Such a shame.
So, there's a new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man Reboot (I'm sure that's the official title).
Perhaps the greatest sin of this trailer--of the movie itself whenever it manifests--is not that it will be bad but that it could be good. That's a pity because it could be really good, but if it's covering the same territory as the Raimi Spider-Man movies, it won't blow up anybody's skirts. Raimi's movies only really fell apart at the end (and let us now promise never to speak of Spider-Man 3 ever again). He told the story of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man, of Uncle Ben's death, quite well. Whatever you say about Tobey Maguire's rubbery-faced ham of a Peter Parker, about Kirsten Dunsts' completely lifeless Mary Jane, or Willem Dafoe's quite astonishingly campy Green Goblin, the movie did cover the-hero-gets-his-start part with a deft hand. (Sure, it was a light hand, but we weren't ready for The Dark Knight then. Hell, we weren't ready for Batman Begins then.) This new Spider-Man movie looks like it could cover the same ground with heart-wrenching seriousness that is both compelling and believable for all that it's about a kid being bitten by a spider and getting superpowers. The problem remains that it is covering the same ground.
Sony wants to keep Spider-Man. I get it. Depending on what happens with Captain America this weekend, Marvel could be on an unstoppable rampage through the multiplex. Thor's a hit, a surprise one, like Iron Man before it, and The Avengers is coming, and even the unevenness of Iron Man 2 or possible failure outright of Captain America (oh please don't be true, oh please oh please) won't stop that. If Sony were to lose the Spider-Man franchise and Marvel got that back? Fuck, man. The Avengers would fucking KICK OUR COLLECTIVE ASSES. I assume not wanting to lose Wolverine to the Avengers is another reason to make something like X-Men: First Class (the main reason being money, duh). But Sony needed to do something different. I like Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone both, and Rhys Ifans could be really fun as Dr. Connors. There's just no way they'll get to make the real go of having their own thing or making Spider-Man their own. It's just too soon. I liked The Incredible Hulk (what is it about reboots and modifiers?), but no one but me paid much attention because it came less than five years The Hulk, no one cared. And The Hulk was a shit shit shit movie. Imagine the difficulty you have convincing people to see a reboot that retreads a movie they liked. Why pay $13 a ticket for something you can watch on Blu-Ray at home?
Click to viewPerhaps the greatest sin of this trailer--of the movie itself whenever it manifests--is not that it will be bad but that it could be good. That's a pity because it could be really good, but if it's covering the same territory as the Raimi Spider-Man movies, it won't blow up anybody's skirts. Raimi's movies only really fell apart at the end (and let us now promise never to speak of Spider-Man 3 ever again). He told the story of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man, of Uncle Ben's death, quite well. Whatever you say about Tobey Maguire's rubbery-faced ham of a Peter Parker, about Kirsten Dunsts' completely lifeless Mary Jane, or Willem Dafoe's quite astonishingly campy Green Goblin, the movie did cover the-hero-gets-his-start part with a deft hand. (Sure, it was a light hand, but we weren't ready for The Dark Knight then. Hell, we weren't ready for Batman Begins then.) This new Spider-Man movie looks like it could cover the same ground with heart-wrenching seriousness that is both compelling and believable for all that it's about a kid being bitten by a spider and getting superpowers. The problem remains that it is covering the same ground.
Sony wants to keep Spider-Man. I get it. Depending on what happens with Captain America this weekend, Marvel could be on an unstoppable rampage through the multiplex. Thor's a hit, a surprise one, like Iron Man before it, and The Avengers is coming, and even the unevenness of Iron Man 2 or possible failure outright of Captain America (oh please don't be true, oh please oh please) won't stop that. If Sony were to lose the Spider-Man franchise and Marvel got that back? Fuck, man. The Avengers would fucking KICK OUR COLLECTIVE ASSES. I assume not wanting to lose Wolverine to the Avengers is another reason to make something like X-Men: First Class (the main reason being money, duh). But Sony needed to do something different. I like Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone both, and Rhys Ifans could be really fun as Dr. Connors. There's just no way they'll get to make the real go of having their own thing or making Spider-Man their own. It's just too soon. I liked The Incredible Hulk (what is it about reboots and modifiers?), but no one but me paid much attention because it came less than five years The Hulk, no one cared. And The Hulk was a shit shit shit movie. Imagine the difficulty you have convincing people to see a reboot that retreads a movie they liked. Why pay $13 a ticket for something you can watch on Blu-Ray at home?