Amazing Spider-Man : July 3rd, 2012 (1 Viewer)

[SugarSunset]

Of course, despite the fact of the difference between the show of genius is probably due to the act of development of the story (each director seemed to have their own style to the story), there was also a significant difference of quality with the first film and the reboot.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Originally Posted by SugarSunset /t/254830/spider-man-4-july-3rd-2012/570#post_3950642
He wears glasses quite frequently as well.

Wait, is that a sign of intelligence?

 

[TonyD]

Yes, obviously anyone who wears glasses is extremely intelligent.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Wait, is that a sign of intelligence?

In the movies it absolutely is.

 

[Citizen87645]

And sometimes it hides a very attractive woman, just waiting to come out of her shell.

 

[Carlo_M]

And sometimes it hides a very attractive woman, just waiting to come out of her shell. 

Amen! Cue cheesy sexy music and slo-mo shot of removal of glasses and loosening of hair (which inevitably was tied back in a bun, another sign of intelligence as well as a beautiful woman about to come out of her shell).

 

[John Berggren]

Wait, is that a sign of intelligence?

I suspect this is less being used as an indicator of intelligence and more being used that they are being closer to the original comic character representation in not ditching the glasses.

 

[Paul D G]

I really didn't like it. I got annoyed by one thing, then everything started to annoy me.

- Having Sally Field and Martin Sheen play the Aunt and Uncle came off too cameo-y to me. Like Brando 'starring' in Superman.

- It was when Gwen turned up giving the tour as OsCorp that I lost faith in the movie. She's 17, giving a tour to candidates for a job, I think it was. Shouldn't she be in school? Was this supposed to be a weekend day? Then, she's interning, but she has full access to all the equipment?

- OK, I get it's a Science High School, so if Gwen is a brilliant student so could feasibly be working at OsCorp for credit or something else I have to make up to have it make sense. But if this is a Science High School, which would mean it's tailored for academic young students, why the hell is a meathead like Flash Thompson going there?

- Was it me or did Gwen appear to wear the same outfit for most of the film? Cream skirt, tan knee high boots?

- Uncle Ben dies and there's zero mourning from Aunt May. Next time we see her she's bitching about eggs.

- No Daily Bugle? No JJ Jameson? That's like Clark Kent not working at the Daily Planet.

- All I can remember from when the original came out was fan boys up in arms over the minor tweak over bio-webs vs mechanical webs. I've heard nothing about making Peter's father some brilliant scientist, which is a far more extreme tweak to the origin.

- The crane scene just annoyed me. I got the impression I was supposed to cheer as the path to OsCorp magically appeared. Came off as corny Hollywood, I hate to say.

- Lizard's CG was terrible, IMHO. The web swinging action was far better than Rami's.

 

[SugarSunset]

I suspect this is less being used as an indicator of intelligence and more being used that they are being closer to the original comic character representation in not ditching the glasses.

Well, I think it's being used because he's already intelligent in the first place and we just associate it with the fact that he wears glasses as well. It's what we psychologists call 'classical conditioning'

 

[TravisR]

- No Daily Bugle? No JJ Jameson? That's like Clark Kent not working at the Daily Planet.

I figured that was just something saved for the sequel. Personally, I'm glad it was because it would have just made the origin part of the story even longer.

- All I can remember from when the original came out was fan boys up in arms over the minor tweak over bio-webs vs mechanical webs. I've heard nothing about making Peter's father some brilliant scientist, which is a far more extreme tweak to the origin.

Richard was established as a genius scientist in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic line so that's probably why no one really cared that they use that in the movie.

 

[SugarSunset]

I find it annoying when people get angry over changes to literature when it comes to adapting films - it gets really complicated. I was really up in arms when the purists started complaining about the Sherlock Holmes films - I can see why they would, but they were such enjoyable films. There were changes to this Spider-Man film from the comics and I didn't like how Peter Parker was portrayed, but that doesn't mean I didn't find it enjoyable. I'm sure directors, producers and writers are allowed to stray away from the script sometimes so it doesn't feel so predictable. It's fun what they can do with literature so it gives for a much better film experience. It's only if it's worth complaining about which ruins the film. After all, you would expect that since the development of technology in film and that it is quite a task transferring a novel or comic book onto the big screen.

 

[Paul D G]

Originally Posted by TravisR /t/254830/spider-man-4-july-3rd-2012/570#post_3951443
Richard was established as a genius scientist in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic line so that's probably why no one really cared that they use that in the movie.

Ok. I was not aware of that.

Man, these origin revisions are annoying. Even the causal viewer knows Batman's backstory. But if the next reboot turns Bruce Wayne's father into some underground arms dealer because the comics did so a lot of casual viewers are going to be sitting there going "what?!"

 

[Greg.K]

Well, the "why" is a bit of a head scratcher.
Certainly they could have done a better job at showing why, but it was shown that his gunshot wound to the leg was preventing him from traversing the way he needed to. Maybe because he hadn't yet quite mastered swinging and may have needed better use of his legs. After all, webs on the tops of buildings swing you toward the building and the overhead cranes lets him swing in a straight line down the street. So maybe the injury to his leg made him less confident he could handle a bounce/run off the side of a building (as Spider-Man IS often shown doing) if needed and the cranes simply provided a straight swinging path where he wouldn't have to deal with the "side to side" building swings. That's basically the way I read it.
Nevertheless, I loved the emotional impact of the scene, nerd arguments notwithstanding.

The "why" made sense, except that it didn't make sense that the crane operators knew all that, knew where he needed to go, and it was quite a coincidence that there were cranes lined up all the way. It just didn't work for me. Too Michael-Bay-ish manipulative for me.
The "you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us" scene in Spidey 1 was much better (and was more poignant coming so soon after 9/11).
YMMV.

 

[Sean Bryan]

YMMV

Indeed it does.

 

[DaveF]

I really didn't like it. I got annoyed by one thing, then everything started to annoy me.
- Having Sally Field and Martin Sheen play the Aunt and Uncle came off too cameo-y to me. Like Brando 'starring' in Superman.
- It was when Gwen turned up giving the tour as OsCorp that I lost faith in the movie. She's 17, giving a tour to candidates for a job, I think it was. Shouldn't she be in school? Was this supposed to be a weekend day? Then, she's interning, but she has full access to all the equipment?
- OK, I get it's a Science High School, so if Gwen is a brilliant student so could feasibly be working at OsCorp for credit or something else I have to make up to have it make sense. But if this is a Science High School, which would mean it's tailored for academic young students, why the hell is a meathead like Flash Thompson going there?
- Was it me or did Gwen appear to wear the same outfit for most of the film? Cream skirt, tan knee high boots?
- Uncle Ben dies and there's zero mourning from Aunt May. Next time we see her she's bitching about eggs.
- No Daily Bugle? No JJ Jameson? That's like Clark Kent not working at the Daily Planet.
- All I can remember from when the original came out was fan boys up in arms over the minor tweak over bio-webs vs mechanical webs. I've heard nothing about making Peter's father some brilliant scientist, which is a far more extreme tweak to the origin.
- The crane scene just annoyed me. I got the impression I was supposed to cheer as the path to OsCorp magically appeared. Came off as corny Hollywood, I hate to say.
- Lizard's CG was terrible, IMHO. The web swinging action was far better than Rami's.

I thought Gwen was the lead intern, and she was touring a group of high school intern applicants. And if she's super-genius near par with Peter, then of course she's the lead intern there.
No Daily Bugle, like Clark Kent without Daily Planet....so like the first six seasons of Smallville? I'm ok with an origin story that goes earlier than normal canon. But I grew up with the Electric Company's SpiderMan, which might have warped me.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

The Amazing Spiderman - really enjoyed this one. The origin story is changed enough to make it fresh - though the more familiar version done by Raimi resonates more emotionally.
Garfield is fantastic as Peter Parker. Emma Stone is too as Gwen Stacy - and thankfully Gwen is not cast in the damsel in distress role but actively contributes to the resolution of the climax. Their scenes together really spark.
This movie is really well cast with Martin Sheen, Denis Leary, and Rhys Ifans putting in good to great work. Sally Fields does not get much to do but I suspect that her turn is yet to come.
As much as I enjoyed Garfield's turn as Parker, the advances in SFX since the last Raimi Spidey flick captured Spidey's full range of abilities for the first time. Not only are the web swinging scenes exhilarating but his speed and agility is displayed too. All done with a sense of weight and inertia not possible apparently with the previous trilogy. There is one fight scene in the school corridor that really displays this beautifully. The Lizard SFX were dodgy at times but never took me out of the movie because by the point I was into the characters and story.
I really, really like this one. Place it behind Spidey 2 for now.
Finally, this one left me anticipating the sequel - always a good sign.

 

[Carlo_M]

I'lm with Lou on this one. For whatever reason, Maguire's portrayal never really struck me as Peter Parker/Spider-man. While not perfect, I loved Garfield's ability to poke fun at the enemy while in the midst of combat.
And the chemistry between Garfield and Stone makes the Maguire/Dunst combo pale in comparison. I'm not a spidey comic fan so I don't have any issues with any changes to the canon (and in fact probably wouldn't have been aware of them had I not read this thread). And I do miss J. Jonah from the Raimi movies because J.K. Simmons just *nailed* that role. In fact if he's introduced in the sequel, I would hope they bring him in (assuming he's interested and not too old to do the role by that time).
And yes, the CGI has improved tremendously. I was no longer taken out of the movie by the "hey it's a digital spidey" moments that I had during Raimi's films. It's not his fault, I'm sure they did the best they could with the CGI and budget for the time, but the new movie really does justice to how I would envision Spidey fighting in real life. A solid 7.5/10.

 

[TravisR]

I'm not a spidey comic fan so I don't have any issues with any changes to the canon (and in fact probably wouldn't have been aware of them had I not read this thread).

What's funny is that I'm so used to the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book having Richard Parker be a scientist that I've basically forgotten the Richard of the 'regular' comics wasn't a super genius until it was brought up here.

 

[Vaughan Odendaal]

Decent flick but a small nitpick. Spiderman's strength was very inconsistent throughout this film. I mean, he held a SUV from falling while it burst into flames. A difficult feat. But earlier on after Uncle Ben died, he ran into that thug ... punched him a number of times, continued punching him and he was still okay. He wasn't pulling his punches either. Never mind the fact that one punch should kill the guy. He also didn't seem that strong while fighting those people off - ie, no ragdoll's, throwing people with one hand etc.
Just weird inconsistency. I was hoping they could get it right with this film. Also, why did he run away from those people in the alleyway? Made no sense. As if they were a physical threat. The other thing, he got one or two scenes showing his strength, like the bathroom scene and on the field, but from that --- he goes to stopping cars from falling, lifting the SUV etc etc. Just seemed strange that we never saw a scene showing us that he knew he could even do that.