| Site locale: United States |
|
||||
|
||||||
|
Best Blu-ray Deals  
|
Best Blu-ray Deals, See All the Deals » |
Top deals |
Price drops
|
 $4.99 |  $4.99 |  $4.99 |  $9.99 |  $4.99 |  $4.99 |  $14.26 |  $4.99 |  $14.99 |  $4.99 |  $19.96 |  $7.96 |  $24.96 |  $5.00 |  $4.99 |  $19.99 |  $24.96 |  $4.99 |  $4.99 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Amazing Spider-Man2012 | 136 min | PG-13 | 2.39:1
With the release of “Spider-Man 3” in 2007, the franchise fell into a rut. While marked with impressive action set pieces and a few flashes of director Sam Raimi’s whiplash style, the second sequel was a storytelling mess, hesitant with a dramatic direction and overstuffed with inadequate villains. Instead of permitting Raimi to untangle the series with a fourth installment, the decision was made to reboot with a fresh creative force, restarting what began a mere decade ago, resulting in “The Amazing Spider-Man,” one of the fastest do-overs in film history. While fully recast and reorganized, it’s a disappointment to see the new Spidey adventure resemble Raimi’s initial stab at big screen wall-crawler excitement, down to identical plot turns and conflicts. With millions being spent to rework Spider-Man for a new generation, it comes as a great surprise to a find a movie that’s essentially a remake, glossed up with new tech toys but covering the same dramatic ground. 
Having lost his parents to mysterious circumstances as a young boy, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has been raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), growing into a shy teen with an interest in photography and classmate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Hoping to learn more about his father (Campbell Scott in a cameo) and his enigmatic work, Peter infiltrates the Oscorp building to meet with Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), a brilliant, one-armed scientist on the verge of finding a serum that uses reptilian DNA to help organically replace human limbs. While sneaking around for info, Peter is bitten by a genetically engineered spider, leaving him with superhuman abilities, able to climb walls and defend himself with heightened sensory gifts. When Uncle Ben is murdered while trying to cool Peter’s whirring mind, the teen vows revenge, using his powers to track down his father-figure’s killer, eventually coming to the realization that with training and a suit inspired by professional wrestling, he could become a superhero, making life difficult for Gwen’s cop father, Captain Stacy (Denis Leary). Forced to sample the healing fluid himself, Connors finds the miracle cure a curse, turning him into a massive beast known as The Lizard, quickly forming plans to turn the residents of NYC into his minions. Swooping in to save the day is Spider-Man, hoping to protect his ladylove and save the city, while working to solve Dr. Connor’s secrets, which could lead him to the peace of mind he craves. There are many things that don’t sit right in “Amazing,” chief among them is the screenplay. Instead of rebuilding the Spider-Man empire with fresh bricks, the script merely repaints established work, burning through yet another superhero origin tale that involves the death of Uncle Ben, the harassment of school bully Flash Thompson, the pain of the spider bite, the sewing of suits, the forbidden love of a young woman, the birth of a mentally fractured villain and his need to test unstable chemicals on himself, and a training montage, once again getting Peter up to speed with his newfound abilities. Perhaps it’s all tribute to the comic book source material, but as cinema, it’s flavorless leftovers, executed with more gusto on Raimi’s watch. Instead of an original take on Spider-Man, “Amazing” is instead riddled with déjà vu, giving fans the same old story, though one tarted up here with slick CGI, making the web-slinger’s time swinging around NYC the highlight of the effort. 
There are slight deviations from the previous work, the most significant change coming with Spider-Man’s web-shooters, which are now mechanical (built with Oscorp tech) instead of organic, losing the terrific symbol of pubescence that brought cheekiness to the Raimi pictures. Peter’s adventures in photojournalism at The Daily Bugle never materializes, which isn’t such a tragic loss. There’s also a change in attitude for the formerly friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, who’s scripted as a bit of an arrogant snot when Peter dons the tights, bringing out a bully mentality to the hero that’s unappealing, losing the critical thrust of heroism required in this type of production. Overall, Peter is imagined as a sullen teen finding his spider overhaul to be an awakening of sort, yet the origin material takes an enormous of time to cover, leaving limited room for Spider-Man to shape his courageousness. What little crime fighting is here is more of a vessel for the character to be a smart-ass, poisoning a flawed but intriguing position of vigilante justice. On the plus side, “Amazing” looks terrific, with production design by the late J. Michael Riva creating a striking personality for the picture through glorious Oscorp labs, city rooftops, and the homey comfort of Ben and May’s place. Director Marc Webb (“(500) Days of Summer”) can’t realize an epic scale to the feature, but it always looks interesting, creating a playground atmosphere for the characters to romp around on. 
Perhaps this is my greatest criticism of the film: it looks and plays like a wonderful television pilot, with promise for a superb series to follow. Webb doesn’t have the experience to sustain an explosively cinematic posture for the material, leaving the dramatics and the superhuman asides dreary. “Amazing” wants to accomplish a lot with the time it has (including mysteries concerning Peter’s parents and the medical future of Norman Osborn), leaving important moments of superhero development and the relationship between Peter and Gwen rushed. It’s a big movie with colossal aspirations, yet it feels hopelessly small. Raimi’s screwball touch and skill with screen enormity is greatly missed. As Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield doesn’t pass for a tortured 17-year-old, looking his real age (currently 28) while trying to feel out the full-bodied pains of a teenager. His acting is woefully overblown, with emphatic Brando-esque touches pushing the performance into Kabuki at times. Garfield also has trouble swallowing his natural British accent, paralyzing the character’s charged scenes of confession. Better is the supporting cast, with Ifans making for a believably tortured antagonist, generating more complexity in human form than when The Lizard, and its iffy CG-animation, takes over. Field and Sheen also share some tender moments as the peace in Parker’s life, broadcasting concern with a firm read of parental exasperation. And there’s Stone, who doesn’t have much to do here besides sprint through a love story with Garfield. Her innate quirk and ability to bop around leaden dialogue helps the movie immensely. 
If the studio objective was to reset the story with a master plan for sequels (as opposed to the improvisational atmosphere of the Raimi decade), “Amazing” accomplishes such a task. It’s certainly not an unpleasant picture, just an oddly unremarkable one, refusing a special invitation to break away and rework Spider-Man into an exciting new direction. Much of “The Amazing Spider-Man” has been seen before, in a better film with a more delirious director, making this unofficial remake puzzling. Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Denis Leary Director: Marc Webb » See full cast & crew |
 
Trending Blu-ray Movies
Trending in Theaters
Most Popular Blu-ray Movie Deals
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This web site is not affiliated with the Blu-ray Disc Association. All trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners. © 2002-2013 Blu-ray.com. All rights reserved. Mobile | Registration problems | Business/Advertising Inquiries | Privacy Policy | Legal Notices |
$752,216,557
