The Amazing Spider-Man - OPEN SPOILERS NOW

[Ramatuelle]

Not a bad idea. Get people to root for the Terminator for a change!

[I was actually rooting for him the whole time.]

I dunno.... Electro is one of my favorite Spidey villains, which came about after reading Adam Troy Castro's "Secret of the Sinister Six" books. [And for anyone who has not read them, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND them, and I am a very tough critic. Doc Ock in particular was kicking ass without taking names, all over the place. It was great.] I was hoping Raimi would get around to him, but no.... we got That 70's Venom. Ok, the less said about the third film, the better.

But this horrid miscasting.... and they will put him in some damn stupid costume on top of that, unless they used the Ultimate Electro black rubber containment suit - which I seriously doubt they would be smart enough to do.... but no big deal, this casting decision has shot my interest execution-style in the back of the head before I even get that far.

Which makes my heart go , but what can you do. Except go see something else instead.

 

[Eli26]

Emma Stone in thigh high socks! Woohoo!

 

[Viking Spawn]

Just seen this movie.... Finally!

Not bad. Not the greatest super hero movie I ever seen but not bad either. Good reboot with a likeable cast. Definitely will like to see a sequel.

 

[Adolfo]

Just seen this movie.... Finally!

Not bad. Not the greatest super hero movie I ever seen but not bad either. Good reboot with a likeable cast. Definitely will like to see a sequel.

This film was not bad...not bad at all

 

[Khev]

I just watched that one youtube video from last year where Marc Webb explains the reasons for the suit redesign.

They were:

1. To separate his series from the Raimi trilogy (which meant going kind of radical since Raimi stayed so true to the comics)

and

2. To create a costume that looked better at night than the Raimi suit since that's when the majority of action takes place

I understand both mindsets but I think #2 really came through in this movie. We were just talking a few posts back about how the new suit looked with a dark backdrop and it really popped (in a good way.)

I wonder if there will be more of a day/night balance in the second film causing him to tone it down a bit.

 

[thenammagazine]

The established hero idea works for us nerds but not people on the outside, looking in. Not the kids that are the big cash cows for these movies. They need to see a hero from the start. Believe that it could happen to a regular person like them...identify with a character. Nerds have to rely on animated straight to video movies for stories with established heroes. We obviously are not the money makers for the genre that we hold dear to our hearts and are never happy with, apparently.

Disagree. The movie-going audience needs more credit than they were given. Raimi's films showed you can easily tell Spidey's origin through a credit sprawl. It's not that complex. He gets bit by a radiated/genetically engineered spider and gets spider powers. Even Nova could figure that out.

I just watched that one youtube video from last year where Marc Webb explains the reasons for the suit redesign.

They were:

1. To separate his series from the Raimi trilogy (which meant going kind of radical since Raimi stayed so true to the comics)

and

2. To create a costume that looked better at night than the Raimi suit since that's when the majority of action takes place

I understand both mindsets but I think #2 really came through in this movie. We were just talking a few posts back about how the new suit looked with a dark backdrop and it really popped (in a good way.)

I wonder if there will be more of a day/night balance in the second film causing him to tone it down a bit.

If #1 was really his intent, he should've rewritten the script.

 

[Khev]

If #1 was really his intent, he should've rewritten the script.

They could have retold his origin with a flashback or montage or whatever but when The Incredible Hulk did that it really didn't firmly extablish itself as a reboot of Ang Lee's Hulk. It almost played as a sequel. Quick recap of him being blasted with gamma rays and then he starts out on the same continent the last film ended.

I think if ASM started with a highlight reel of Uncle Ben dying and him getting the suit and then he's in high school with the girl who he supposedly just met in Raimi's previous film it just wouldn't have played as well as a new starting point.

 

[thenammagazine]

They could have retold his origin with a flashback or montage or whatever but when The Incredible Hulk did that it really didn't firmly extablish itself as a reboot of Ang Lee's Hulk. It almost played as a sequel. Quick recap of him being blasted with gamma rays and then he starts out on the same continent the last film ended.

I think if ASM started with a highlight reel of Uncle Ben dying and him getting the suit and then he's in high school with the girl who he supposedly just met in Raimi's previous film it just wouldn't have played as well as a new starting point.

No, instead it played as almost a direct remake with many scene for scene copies, but with a douchy Parker and a stupid plot for the film's main villain. Celtic's comparison post should've been a wake-up call to most of the apologists in this thread. A credits sprawl with an original story would've been considerably better received than what we got. And like The Incredible Hulk, those who wanted to include the previous into continuity (though it would be obvious it's not with Gwen as the love interest and Parker back in HS), it could've been, and to those who wanted to move on, or see it as the reboot it was supposed to be could go that route.

 

[K07]

The established hero idea works for us nerds but not people on the outside, looking in. Not the kids that are the big cash cows for these movies. They need to see a hero from the start. Believe that it could happen to a regular person like them...identify with a character. Nerds have to rely on animated straight to video movies for stories with established heroes. We obviously are not the money makers for the genre that we hold dear to our hearts and are never happy with, apparently.

Batman '89 did pretty well for itself... But I agree, superheroes deserve their origin stories on the big screen. But Spidey already had his in 2001. 11 years earlier. Most of the audience seeing ASM had already seen that. And if they hadn't, they can get off their lazy butts and go see it themselves rather than have the studio waste years of production and money rehashing it again and again to disappoint the biggest fans of the character who wanted something new and fresh.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

I think if ASM started with a highlight reel of Uncle Ben dying and him getting the suit and then he's in high school with the girl who he supposedly just met in Raimi's previous film it just wouldn't have played as well as a new starting point.

Yeah, It needed the reboot, SM3 botched things up bad and Tobey and Raimi walked from SM4 anyway.

There were three options.

1. Recast the main characters and carry on with a new director and writer who have to be constrained by the previous films cannon.

2. Recast the characters and set the slate clean so they can reinvigorate the formula for a new interpretation.

3. Let the rights revert back to Marvel which would also result in a Reboot, but lose them out on $700,000,000.

They made the right choice imo.

It's funny though, plenty of those complaining about it being a reboot also pine for it to revert to marvel studios, which would of course mean a reboot

 

[DGTWoodward]

How is it so difficult to comprehend that there is only the one story to tell, there are only a few variations in how you can tell it and it still be the right story.

That means unavoidable similarities, that makes most of the 'straight lift of scenes' cries more-or-less moot.

 

[thenammagazine]

How is it so difficult to comprehend that there is only the one story to tell, there are only a few variations in how you can tell it and it still be the right story.

That means unavoidable similarities, that makes most of the 'straight lift of scenes' cries more-or-less moot.

How difficult is it to understand that the story is so easily identifiable and simplistic that it doesn't have to be told verbatum, again and again and again? Did you somehow forget it?

 

[BadMoon]

Disagree. The movie-going audience needs more credit than they were given. Raimi's films showed you can easily tell Spidey's origin through a credit sprawl. It's not that complex. He gets bit by a radiated/genetically engineered spider and gets spider powers. Even Nova could figure that out.



If #1 was really his intent, he should've rewritten the script.

All of these Marvel movies follow the same formula. Hero's are introduced, bad guys are introduced, there is some personal struggle and reflection, they fight. The end.

Personally I like this Spiderman but I give the nod to Raimi's and I'm about as anti Raimi as one can be (when it comes to his horror movies at least).

 

[K07]

How is it so difficult to comprehend that there is only the one story to tell, there are only a few variations in how you can tell it and it still be the right story.

No, there are countless stories to tell with this character. Oh, you meant regarding the origin? I agree. So there was no reason to retell it if they were just going to show the same things.

That means unavoidable similarities, that makes most of the 'straight lift of scenes' cries more-or-less moot.

No... It makes me scratch my head. They called it a reboot, told us it was some untold story, and then I saw the same story more or less rehashed with a (in my opinion) less likable protagonist. They could have just started with a pre-established Spider-Man and not referenced anything but his origin of being bit by a spider, his uncle being shot, etc etc etc.

 

[marker2037]

Just watched it. Pretty good flick. I still think Raimi's 1 and 2 are still better for me, but overall I liked it. I liked Garfield was a good Spider-Man for sure. Suit was also better than I expected so I enjoyed that.

The one thing lacking in my mind was the script to be honest. I wasn't as drawn into the characters as I was with the Raimi movies and they didn't spend enough time developing the story, they just kind of jumped to quick conclusions. I thought a few scenes needed to be fleshed out a bit more.

7 out of 10 for me

 

[Khev]

I liked the similarity in some of the early scenes as it allowed the director to defy audience expectations at certain key points in the story. The drugstore robbery just kind snuck up on you as actually being the crime that evolves into Parker standing by and Ben getting shot. They'd set up certain Raimi scenes a few times and then go a totally different way which was actually pretty cool.

It's funny though, plenty of those complaining about it being a reboot also pine for it to revert to marvel studios, which would of course mean a reboot

Actually not necessarily. When the Hulk reverted back to Marvel they didn't do a new origin movie they pretty much let the events in Universal's picture stand as to how he came to be.

 

[karamazov80]

Actually not necessarily. When the Hulk reverted back to Marvel they didn't do a new origin movie they pretty much let the events in Universal's picture stand as to how he came to be.

While I guess he was in South America at the end of the Lee and beginning of the Leterrier films, the origins seemed pretty different. In the flashback for the new Hulk movie, he's sitting in that chair and intentionally radiating himself like in the '70s TV show, while in the Lee movie it is an accident (which has more of a parallel to the comic I guess). In the new film wasn't Ross trying to turn him into another Super Soldier?

In any case, I agree with your point that it is unnecessary to rehash origins at great length when the movie-going audience should already get the drift.

 

[Khev]

Oh, I actually haven't watched the TIH in a number of years. I had remembered the opening credits as being vague enough to allow for the inclusion of the Ang Lee origin which him running around in South America seemed to confirm. Sounds like that might not have been the case then.

 

[marker2037]

One last point: I hated the indian guy liason between Osborn and Connors. He was awfully cast.

 

[Dark_Knight_89]

So, to all those who still insist that this is a remake... By your logic, Man of Steel is a remake of Superman 1978?