I definitely had lowered expectations prior to seeing this film. As I sat watching it, my reservations dissipated. Amazing Spider-Man is acually a quite enjoyable film!
The casting was overall very effective. Andrew Garfield did a solid job as Peter, although he didn't seem to express quite the sense of 'geekiness' that Ditko's initial version did. Garfield's Parker frequently recalled the brooding young man we know from the Bronze age stories.
Emma Stone nails Gwen. She struck me as more like the Gwen from her early appearances: more confident, science-savvy and a bit fiesty.
As the film played out, I was more and more impressed. The confict scene between Peter and his Uncle was effectively done. Even though this area was explored fully in the 2002 flim, the current version struck a somewhat deeper chord. Martin Sheen did Ben Parker with a bit of edge, which probably helped provoke some of Peter's guilt. On the other hand, Sally Field as Aunt May took some getting used to. No complaints with the performance, she just isn't who I would have envisioned.
The whole Connors/Lizard storyline worked for me. Interesting that they introduced Captain Stacy along with Gwen this film, and by the end had done him in. It nicely paralleled his death in the oomic (Peter losing a friend due to his alter-ego's activities; even though this friend was a pretty recent convert). Also didn't expect Gwen to learn Peter's identity. One wonders how such a change in storyline would have affected her eventual fate in the comic pages.
Finally, the mysterious figure at the end. The obvious choice would be Norman Osborn. Perhaps too obvious a choice; Spencer Smythe, maybe, or Mendell Stromm? How deeply do they wish to dig into the Lee/Ditko mythos? At any rate, I now welcome a sequal...
When Captain Stacy learned that Spider-Man is Peter Parker (through Peter's unmasking rather than through rational deduction as in the comics) I wondered how the development would play out. It wasn't too surprising that, as in the comics, Capt. Stacy would die, and although the circumstances were different, once again Peter was indirectly responsible. What was a real twist was when Gwen angrily confronted Peter over his behavior after her father's death, she correctly deduced that her father had made Peter promise to stay away from her (rather than, as Stan might have done, having her conclude that Peter was just an insensitive clod). This time Gwen becomes Peter's first girlfriend, with MJ not appearing at all, while in the comics Gwen & MJ became part of Peter's growing social circle at roughly the same time (sure, MJ was referred to much earlier but we didn't see her face until ish. 42 and although Gwen was introduced in ish. 31, for the remainder of Ditko's tenure Peter didn't really have a social circle outside of Aunt May as he had effectively alienated himself from Betty and seemed intent on becoming a social outcast in college before Romita arrived to soften Peter up a bit and make him more agreeable among his peers. Now, though, I worry about the fate of this latest incarnation of Gwen. Is she as doomed as her 4-colored counterparts? Or is this new take on the mythos in which she is much more interesting than the Lee/Romita incarnation and is fully aware of Peter's alter ego, destined to survive whatever the sequels of this take may throw at her & Peter? I'd expect more of the classic Silver Age cast to show up in the sequel and I wouldn't be surprised if the Green Goblin is the villain, especially given that Gwen already works for Osborne's company. But we'll have to wait and see.
I was surprised that they had Captain Stacy learn Spider-Man's identity and die in this film. I thought they could have built up the relationship more, have Stacy start to respect Spider-Man, and maybe by the second film we could get to the point where he figures out that Spidey and Pete are one and the same.
One thing that annoyed me: the constant removal of his mask. You saw the same thing in Raimi's Spidey. I know they want to have the actor's face visible, but there were times where it just seemed ridiculous.
Spidey's fight with the Lizard in the high school was fun. The Stan Lee scene was hilarious! I liked how Spidey practically crawled all over the much-bigger Lizard and webbed him up. And his poses while web-slinging were very Romita-like.
From what I've read they are planning for this to be a trilogy, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see ASM 121-122 played out. But boy, would that be a downer way to end it.
Oh god, I can't tell you how much I hope that they DON'T play out 121&122 again. This may sound pathetic, but I don't think I could survive Gwen's death another time. It would be crushing to become emotionally invested in her via a film incarnation, only to lose her even more vividly. I would have to be mopped up off the theater floor and wrung out on the sidewalk. . .
The fact that she knows his identity is such a major shift from the source continuity that maybe it precludes that level of adherance to it.
I know habitually losing the mask is wildly annoying (although if Steve Rogers had never put his on at all in AVENGERS I would have been just fine), but I do get that the convention of film creates a necessity for seeing folks' faces as much as possible.
And the moment Pete revealed his identity to Capt Stacy, I KNEW Stacy wasn't gonna make it to the credit roll. I literally thought, "Oh! That's too bad-- he's gonna die, and he was such an enjoyable anti-Spidey!"
I thought it was good, I liked it better than the Tobey McGuire films.
I was surprised that Jameson didn't appear but that's okay, it was refreshing to see another story.
Prediction:With Marvel restarting with "Marvel NOW", Gwen will get resurrected so the comics will be more like the movie. I hope I'm wrong, but I really don't care 'cause I'm not Marvel's demo.
As far as Gwen's death goes, I feel the same as you, HB. As things are, the movie has strayed enough from the source material that killing off Gwen doesn't seem necessary as the Spidey-chroniclers decreed back in 1973. Heck, in Raimi's arc they'd already used the throwing the girlfriend off the bridge scene, so on that basis alone I think they'd avoid that in this proposed trilogy, although that doesn't mean they couldn't come up with another means to dispose of Gwen. The sentimental sap in me just hopes that in this limited series the Peter & Gwen romance ends on a happier note.
I definitely had lowered expectations prior to seeing this film. As I sat watching it, my reservations dissipated. Amazing Spider-Man is acually a quite enjoyable film!
ReplyDeleteThe casting was overall very effective. Andrew Garfield did a solid job as Peter, although he didn't seem to express quite the sense of 'geekiness' that Ditko's initial version did. Garfield's Parker frequently recalled the brooding young man we know from the Bronze age stories.
Emma Stone nails Gwen. She struck me as more like the Gwen from her early appearances: more confident, science-savvy and a bit fiesty.
As the film played out, I was more and more impressed. The confict scene between Peter and his Uncle was effectively done. Even though this area was explored fully in the 2002 flim, the current version struck a somewhat deeper chord. Martin Sheen did Ben Parker with a bit of edge, which probably helped provoke some of Peter's guilt.
On the other hand, Sally Field as Aunt May took some getting used to. No complaints with the performance, she just isn't who I would have envisioned.
The whole Connors/Lizard storyline worked for me. Interesting that they introduced Captain Stacy along with Gwen this film, and by the end had done him in. It nicely paralleled his death in the oomic (Peter losing a friend due to his alter-ego's activities; even though this friend was a pretty recent convert). Also didn't expect Gwen to learn Peter's identity. One wonders how such a change in storyline would have affected her eventual fate in the comic pages.
Finally, the mysterious figure at the end. The obvious choice would be Norman Osborn. Perhaps too obvious a choice; Spencer Smythe, maybe, or Mendell Stromm? How deeply do they wish to dig into the Lee/Ditko mythos? At any rate, I now welcome a sequal...
When Captain Stacy learned that Spider-Man is Peter Parker (through Peter's unmasking rather than through rational deduction as in the comics) I wondered how the development would play out. It wasn't too surprising that, as in the comics, Capt. Stacy would die, and although the circumstances were different, once again Peter was indirectly responsible. What was a real twist was when Gwen angrily confronted Peter over his behavior after her father's death, she correctly deduced that her father had made Peter promise to stay away from her (rather than, as Stan might have done, having her conclude that Peter was just an insensitive clod).
ReplyDeleteThis time Gwen becomes Peter's first girlfriend, with MJ not appearing at all, while in the comics Gwen & MJ became part of Peter's growing social circle at roughly the same time (sure, MJ was referred to much earlier but we didn't see her face until ish. 42 and although Gwen was introduced in ish. 31, for the remainder of Ditko's tenure Peter didn't really have a social circle outside of Aunt May as he had effectively alienated himself from Betty and seemed intent on becoming a social outcast in college before Romita arrived to soften Peter up a bit and make him more agreeable among his peers.
Now, though, I worry about the fate of this latest incarnation of Gwen. Is she as doomed as her 4-colored counterparts? Or is this new take on the mythos in which she is much more interesting than the Lee/Romita incarnation and is fully aware of Peter's alter ego, destined to survive whatever the sequels of this take may throw at her & Peter?
I'd expect more of the classic Silver Age cast to show up in the sequel and I wouldn't be surprised if the Green Goblin is the villain, especially given that Gwen already works for Osborne's company. But we'll have to wait and see.
I was surprised that they had Captain Stacy learn Spider-Man's identity and die in this film. I thought they could have built up the relationship more, have Stacy start to respect Spider-Man, and maybe by the second film we could get to the point where he figures out that Spidey and Pete are one and the same.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that annoyed me: the constant removal of his mask. You saw the same thing in Raimi's Spidey. I know they want to have the actor's face visible, but there were times where it just seemed ridiculous.
Spidey's fight with the Lizard in the high school was fun. The Stan Lee scene was hilarious! I liked how Spidey practically crawled all over the much-bigger Lizard and webbed him up. And his poses while web-slinging were very Romita-like.
From what I've read they are planning for this to be a trilogy, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see ASM 121-122 played out. But boy, would that be a downer way to end it.
Oh god, I can't tell you how much I hope that they DON'T play out 121&122 again. This may sound pathetic, but I don't think I could survive Gwen's death another time. It would be crushing to become emotionally invested in her via a film incarnation, only to lose her even more vividly. I would have to be mopped up off the theater floor and wrung out on the sidewalk. . .
ReplyDeleteThe fact that she knows his identity is such a major shift from the source continuity that maybe it precludes that level of adherance to it.
I know habitually losing the mask is wildly annoying (although if Steve Rogers had never put his on at all in AVENGERS I would have been just fine), but I do get that the convention of film creates a necessity for seeing folks' faces as much as possible.
And the moment Pete revealed his identity to Capt Stacy, I KNEW Stacy wasn't gonna make it to the credit roll. I literally thought, "Oh! That's too bad-- he's gonna die, and he was such an enjoyable anti-Spidey!"
HB
I thought it was good, I liked it better than the Tobey McGuire films.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that Jameson didn't appear but that's okay, it was refreshing to see another story.
Prediction:With Marvel restarting with "Marvel NOW", Gwen will get resurrected so the comics will be more like the movie. I hope I'm wrong, but I really don't care 'cause I'm not Marvel's demo.
As far as Gwen's death goes, I feel the same as you, HB. As things are, the movie has strayed enough from the source material that killing off Gwen doesn't seem necessary as the Spidey-chroniclers decreed back in 1973.
ReplyDeleteHeck, in Raimi's arc they'd already used the throwing the girlfriend off the bridge scene, so on that basis alone I think they'd avoid that in this proposed trilogy, although that doesn't mean they couldn't come up with another means to dispose of Gwen. The sentimental sap in me just hopes that in this limited series the Peter & Gwen romance ends on a happier note.