Amazing Spider-Man -- early reviews are in

[jesse_custer]

For the most part I enjoy reading your posts, but in this case I couldn't disagree more. The Amazing Spider-Man was not a good movie, it was a very good movie. I had no problem with him taking off his mask when he did as he is still in high school, and as smart as he is, he's still young and prone to making poor decisions. One of the times he takes the mask off is to serve a very good purpose and is one of the dramatic high points (saving the child in the burning car). As I posted in the 'What Film Have You Watched Lately' thread I think The Amazing Spider-Man is almost as good as Spider-Man 2, and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I think The Amazing Spider-Man is as good as Spider-Man 2, but that's not a compliment from my standpoint. My favorite Spider-Man flick is the first one.

[DennyK]

I liked the first one, but found Goblin's look distracting.

[SephirothDZX]

I actually kind of think the hate for Goblin's look in Spidey 1 is a bit overblown. Could it have been better? Yeah, but Goblin's look in general is hard to translate to live-action without it looking stupid in some sort of way.

[jesse_custer]

I thought it was awesome. It kind of makes sense for a lunatic to have a really goofy mask.

[Bad Wolf]

I really liked this film. I thought it could have used a little bit more humor (the only time I laughed out loud was for Stan's bit) but I appreciated the different approach. At least I didn't feel like I was watching the same movie over again. The only complaint I have is that Uncle Ben should have congratulated Peter for taking Flash down a peg, rather than berated him.

[SephirothDZX]

I really liked this film. I thought it could have used a little bit more humor (the only time I laughed out loud was for Stan's bit) but I appreciated the different approach. At least I didn't feel like I was watching the same movie over again. The only complaint I have is that Uncle Ben should have congratulated Peter for taking Flash down a peg, rather than berated him.

I kind of thought the whole Uncle Ben death bit got rushed through more than a little bit.

[David Walton]

I think the film suffered a lot for treading through Spider-Man's origin yet again, and not in a way that improves on the original.

Enjoyed the Lizard stuff. Silly and fun in the best way. But I could do without the first two-thirds of the film.

[SephirothDZX]

Yeah I think retreading Parker's origin was really unnecessary. They should have "Incredible Hulk-ed" it and just glossed over the origin that everybody already knows.

[Zero Hunter]

Again, teens make poor decisions and continually taking the mask off is a bad idea. IMO he becomes Spider-Man at the beginning because he can, by that I mean he has always been the intellectual with no physical prowess who acquires these incredible abilities and he's just having fun with them. His relationship with his Uncle was done much better in ASM than it was is SM, and again; going back to the burning car, when he hears the father saying "my son" over and over it touched him and made him appreciate to an even greater degree his Uncle's words. I wish I could express it better, sorry.

Or it is just the director knows he has to show the pretty boys face as much as possible to keep the girls interested in the audience.

[David Walton]

Or it is just the director knows he has to show the pretty boys face as much as possible to keep the girls interested in the audience.

Masks limit facial expressions, which is probably why we see heroes take them off so much.

The big difference between the trilogy and Webb's reboot is that Raimi at least had semi-plausible reasons for Peter to take the mask off, like when it caught on fire or was filled with sand. And he didn't give his identity away to Mary Jane at the first opportunity. Technically, he never gave it away. She just saw him without his mask at the end of SM2.

The scene in ASM where Peter webs Gwen was a real WTH? moment for me.

[Bad Wolf]

Did he even take off the mask himself that much in this one? He did when he was saving the kid on the bridge, which was the right thing to do because it gave the boy the courage to do what he needed him to do, but other than that I can only remember Stacy and the Lizard taking it off.

[jesse_custer]

His mask was off so much that I honestly can't remember how it was taken off in every instance.

[David Walton]

His mask was off so much that I honestly can't remember how it was taken off in every instance.

This almost branches off into a completely different conversation, but comic books themselves have watered down the secret identity thing pretty extensively in the last decade.

I'm not really a fan of the trend.

[jesse_custer]

You're right, and the problem is not the abandonment of the secret identity concept - it's the ruination of the concept and the unwillingness to try something original.

If you want your hero to have a secret identity, then do that. If you don't want your hero to have a secret identity, then do that. But trying to have both just makes for shitty storytelling. Like I said, when the mask is off half the time, you really miss the point of having a mask in the first place.

I would much rather see a fresh spin on Spider-Man where he doesn't wear a mask rather than sit through another idiotic movie like The Amazing Spider-Man.

[SephirothDZX]

Did he even take off the mask himself that much in this one? He did when he was saving the kid on the bridge, which was the right thing to do because it gave the boy the courage to do what he needed him to do, but other than that I can only remember Stacy and the Lizard taking it off.

Well its that and he does so many super-powered things even without his mask on in the first place that attempting a secret identity is stupid. Like when he shows up Flash on the basketball court, throws a football 70 yards and dents a field goal post, when he chases down goons early on.