The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey

10/05/2013

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey

♥♥♥

An entirely animated poster for Marc Webb's The Amazing Spiderman

Peter Parker's parents died in a plane crash, and his uncle dies, because he neglects to stop a shop-robber. With his superpowers, Parker has to save New York from a mad lizard-doctor!

That is the story of The Amazing Spider-Man, a premature reboot of the beloved Marvel character following Sam Raimi's spectacular Spider-Man trilogy (2002-07). It is written by James Vanderbilt (Darkness Falls (2003)), Alvin Sargent (Paper Moon (1973)) and Steve Kloves (Wonder Boys (2000)) and directed by great Indianan filmmaker Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer (2009)).
The film starts with indications that it will bring some more realism to the franchise than we got from Raimi films, but then it later ends in a pudding sea of sentimental twaddle.
Andrew Garfield (Boy A (2007)) is pretty cute as a new, swearing Parker, (though I still prefer the coupling of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, as well as the later Parker, Tom Holland); Rhys Ifans (Chromophobia (2005)) makes a fine reptilian villain, CGI-animated to make one's eyes pop; and finally Dennis Leary (The Moodys (2019, TV-series)) is good as police captain, SPOILER only why does he also have to die? (Many key characters die in the film.)
The Amazing Spider-Man feels anonymous and overlong, (it runs excessive 136 minutes). The action and sound work is top notch, but the entertainment value just so-so.

Related posts:

Marc Webb: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) - Webb's Spidey sequel squanders time and money in boring blind alleys
The Amazing Spiderman (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey
(500) Days of Summer (2009) or, Cute & Cuter

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 200-230 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 752.9 mil. $
= Box office success/big hit (returned between 3.27 - 3.76 times its cost)

[The Amazing Spider-Man premiered 13 June (Tokyo) and runs 136 minutes. Raimi left the franchise and plans for a 4th Spider-Man film once he realized he could not meet the schedule plans and retain creative control, in light of not having a good enough story yet also. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, and in New York from December 2010 - May 2011. The film opened #1 to a 62 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 2 weekends (#2-#3) and grossed 262 mil. $ (34.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 48.8 mil. $ (6.5 %) and the UK with 40.2 mil. $ (5.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Spider-Man returned in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), again with Garfield, which ended the reboot. This was also Webb and Garfield's next film. Emma Stone (Aloha (2015)) returned in iCarly (2012, TV-series) and theatrically in Movie 43 (2013); Ifans in The Corrections (2012, TV-movie)), Playhouse Presents (2013, TV-series)) and theatrically in Another Me (2013). The Amazing Spider-Man is certified fresh at 72 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What did you think of The Amazing Spiderman?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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10/05/2013

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey

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