Tag Archives: Marvel Comics

MOVIE REVIEW: THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN

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By Scott Tre

Peter Parker, a promising young student at Midtown Science High School, is about to undergo a drastic life change. A discovery in his Aunt and Uncle’s basement prompts him to seek out one of his father’s old colleagues, Dr. Curt Conners. After infiltrating the OsCorp facility under false pretenses, Peter is bitten by a genetically altered spider. The bite endows him the proportionate powers of the tiny creature.

In light of his newfound abilities, Peter again seeks out Conners. The two form a bond, and Peter aids Conners experiments in limb regeneration. Shortly thereafter, Peter’s uncle is accidentally killed by a petty thief. Peter takes to the streets to find his Uncles killer, eventually becoming a masked vigilante named “Spider-Man.” Spider-Man soon becomes an overnight media sensation. Meanwhile, Conners experiments result in him becoming a giant human/lizard hybrid. When the creature begins rampaging through the streets and sewers of New York City, It ultimately falls to Spider-Man to stop him.

The Amazing Spider-Man is the much anticipated reboot of the Sony Pictures franchise. It boasts a different cast than the previous three films, as well as new director. In certain regards, it’s more faithful the source material. In others, it’s wildly divergent. While it admittedly finds a happy medium between the two, it ultimately fails to embody the true spirit of its title character.
The world of The Amazing Spider-Man feels more superficially realistic than that of the Raimi films. The film’s vision of New York is a neo-noir throwback to 70’s revenge classics such as Death Wish. While this works to modernize the film to an extent, it also renders it generic.

While Spider-Man has never been a dark character per se, there has always been a dark undercurrent running through his mythos. Both he and his rogues gallery are the direct result of science experiments gone awry, often with tragic results. The filmmakers choose to bring such elements to the surface, and wind up pushing a bit too far in that direction. Certain moments evoke David Cronenberg style body horror. It gets to the point where even Spidey himself comes off as somewhat creepy.

The action scenes are bit more grounded in reality this time out, and as such not quite as dependent on CG as previous Spider-Man films. Stunt Coordinator Andy Armstrong incorporates elements of parkour and MMA. The difference is noticeable, as Spider-Man is more fearsome in combat than ever before. Strangely, this doesn’t result in more exciting action scenes. The set pieces, like much of the rest of the film, feel strangely indistinct.

The film’s conception of Spidey also proves to be misguided. It’s a complete 180 from the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire characterization. The fault lies not with Andrew Garfield’s performance, nor with his physical appearance. The problem lies with the film’s overall depiction of Parker, who’s shown to be a social outcast only in the most romantic sense of the phrase. He never seems particularly put upon, nor do his social inadequacies seem like anything that he won’t eventually outgrow. His transformation into Spider-Man never feels like an organic or even a necessary evolution.

As Conners, Rhys Ifans is much too mannered and distant to be a truly sympathetic villain. The Lizard’s creature design, while somewhat true to the original one by Steve Ditko, is too humanoid. The CGI used to bring the creature to life unintentionally evokes the stop motion creations of Ray Harryhausen.

The Amazing Spider-Man isn’t truly a bad film, but a frustratingly adequate one. Director Marc Webb has a vision for the character, but it consists of making him little more than a garden variety brooding loner. Raimi’s films were light as air, and never felt too tethered to modern expectations of what a superhero film should be. In that regard, they were very much like the title character. By contrast, The Amazing Spider-Man feels much too beholden to fan expectations. As a result, it never truly soars.

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THE AVENGERS: OFFICIAL TRAILER #2

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By Scott Tre

By now, moviegoers have surely been shown enough of The Avengers via trailers and commercials to have an idea of what the film holds in store. Each successive advertisement has tried to expand the scope of the film a bit. They’ve been successful to an extent, though it still seems like the first episode in an extravagant television series rather than an ambitious big screen epic. That notwithstanding, it must be acknowledged that there appears to be some very good stuff here. The latest trailer, billed as the second official one, plays like a two and half minute highlight reel. It’s a procession of money shots in which each character gets to shine a bit. Some moments are so good that one wishes they would have been saved for the film itself.

Many of the aforementioned cool moments are enhanced by puns and bits of Smart Aleck dialogue. Black Widow meets with Dr. Bruce Banner in a rundown shack at a desolate location to persuade him to participate in The Avengers Initiative. In case negotiations don’t go quite as planned, a battalion of armed troops are shown circled around the shack with their weapons at the ready. As humor goes, It’s obvious as all Hell but it works.

In another scene, Iron Man lands atop the Stark Enterprises building and casually strolls down the rooftop landing strip. As he walks, a series of mechanical devices dismantle the Iron Man armor. He doesn’t have to break his stride or utter a single command. That’s about as James Bond as it gets, and it’s a perfectly fitting moment for old Shell Head.

There are even a few hints at the trouble in paradise when these guys are first introduced. Iron Man and Thor are shown pounding away at each other in the woods. In one scene, Cap joins them during a three way faceoff. Cap himself looks cheesy-cool in full costume. There’s another moment where he free-falls through the sky, doing a “Superman-in-flight” pose with his shield boldly out front.

The scene of Hulk smacking alien spacecraft out of the air is repeated here, as is the scene of Iron Man doing a bit of aerial dogfighting with the Alien baddies. When he gets blasted and begins falling to his doom, the Green Goliath swoops in and scoops him up like a damsel in distress. With Old Shell Head firmly in hand, Hulk then slows their rapid descent by digging a groove into the side of a skyscraper with his free hand and sliding down to the ground. It’s a great show-stopping moment that should not have been spoiled in the trailer.

As the six heroes gather back to back on a war torn street in front of New York City’s Grand Central Station, the camera pans around them, doing a complete 360. The final moment of has Iron Man being chased through the air by what looks like a giant airborne mechanical piranha, or a cybernetic silverfish with wings. Yet another shot that should have been saved for the film itself.

I’m no longer worried about the entertainment value of the film. At this point it’s clear that The Avengers is going to kick wholesale ass if nothing else. I just hope that Joss Whedon and company have not blown their proverbial load with all the trailers released over the past few months. It’d be nice to save some of the tricks for the actual performance, instead of giving it all away for free. If The Avengers is a drawn out snooze in which all the best moments were spoiled in the advertisements, I will personally put out a hit on Joss Whedon.

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