So I saw the New and Improved Amazing Spiderman on Friday. I just realised I just summed up my entire review in three words there. New and Improved. Having also watched the original Toby Maguire version to confirm my suspicions, I can confirm that whilst a very different film, it is superior in almost every way.
Toby Maguire is adorable; but the original Spiderman is much more of a RomCom. Which is fine because he starts by narrating that it's all about this girl. So fair game to them - they wrote it that way.
The Amazing Spiderman however takes the superhero thing seriously; and is far more in line with the quality of films such as The Avengers or The Dark Knight; Special effects, dialogue, general character development etc.
Andrew Garfield. Wow. I could write a blog just about him but it would probably turn into erotic fan fiction so I think I'll try and steer clear. He makes an amazingly awkward American teenager. I loved that he wasn't made to be super geeky and stereotyped, it was just there and obviously without cheesy props and costume. With far more depth once you learn what happened to his parents and his connection to Oscorp. His relationship with his Aunt and Uncle is also far more convincing; and the death of Uncle Ben had me inconsolable for a good ten minutes of the film: powerful stuff. It also makes his transition from vengeful, spider bitten, hormonal teen, into responsible hero much more believable and heart wrenching. And as much as I love the upside down rain-kiss with MJ in the original, give me that kiss with AG and Emma Stone on the balcony any day. Such passion, and again, much more convincing.
Not being a comic book geek I can only guess, but I assume the process of him becoming Spiderman was more true to the comic, and making the web dispensers himself is also part of that. The transition is also hilarious; subtle but brilliant. Less convincing however is Peter Parker's first mask. Probably my only criticism of the film - but come on, don't film him sewing something red together then just stick him in a morph suit mask! Those things are everywhere, no one is being fooled here. At least Toby Maguire's looked like something he'd sewn himself as a prototype.
I am also a big Emma Stone fan, she's funny and beautiful and has a wonderful way of putting herself across. My only concern is that she's a little bit of a one trick pony; she wasn't really any different to Olive in Easy A. But whatever it is she's doing is working because I just love her. Although - ditch the blonde, love, you make a much better red head! Don't go down the LL route (with hair colour - the drugs side sort of goes without saying... I hope.)
The film was fantastic in 3D, one of the best uses I've seen of it actually. Although around the same length as the first one it wasn't tedious in the slightest. The reptile creature thing (Sorry, I have no idea what this villain is called, guessing it is actually supposed to be different to the Green Goblin) was great - and its regrowth made everything SO tense because I genuinely was terrified that they could never stop him. *Spoiler alert* They don't and everyone dies.
No comments:
Post a Comment