I have been very curious about this new Spiderman film as I saw the earlier Spiderman series back in the 00s with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. I can remember all the hype surrounding the film, I remember the Spiderman toys at fast food restaurants, and the controversy of the first 12a film certification. But I wanted to see how it would differ and whether it would be as good. Obviously I expected a lot in the CGI and special effects department as that has advanced so much over the past ten years.
I think, however that I can safely say that this new film is pretty awesome!
Let me say, I loved the casting!
The relatively little known Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker, otherwise known as Spiderman.
I was vaguely aware of Andrew thanks to Doctor Who! He played a character called Frank in two episodes of Season 3 (5 and 6, for the really interested!), alongside David Tennant and Freema Agyeman. He also played a role in the imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a film which bored me out of my mind!
I thought Garfield played this brilliantly! In reality he is 28 years old, however he pulled of the nerdy, awkward, 17 year old high school kid superbly. Something that in retrospect, Maguire was not half as good at. So that's 1-0 to Andrew?!
On the opposite side is, Rhys Ifans. you may know him better as Luna Lovegood's hippy Father, Xenophilius Lovegood, or more recently as James Hook from the Tv mini series Neverland, in which he was very good.
Ifans plays Dr. Curt Connors, or the Lizard.
I thought Ifans pulled it off. Creepy, scary, dark, sinister, confused and insane. But I don't want to give too much away now!
In the love department, we have the beautiful and talented Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.
I personally first met Stone in The Help, which as some of you may know from earlier blog posts, is one of the only films that can actually makes me cry. So I was very excited to see her star in this. She was everything that you would want, sweet, kind, funny, etc. But she's not some dumb blonde, she is top of her class, something she points out to Peter Parker during the film.
There is a host of other actors in this film such as, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz, to name but a few.
Now moving on.
Storyline, felt fairly fast paced. Didn't drag too much, unlike the third Spiderman film. Also this story line, I have been told, is more in line with the original comic books. I have briefly looked into this; and it would seem that some things are very similar while some things are different. Such as the fact that Gwen Stacy never went to Peter's school, but they really met at university. Neither was she Peter's first love.
I had hoped to find out a little more about Peter's parents in this film too. However I learnt nothing new in that respect, which was a little disappointing, although in this version both of Peter's parents were in the employ of Oscorp, the same corporation that Dr. Connors works for and Richard Parker and Connors were very close and working on the same gene-splicing project.
I also notice the absence of Peter's best friend, Harry Osborne, son of Norman Osborn, founder and owner of Oscorp, who was mentioned in this film but never made an appearance.
Anyway.....
I found this film very entertaining. I was slightly embarrassed as no one else seemed to be laughing as much as I was. (Upon exiting the screen I found out there were only a few other people in there with us!)
One scene in particular, where Peter discovers his new powers on a train full of other people is highly amusing, and very well played out.
The struggles that Peter has as a teenager are highlighted by his relationship with his Aunt and Uncle who practically raised him, and his past. He feels abandoned by his parents and although he is grateful to the people who have cared for him, he sometimes takes them for granted and lashes out at them. The relationship between Aunt May, Uncle Ben and Peter is often times rocky and harsh words are exchanged. It is probably just like any other parent/teenager relationship. Peter feels they don't understand him, and once he has his powers this is true, they will never understand that.
But more importantly in this film is the idea that your actions have consequences. And you have to choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing. And you cannot blame anyone else for the bad choices you've made. When you make a mess you need to clean it up and not leave it for someone else. Peter shows how we need to take responsibility for our actions, and set things right.
With regards to the 3D effects, let me state that I am not a huge fan. I don;t really see the point of it. I think it's a novelty that will eventually wear, and I feel very stupid sitting in the theatre wearing two pairs of glasses; my prescription glasses so I can see the screen plus the 3D glasses. I also get seriously frustrated when there are ten showings in 3D and three showings in 2D, but that's another story. So anyway, I had planned o seeing it in 2D, however I missed that showing and had to see it in 3D. Now, this is perhaps one movie where the 3D has a point to it. It was pretty cool when Spiderman was swinging from building to building, I did genuinely flinch at one point due to the swinging and falling. However later on in the film I removed my 3D glasses for a while, to relive the pressure on my skull, and found that the screen was far brighter without them, and fairly clear. And the majority of the film does not involve swinging, so the screen is dark for a large portion of screen time. I feel that the 2D showing would have been just as enjoyable as the 3D. So yes, the 3D was applicable and enjoyable at points, however overall I feel it was unnecessary.
But all in all I really enjoyed this film. And I think that it is different enough compared to the Maguire trilogy to allow for such a short time period between the two. I really hope that they produce a sequel. And there is talk of Spiderman possibly joining the Avengers' team, which would be awesome!
Oh, and in other news, Batman is out in 8 days! I'm so excited!!
