Another weekend begins and another comic book movie is opening. This weekend it’s the end of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. This is the film that I have been looking forward to most of all the comic book films coming out this summer. So excited!
Are you excited about this movie? What are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments.
UPDATE: I put this post together last night before the tragic events in Colorado took place. My heart goes out to all of those in Colorado. Words can never express my sorrow at what has happened and my thoughts and prayers are with all who have been affected.
Sorry about the cheesy title, but I simply couldn’t resist. Last week I was able to find some time to go see The Amazing Spider-Man and I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. I was excited about this film, but not nearly as much as the other super hero movies in the summer lineup. I told someone on twitter that I was expecting this movie to be good, but I ended up thinking that it was great. I personally liked this one better than the Sam Raimi films and I hope that holds true as this new series continues.
I feel I should mention that most of what I know about the Spider-Man canon comes from the Raimi trilogy and few old cartoon episodes I have seen here and there, so in other words, it’s not much. Thankfully I went to see this new film with a friend who has read the comics, so it was very interesting getting to talk to him afterwards and hear his take on things and I’ll add some of what he said in with my thoughts.
Anyway, the cast. I thought that the cast was incredible. It’s always strange to me when I see Rhys Ifans in a more serious role since my first two experiences with him were his very comedic roles in Notting Hill and The Replacements, but he is a very talented actor and did a great job portraying the war going on inside of his character as his good and evil sides collided. I had forgotten that Sally Field was going to be playing Aunt May, so it was a fun shock when I saw her and she played the role perfectly. Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Emma Stone – all of them did a fantastic job in their roles.
I think probably the biggest question on everyone’s mind going in to see this film, though, is whether or not Andrew Garfield would be a good Spider-Man. My answer is yes. I loved him in this role. I thought that he brought so much emotion as well as great sarcastic humor into this character and he just felt very real and believable to me. The friend I was with had a slightly different take. He felt that Garfield really captured the character of Spider-Man, but that Tobey Maguire was a more accurate Peter Parker. I thought that was an interesting perspective.
As far as origin movies go, I thought that this film did a great job setting up the story without dragging things along too much, which is often an issue. The development of quiet, nerdy Peter Parker into a sort of anti-hero and then finally into an actual super hero felt very organic. I felt that I understood his motivations at each and every stage he was in and when he took the next step it made sense. One thing I found interesting was the sort of juxtaposition of the characters of Uncle Ben and Captain Stacey. Both of these men were key factors in Peter’s development though in very different ways. As my friend pointed out though, each character had a big scene (without giving away what those scenes entail) that has tremendous impact on Peter and the film seemed to give more weight to the scene with Captain Stacey as opposed to Uncle Ben which was kind of odd. Didn’t bother me too much, but it didn’t sit well with my friend.
All in all, I really loved this film and am now extremely excited to see where it goes in the next installments. They certainly set it up in the post-credits scene to continue on and I am pretty much giddy in anticipation.
Have you seen The Amazing Spider-Man yet? What did you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Wow. So I am still totally reeling from the fact that my blog about the Olympics was Freshly Pressed. I am overwhelmed by the response it has gotten and want to say a huge thank to you everyone who read it.
Now, on with today’s post.
When I started the series I did on The Avengers I mentioned that there were several super hero movies coming out this year that I was excited about and one of these movies comes out next week.
If I am being honest, The Amazing Spiderman is the super hero film that I am looking forward to least. I am still excited about it, but not nearly as much as I was for The Avengers or am for The Dark Knight Rises. I think part of it is the fact that it hasn’t exactly been a long time since the last Spiderman franchise ended, but hey, maybe this reboot will be incredible. There are certainly things about all the trailers that give me hope that is possible. Regardless, I will definitely be going to see this movie first chance I get.
Are you excited about this new Spiderman? Is it too soon to attempt a reboot? What do you think about the trailer? Let me know in the comments.
Like many others, I can not wait for the upcoming The Avengers film. In my exuberance, I have begun a series looking at the individual character films for those who will make up the Avengers team. So far I have looked at Thor and the Hulk, which leaves only two more characters to explore.
Captain America
Last year the film Captain America: The First Avenger was released as the final set-up story before The Avengers. The movie introduces us to Steve Rogers in the year 1942. Steve is a small man with a host of health issues who desires nothing more than to enlist in the army and serve his country in the war. He is continually turned down until he meets Dr. Abraham Erskine. Dr. Erskine recruits Steve to be a trial subject for a special serum he has created in the hopes of being able to make a “super-soldier.” Against all odds, the serum works. Steve suddenly finds himself a large, strong, fit man, capable of performing at the highest level of human extremes.
Through a series of events that aren’t important for the purposes of this post (you can always rent the movie if you are curious ), Steve wakes up from a cryogenic sleep in present day New York. He is approached by Nick Fury who explains to him where and when he is and asks him to be a part of a mission.
Steve Rogers is a very interesting character to me. It is not an uncommon convention for a super hero to be given the abilities that make him super through some circumstance later in life, but it is uncommon (at least in my limited super hero exposure) for that person to want to be a hero before he is super. Even when Steve was a scrawny guy that would get his @$$ kicked, he wanted to be able to help, to serve his country. This also gave him a compulsive need to prove himself.
I imagine that when Steve is forced to work with the other members of the Avengers team several different things will happen. Steve is the epitome of the “all American good boy,” which I am guessing will grow tiresome to some who have more, shall we say…boisterous, personalities (cough Thor and Stark cough). He is coming from the army where he was trained to be a part of a team and follow orders, whereas most of the others are used to being the leader and acting on their own. It seems very plausible to me that Steve will be overlooked, maybe even discredited, by the others; he is, after all, still the most vulnerable super of the lot. If this happens, Steve will eventually get fed up with it and his hot-tempered side, fueled by his old compulsions, will come out. We already know from the trailers that there will be tension and even some fighting amongst the Avengers themselves, and this could account for some of that.
I am also very interested to see how Steve is adjusting to the new time period in which he has been thrust. When we last saw him he had just learned that everyone he knew and loved is dead (if they aren’t dead, then they are really, really old). I am not sure how much time will have passed between the end of Captain America and the start of The Avengers, but that is quite a lot to get ones head around. There is no way that he will be unaffected by his loss, not to mention the culture shock of how different the world today is from that of 70 years ago.
I am really excited to get to see Steve Rogers again. I loved meeting him and finding out his story in Captain America: The First Avenger and can’t wait to see how he manages as one of the Avengers.
Did you see the Captain America film? What do you think about his character and how he will interact with the other Avengers? Do you agree with my speculation or do you have other theories? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
), Steve wakes up from a cryogenic sleep in present day New York. He is approached by Nick Fury who explains to him where and when he is and asks him to be a part of a mission.
