame anyone for hating a movie for that reason.  That's probably, to me, the only real understandable reason to hate this film.  To each their own.

    Well anyway, I think I've said my piece.  I loved it and to be honest, would love to see it again.  I also hope, despite any negative reviews, it will do well enough to bring me sequels, as I'm curious to know the direction they intend to take this new franchise in bloom.