Amazing Spider-Man films through a Kid's Eyes

 

Hey, I forgot to mention that the last post was the 11th anniversary of the blog!

Let's celebrate with a throwback to  "Kid's Eyes" since those are getting harder to do, for location and chronological reasons.

Anabelle normally cares less about Spider-Man than I do.

Therefore when the franchise rebooted in 2012 with The Amazing Spider-Man, she never got around to seeing them.

I had the Blu-ray of first one on my wishlist, but after seeing it late one night on cable, I removed it, therefore it wasn't in our home.

Disclaimer- I may have pulled an "Uncle Sal" with this one - falling asleep through key parts required for understanding of the movie- and only noting that it had many elements from the Ultimate Universe (Oscorp connects everything.) and other comic stories (Peter's parents are important to many back stories.) that I didn't care for. Later on, when I saw the opening of the sequel was again focusing on Peter's parents, I turned that one off before I saw anything else.

Fast Forward to Anabelle's recent first Winter Break for college.

She was excessively excited about the premier of Tick Tick … Boom on Netflix and insisted we watch it the night she came home. That kid from the Daleks and Pig Slaves Doctor Who episode did a remarkable job performing and singing a bunch of songs that will live in our car forever.

Andrew Garfield (for that was he) also featured in Spider-Man: No Way Home. We saw that, and loved it, the following day. The combination of those two items, and Anabelle watching every single Andrew Garfield interview ever recorded online, led to Santa bringing her the two pack Blu-ray of Amazing Spider-Man films. 

They are far better than I gave them credit for previously.

While she is a fan of Garfield, her biggest draw for the first movie and No Way Home was The Lizard. I am not sure why or how, but ever since one of the first comic book stories I ever read her as a wee tot, Secret Wars, she has had an unhealthy fascination, bordering on obsession, with Doctor Curt Connors's alter ego.

For Amazing Spider-Man the director, Mark Webb, (really) made an effective choice. "Nerds" aren't what they were in the sixties.  Making Peter more of an outsider than a Bing Bang Theory nerd gave the character a more modern dynamic. Anabelle was a huge fan of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone's relationship, or as she called it, "The Mushy Stuff."  I was impressed by how much of a smart-ass Garfield played Spidey as.  Anabelle said she knew he was doing Spider-Man right because whenever he was in the mask, "He was annoying."  In reverse of my feelings, she is much more of a fan of Peter and not of his costumed identity.

Several other things really impressed me about this outing. First of all, Garfield has a very lanky, but still athletic build. He moved very much like Spider-Man is drawn in the comics.  The effects team focused on using as many practical effects as possible, making everything look more authentic. Having the stunt coordinator come from Indiana Jones and James Bond films, as well as he and Webb being Buster Keaton fans increased the reality further.

These created one area that Anabelle and I do agree on. Spidey's power set makes the way he moves around look like an absolute blast in general, and this film's decisions highlighted that. The first person filming they did for the 3D really helped that shine. 

Another key: for as much as my daughter loves the Lizard, and as amazing a job as Rhys Ifans  (AKA the "wiry' kicker from The Replacements ) did, the Lizard is not a foe that required a huge amount of development time on screen. I loved the Raimi films, but they did balance a lot of Peter's time with villain origins and motivation. Through returning to the origin, this film spent most of its time really fleshing out and focusing on Spider-Man himself. It showed his phases of development, with Peter going from awkward and vengeful, to the Friendly Neighborhood, and Amazing, Spidey we all know.  McGuire's organic web shooters and personality shift were logical changes to make him more of a cinematic character.  Holland is a kid superhero in a world filled with adult ones, with Iron Man as his mentor.  Garfield really plays both parts closest to the comic book version.

We also got to see how his relationship evolved with Aunt May.  Sally Field held up one constant though all the interpretations of Spider-Man, Aunt May was awesome. 

Additionally, Martin Sheen brought the needed weight (with a twinkle in his eye, though) as Uncle Ben.

Final note- As great as Denis Leary is at being anti-establishment in his stand up and performances like Demolition Man, his respect for those in uniform really shows when he does an outstanding job in roles like Captain Stacy, doesn't it?

Aside- Leary also played Francis in A Bug's Life Anabelle's favorite Pixar movie, making it yet another "not in any way connected to the film itself" draw for her.

Then, in 2014, came Amazing Spider-Man 2.

It started strong. The romance was still there, and we got to see Spidey inhabiting New York, mentally and physically at the top of his game. It was all kinds of fun.

Anabelle still enjoyed Peter and Gwen's relationship and said there were two: 

"If someone did that to me I would die of embarrassment but, AWWWWWWW!" 

moments.  

She felt the writing was ridiculously awful sometimes, but she still loved Peter.

The bit with Spidey protecting the kid from bullying was great, and she thought the same kid showing up at the end dressed as Spidey was "so cute" and heartwarming. (Maybe I added the heartwarming bit, since I'm an old softie.)

She also thought Gwen's blue coat was cute...so there's that.

For the big issues we were in agreement.

"It was too long, and it would have been better without the Green Goblin."

(And she want's to know, "Why on earth was THAT Green Goblin design approved.)

Watching all the making of material explained some of this to me. Most of the creative team were OBSESSED with the fact that Gwen Stacy had to die.

Here's the thing- Yes, that was a HUGE key moment in comic book history. It ended the Silver Age. (I'm staking that one as a given. Hard Traveling Heroes was ground breaking, but not as much of a game changer.)  It raised the stakes and showed a main character could die.

However, there are three equally HUGE counterpoints.

1) In 1973, having a main character die was a big deal. Today it happens multiple times every Wednesday, with them coming back just as often. This makes it come off as more of sensationalist shock value rather than an actual emotional point.

2) Garfield and Stone had Amazing (ha!) chemistry together. Gwen Stacy was presented as intelligent, funny, and compassionate. She was fully realized and contributed a huge amount to the story and emotions of both films. Sometimes movie versions should be adjusted based on actors. (This is why "funny Thor and likeable Loki" only work in the movies.) Throwing all that away after only two films was a huge mistake. 

3) Now Gwen Stacy is known primarily for her death. Gwen first appeared in 1965, and was Stan Lee's vision of who Peter would eventually marry.  That means there were EIGHT YEARS of comic stories they could have mined for their relationship, instead of rushing to knock her off at the end of her second appearance.  (Heck, Captain Stacy lasted two years in the comics. He could have gone at least one more movie.)

Electro looked different than the comics, but the KNB guys of Evil Dead fame did give him a cool appearance. (Obviously, another effects house did the Goblin.) Jamie Fox did a great job as someone starting out similar to Peter but in this case a true nerd, and having a similar experience, but then following a different path. Spidey almost got through to him a couple of times. The hero/ villain interactions between Spidey and Electro, both in combat and conversation, were really well executed. That conflict could have easily carried the film. 

Instead Harry's Goblin transformation and attack, followed by Peter dealing with and recovering from Gwen's death were all shoved in to the end of the story. It made the film too long, yet feel rushed at the same time.

One final complaint that Anabelle didn't bring up, but I will since I'm a big fan of comic book Rhino.  (Not as much as she likes Lizard, but I don't think anyone else likes a comic book villain that much. Honestly, it is somewhat terrifying.)

I get that this franchise, like the Ultimate comic version, is Oscorp-centrc, with Spider-Man's powers, webbing ideas, mysteries around his parents and all of his foes originating there. And, while they understood it was a fantasy, the creative team strove for realism wherever possible.

However:

They had Paul Giamatti, a fantastic actor who was excited to play the character he was a fan of. 

And

They had top notch special effects and a massive budget...

Sadly they still chose to make Rhino a clunky, heavily armed Mech-suit only appearing briefly at the very end of the film. Instead they should have used his original design, which is one of the most awesomely ridiculous, goofy yet threatening villains in comic book history.

What an enormous wasted potential.

How could you look at those awesome, ginormous, fake toes and say, "Lets make a robot suit instead."?