I feel bad for TASM 2, really I do. Don't you? No one asked for The Amazing Spider-Man and I personally hate people who think that Tobey Maguire is a bad Peter Parker/Spider-Man. When I was researching for this post (yes guys, even blog posts need research), Andrew Garfield just scored major respect points from me. During TASM2 Comic-con panel in 2013, he said and I paraphrased that Spider-Man would forever be Tobey's role no matter what. YES. Huge respect. The young actors involved in the rebooted franchise are the reason you go to see the films despite them being lackluster.
Let's start in 2012, I hated TASM so much. It was actually well-filmed and it has its own unique moments (I counted two) but the repetition and unnecessariness of the whole film bogged it down big time. But come TASM2 in 2014, it was tasked with the job of world-building and setting up future installments. It was doomed from the start but the film turned out pretty fine. The action scenes are amazing and Spidey's new costume is just so beautiful. Remember that set-piece in Times Square when Electro faces Spider-Man for the first time? I'd go out on a limb and say that scene is a master-class in superhero blockbuster filmmaking. But how was the rest of the film? I'd like to plagiarize my old post to proceed.
TASM2's positives
1. We've warmed up to this hipster version of Peter Parker.
2. Trifecta of great young actors: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Dane DeHaan. Also add the now-Oscar-nominated actress Felicity Jones in the mix. I once tweeted that this group is The Social Network cast equivalent of superhero movies. And this film should've featured Shailene Woodley also. That would be mind-blowing.
3. Marc Webb's more assured direction. His web-slinging scenes are way better than before and action scenes are pretty flawless. The death of Gwen Stacy is also handled masterfully. I still jumped in shock everytime she hit the ground even after three times watching the movie.
4. Hans Zimmer & Co.'s new hopeful theme and Electro theme are killerrrr.
5. The film is lighter than Marvel and even DC. See how Spidey's gleeful persona influenced the other characters to also be comical, whether intentionally or unintentionally. For example, Max Dillon, The Rhino and Dr. Kafka, yet people complained about this. why..
TASM2's negatives
1. Too much important scenes that are deleted. Go search on YouTube for those scenes because they make the movie way better.
2. Too much Peter & Gwen. It goes to the point where it's boring. They have chemistry yes, but do you want to see two lovers going on a date all night? No.
3. Chosen one-type of storyline. Peter Parker's supposed to be you, me, us. In this movie, he's like Neo or Harry Potter. Even Harry Potter has more relatable traits to people than this Peter Parker.
4. Cramming too much backstories. Like, Harry Osborn is actually a long lost childhood friend or Electro's sudden shift from Spidey fanboy to hater or that Peter's dad's hulaballooo.
5. False advertising, like featuring The Rhino like he's one of the main villain. Or more precisely, bad advertising for revealing too much in the trailer.
6. Being a flop and eventually rebooted by Marvel.
I actually want to see this franchise completed. At least, let them resolve some of the stuff that are happening, like Peter's hunt for Uncle Ben's killer, that Pierce guy, the villains gallery. I could write a story that makes them finish at installment number three. At least give us, audience, closure. I'd like to see Felicity Jones as Black Cat. I'd like to see more Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. Those Marvel guys, they only think about themselves. They could work Andrew Garfield's Spidey into MCU, they're just too lazy, too arrogant. They can address this film's flaws and still make a decent tie-in to Civil War.
I hate it when you tamper with my guilty pleasure. This is like eating half of a fried chicken and then some cleaning lady threw your chicken away and the store's already closed. Look at this Marvel, I can even work my way to making metaphors using fried chicken for a movie. Why can't you? (Work TASM's universe to MCU, not inserting fried chickens to MCU.. Shawarma's good although overrated).
Still coming: Jurassic World review. In fact, I'm gonna take a bath and go to the cinemas..NOW
No comments:
Post a Comment