The Amazing Spiderman
Only ten years after Sam Rami began his Spiderman Trilogy we are offered Marc Webb's (ironic right?) series reboot. The main question I have walking out of the theatre is this: Did we really need a reboot of Spiderman?
Lets get this out of the way right now, I liked the movie. But it wasn't quite as good as Spiderman.
Garfield's Spiderman is a bit different from the boyish Tobey Maguire, and he needs to be to handle the arduous task he is given throughout the film. Maguire's Spiderman was an out of place high school student just trying to make it out of high school any better than he came in. Garfield knows something is different about him, and it's not until his spider-bite induced super-prowess that he can fully fulfil his destiny. Garfield is a different Spiderman than Maguire and that's not a bad thing. The Amazing Spiderman deals more with Peter Parkers past than any of Rami's trio. That being said Garfield nailed the questioning, cocky, and driven Parker of The Amazing Spiderman.
I loved Emma Stone's Gwen Stacey. I love Emma Stone. I found myself thinking during the movie, "This seems more like the type of girl Peter Parker would go for." No offense to Kirsten Dunst but Stone's witty Stacey is far more of an equal to Parker than Dunst's gorgeous but doeish damsel in distress. I was happy to see the same Dennis Leary I know and love from Rescue Me. Captain Stacey feels as though he was written just for Leary.
Uncle Ben and Aunt May are the grounding force for Parker in The Amazing Spiderman. Martin Sheen was a great choice for Uncle Ben, and felt more like a father to Parker than the more grandfather like Cliff Robertson from Spider-man. Meanwhile I felt like the relationship between Garfield and Sally Fields' Aunt May wasn't nearly as sweet or organic as Rosemary Harris'. Sally Fields in my opinion just failed to make me feel as close to her as I did to Sheen's Uncle Ben.
I feel as though the plot was almost rushed to get to the conflict. It seems as if it just reared it's ugly head as opposed to the setups given in the other films. And that gets me to the biggest problem with this film. It's so hard to see this film and NOT compare it to Sam Rami's excellent Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. I leave out Spiderman 3 as it is easily the weakest of the Trilogy.
Visually however The Amazing Spiderman is brilliant. This film was shot in the new 4k x 2k standard offering nearly 4 times the resolution of the current 1080p HD resolution. The results literally must be seen to believe. While I didn't care as much for the POV shots used in the film the contrasting wide angle shots looked phenomenal. It wasn't until one scene towards the end of the film that I really began to care about Spiderman, I didn't want him to fail. I found myself getting slightly emotional. It was late in the movie to feel that, but better late than never.
James Horner's score was good but not quite as expressive as Elfman's original Spider-Man. It wasn't over the top but almost blended TOO well into certain scenes.
All in all the movie was enjoyable but not exceptional with the exception being the visuals, mostly thanks to the next gen 4k x 2k hi def wizardry.
The Amazing Spiderman 79 out of 100
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises
Simply put was the best film I've seen in a LONG time. Christopher Nolan finished his Dark Knight Trilogy with a masterful stroke. So far I've seen this film twice, both times being in the simply amazing IMAX presentation. I wouldn't put it past me to see it again. Yes folks, it's that good.
The thing that most impressed me with the film was the story. The writing may have been the best of the three. The acting, while not on the level of The Dark Knight, was superb. Some people have found the story slightly hard to follow, I have to disagree. I'm currently watching Lost (again) and it's far easier to follow TDKR. There are a few somewhat difficult spots but nothing that watching the first two films wouldn't clear up. My single largest gripe with the film is simply that the film was shot in two different cities and neither of those is Chicago (Gotham City in the first two films). And that's it, I do understand WHY this was done, however it remains my ONLY gripe.
Plot pacing was great, Hans Zimmers score may have been his best work in film to date, Wally Pfisters cinematography was stunning, and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was wonderful. This film is a text book action film with a genuine story.
Nolan said that each of the Dark Knight films deals with a different concept. The concept at the heart of TDKR is Pain and there was certainly alot of pain dealt to the denizens of Gotham throughout the film. From Commissioner Gordon's pain over the cancerous secret he has held for 8 years since The Dark Knight, to Alfred's pain over leaving Bruce Wayne to the suffering administered to Batman by Bane, even to the constant pain that Bane felt with every breath.
Bane was a prefect villain to finish out the Trilogy because he was a physical as well as cerebral match for Batman. When Bane fights Batman he's supposed to win. Bane is stronger, tougher and more brutal than Batman. And unlike the Bane from the dismal Batman & Robin Tom Hardy's is tenacious AND intellegent. I felt he had the most difficult acting assignment of the film having to rely almost exclusively on his eyes and gestures to portray the menacing mercenary.
Emotion is one word that I can't help but using to describe TDKR. Pain, relief and sorrow are woven throught the fabric of the film. There's also the action. WOW. The action sequences in this film were almost as good as those in The Avengers. The scope of the action in TDKR is not lost in the IMAX film transfer. Quite possibly the best part of the action sequences is the spectacular score delivered by Hans Zimmer. Zimmers score is the perfect seasoning to any cinematic indulgence. He's never too over the top, never too weak. He is always just the right ammount of sweet, savory and bitter.
I could go on talking about the film but i'll stop here. Because instead of reading this any more you need to go out and see this movie. For if you have you like me want to go watch it again....
The Dark Knight Rises 93 out of 100.
Superb.
Simply put was the best film I've seen in a LONG time. Christopher Nolan finished his Dark Knight Trilogy with a masterful stroke. So far I've seen this film twice, both times being in the simply amazing IMAX presentation. I wouldn't put it past me to see it again. Yes folks, it's that good.
The thing that most impressed me with the film was the story. The writing may have been the best of the three. The acting, while not on the level of The Dark Knight, was superb. Some people have found the story slightly hard to follow, I have to disagree. I'm currently watching Lost (again) and it's far easier to follow TDKR. There are a few somewhat difficult spots but nothing that watching the first two films wouldn't clear up. My single largest gripe with the film is simply that the film was shot in two different cities and neither of those is Chicago (Gotham City in the first two films). And that's it, I do understand WHY this was done, however it remains my ONLY gripe.
Plot pacing was great, Hans Zimmers score may have been his best work in film to date, Wally Pfisters cinematography was stunning, and Anne Hathaway's Catwoman was wonderful. This film is a text book action film with a genuine story.
Nolan said that each of the Dark Knight films deals with a different concept. The concept at the heart of TDKR is Pain and there was certainly alot of pain dealt to the denizens of Gotham throughout the film. From Commissioner Gordon's pain over the cancerous secret he has held for 8 years since The Dark Knight, to Alfred's pain over leaving Bruce Wayne to the suffering administered to Batman by Bane, even to the constant pain that Bane felt with every breath.
Bane was a prefect villain to finish out the Trilogy because he was a physical as well as cerebral match for Batman. When Bane fights Batman he's supposed to win. Bane is stronger, tougher and more brutal than Batman. And unlike the Bane from the dismal Batman & Robin Tom Hardy's is tenacious AND intellegent. I felt he had the most difficult acting assignment of the film having to rely almost exclusively on his eyes and gestures to portray the menacing mercenary.
Emotion is one word that I can't help but using to describe TDKR. Pain, relief and sorrow are woven throught the fabric of the film. There's also the action. WOW. The action sequences in this film were almost as good as those in The Avengers. The scope of the action in TDKR is not lost in the IMAX film transfer. Quite possibly the best part of the action sequences is the spectacular score delivered by Hans Zimmer. Zimmers score is the perfect seasoning to any cinematic indulgence. He's never too over the top, never too weak. He is always just the right ammount of sweet, savory and bitter.
I could go on talking about the film but i'll stop here. Because instead of reading this any more you need to go out and see this movie. For if you have you like me want to go watch it again....
The Dark Knight Rises 93 out of 100.
Superb.
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