Escape to the Movies: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - The Movie That Broke MovieBob
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Wow...
Wow...
Ok. Man. Well, just to share a similar experience (and i agree, a movie doesn't have to be "The worst" to have the most negative impact) For me it was the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" - Movie in 2005, Hm, nearly ten years already?
Went to see it after i freshened up with the old series (Which is AMAZING) and re-reading the book. I never came out of the cinema so veryvery disappointed. The worst one was: Douglas Adams wrote on the movie. Was apparently ok with it - and died years before it came out. Damn uncertainty - was he never funny and had a few flukes? Did I change? (People seemed to like this movie ok in general) - What was wrong?
Ah well, back to Spiderman; Haven't seen the other new one either. Somehow i felt that it wasn't neccessary. I feel now confirmed that i don't have to see this one either - so i am actively working on making it fail. Which is good, i guess.
Wow...
Ok. Man. Well, just to share a similar experience (and i agree, a movie doesn't have to be "The worst" to have the most negative impact) For me it was the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" - Movie in 2005, Hm, nearly ten years already?
Went to see it after i freshened up with the old series (Which is AMAZING) and re-reading the book. I never came out of the cinema so veryvery disappointed. The worst one was: Douglas Adams wrote on the movie. Was apparently ok with it - and died years before it came out. Damn uncertainty - was he never funny and had a few flukes? Did I change? (People seemed to like this movie ok in general) - What was wrong?
Ah well, back to Spiderman; Haven't seen the other new one either. Somehow i felt that it wasn't neccessary. I feel now confirmed that i don't have to see this one either - so i am actively working on making it fail. Which is good, i guess.
This actually piques my curiosity. Care to elaborate?deathbydeath said:
On topic, aside from how hard this hit Bob, this is exactly what I expected from this movie. A soulless moneymaking venture; nothing more, nothing less.
As a spidy fan there were parts of the film that pissed me off, I seriously did not need so much fucking bullshit about his dad, they spend an entire extra hour meandering around his dad and it's utterly pointless, well not pointless but amounts to something that could've been learnt in 5 minutes or easily figured out. Also Andrew Garfield just isn't that good a peter parker, brilliant spider-man, whenever he's spidy i'd say it's actually a decent film but everything with Peter is just so...meh. I did like him being haunted by Cap Stacy but I think it would've been even better if he was also haunted by Uncle ben since Pete's guilt about failing people makes up a fair bit of the character. Also I really liked "that" scene. I thought it was really well done, considering I knew it was coming it still tugged at my heart strings and was just a really well shot scene.
After watching this video, I was overcome with the need to run over to Bob and give him a hug. And maybe a Samus Aran Morph Ball plushie, or something. Because I mean sheesh.
I'm not going to go see this movie. I've got no investment in Spider-Man, or comics as a whole, honestly. But this still depresses me, because after a number of movies that showed that maybe, just maybe, Hollywood saw the value in treating their precious IPs like something worth doing right... Sony falls right back into the old ways of cynical, soulless cash-ins.
Then again, Sony as a whole is practically consuimg itself from within, so maybe other production companies will take this as a cautionary tale?
...yeah, that sort of ending wouldn't even be believable in a comic book.
I'm not going to go see this movie. I've got no investment in Spider-Man, or comics as a whole, honestly. But this still depresses me, because after a number of movies that showed that maybe, just maybe, Hollywood saw the value in treating their precious IPs like something worth doing right... Sony falls right back into the old ways of cynical, soulless cash-ins.
Then again, Sony as a whole is practically consuimg itself from within, so maybe other production companies will take this as a cautionary tale?
...yeah, that sort of ending wouldn't even be believable in a comic book.
But was it worse than One More Day? I didn't find this movie to be awful myself, just kind of okay. I liked the first one largely due to the cast and characters who I found compelling despite the messy story but this one was just too uneven to ever rise above alright.
The biggest problem for me was the tone, which would swing back and forth between drama in the vein of the first film and Batman and Robin levels of camp from scene to scene, which got especially incongruous during the ending when it kept switching between drama, sequel bait and comedy in the space of five minutes. I found the emotional moment near the end effective myself (despite a truly awful bit of symbolism) but the tonal whiplash hurt it.
Individually I thought many of the scenes worked, the campy fun stuff was fun and campy and the dramatic stuff mostly solid; the cast here remain the series' greatest asset. When they didn't though they were absolutely hysterical, from the elaborate hidden underground laboratory apparently built and maintained by one man to the Green Goblin appearing as a deformed Tinker-Bell riding the finest in Mattel transportation. The only bit that really annoyed me was when they copped-out on the Doctor Manhattan reference by having Electro spontaneously grow underwear (a bullshit on both your houses Sony!).
The plot overall makes absolutely no sense with holes wide enough to fit Manhattan through, my favourite being when terminally ill rich kid Harry turns into Solid Snake for five minutes. I didn't quite get the vibe you did of the entire thing being sequel set-up, bar the sinister six references it felt like a fairly self-contained (if massively overstuffed, confused and structureless) story. Overall I didn't find it a waste of my time and there are certainly worse things to spend your money on right now coughTranscendencecough.
The biggest problem for me was the tone, which would swing back and forth between drama in the vein of the first film and Batman and Robin levels of camp from scene to scene, which got especially incongruous during the ending when it kept switching between drama, sequel bait and comedy in the space of five minutes. I found the emotional moment near the end effective myself (despite a truly awful bit of symbolism) but the tonal whiplash hurt it.
Individually I thought many of the scenes worked, the campy fun stuff was fun and campy and the dramatic stuff mostly solid; the cast here remain the series' greatest asset. When they didn't though they were absolutely hysterical, from the elaborate hidden underground laboratory apparently built and maintained by one man to the Green Goblin appearing as a deformed Tinker-Bell riding the finest in Mattel transportation. The only bit that really annoyed me was when they copped-out on the Doctor Manhattan reference by having Electro spontaneously grow underwear (a bullshit on both your houses Sony!).
The plot overall makes absolutely no sense with holes wide enough to fit Manhattan through, my favourite being when terminally ill rich kid Harry turns into Solid Snake for five minutes. I didn't quite get the vibe you did of the entire thing being sequel set-up, bar the sinister six references it felt like a fairly self-contained (if massively overstuffed, confused and structureless) story. Overall I didn't find it a waste of my time and there are certainly worse things to spend your money on right now coughTranscendencecough.
Ummmm... Ouch?
Most of the time, I suspect this is where I'd speculate that MB was indulging in some hyperfanboy "they're touching my things" ranting. But this review is clearly aware- somewhat unusually- of the skew engendered by his own fandom, and the sincerity and willingness to personalize his opinion kind of carries it through to the extent that snark would seem entirely mean-spirited and misplaced.
I actually feel like offering my condolences.
So, congratulations, I guess, Bob; you've convinced me. I won't see it, at least until I read more than one contrary review and it reaches second-run theaters.
Most of the time, I suspect this is where I'd speculate that MB was indulging in some hyperfanboy "they're touching my things" ranting. But this review is clearly aware- somewhat unusually- of the skew engendered by his own fandom, and the sincerity and willingness to personalize his opinion kind of carries it through to the extent that snark would seem entirely mean-spirited and misplaced.
I actually feel like offering my condolences.
So, congratulations, I guess, Bob; you've convinced me. I won't see it, at least until I read more than one contrary review and it reaches second-run theaters.
Just because you hate something doesn't mean you can't look at it as a whole and see how good it is. I don't like CoD or Zelda, but I can understand why people do and analyze it in that respect.JarinArenos said:
OT: As a spidy fan I was was on the complete opposite side of Bob on his last review, so as far as I'm concerned the movies going to be good(haven't seen it yet). Also, I think SM1 and SM3(3 doesn't even exist on my radar of movies......hell Electra is a better move than SM3) are the weakest of all the spider-man movies thus far, and having just watched SM2.....well lets just say nostalgia got me a bit on that one.
Well this seems to confirm what I've been saying and thinking about these films for awhile now; Sony is more worried about the future to bother putting in the proper effort for here and now. It's all about what comes next and how that can be expanded into more instead of giving future sequels a solid based to build from. Where Marvel may not hit a home run with every release they still manage to land in the middle ground of being just good enough (Ironman 2 and Thor 2 jump to mind) Sony seems to look at that middle ground as being the starting target.
I've been extremely worried about Spiderman since Sony announced they were taking the IP and giving it the Marvel cinematic universe treatment. While I love Spiderman this to me sounds like an incredibly bad idea because it's one IP and doesn't give nearly enough to work with for multiple films outside of having a mainline Spiderman series that follows Peter Parker as he navigates the life of being a super hero. Sinister Six has nothing to build upon outside of a line up of villains which so far have been bland and uninteresting with convoluted story lines which hardly make sense. I can't see how this will be spun in anything other than another sub par movie.
Disappointment doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about all this. I loved Spider-man 1 and 2 but everything that has followed has been awful in my opinion. It's like Sony isn't sure what to do with the character other than marketing and unfortunately it takes a whole lot more than that to build a successful franchise. Say what you will about Man of Steel at least Snyder had a vision there and stuck to it with long term plans right out the gate to continue to develop the character. Sure this isn't classic Superman but at least it's something other than dragging out the character to beat some more money out of him in order to keep the rights to produce movies.
At this point I'm with Bob on this one, I want this movie to fail and if anything follows I want it to fail as well. I'm tired of groaning whenever I hear about what Sony plans next or seeing what they tease. I'm tired of not looking forward to the next films. I'm tired of feeling like the character is being squandered all in the name of profit. Most of all I'm just tired of being let down. Three films now that have missed the mark. How many times does Sony have to screw this up before we get something worth not only our time but our money as well?
I've been extremely worried about Spiderman since Sony announced they were taking the IP and giving it the Marvel cinematic universe treatment. While I love Spiderman this to me sounds like an incredibly bad idea because it's one IP and doesn't give nearly enough to work with for multiple films outside of having a mainline Spiderman series that follows Peter Parker as he navigates the life of being a super hero. Sinister Six has nothing to build upon outside of a line up of villains which so far have been bland and uninteresting with convoluted story lines which hardly make sense. I can't see how this will be spun in anything other than another sub par movie.
Disappointment doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about all this. I loved Spider-man 1 and 2 but everything that has followed has been awful in my opinion. It's like Sony isn't sure what to do with the character other than marketing and unfortunately it takes a whole lot more than that to build a successful franchise. Say what you will about Man of Steel at least Snyder had a vision there and stuck to it with long term plans right out the gate to continue to develop the character. Sure this isn't classic Superman but at least it's something other than dragging out the character to beat some more money out of him in order to keep the rights to produce movies.
At this point I'm with Bob on this one, I want this movie to fail and if anything follows I want it to fail as well. I'm tired of groaning whenever I hear about what Sony plans next or seeing what they tease. I'm tired of not looking forward to the next films. I'm tired of feeling like the character is being squandered all in the name of profit. Most of all I'm just tired of being let down. Three films now that have missed the mark. How many times does Sony have to screw this up before we get something worth not only our time but our money as well?
Oh no! What have they done to you?! Anyways, I just can't find the motivation to watch any of these movies besides Marvel Studio projects because they seem to be the only ones that don't have money as a primary goal in making these things.
I watched this review just to see how far Bob would take his hate for ASM. He hated the first movie with such passion I honestly wondered what movie he watched. I am, just like Bob, a massive Spiderman fan. My first comic book ever was Amazing Spiderman 294 all the way back in 1987.A_suspicious_cabbage said:
I just don't get all this anger, you have to modernize old ideas and old plot lines, its EXACTLY what Marvel has been doing for 70+ years running. I can understand some issues with franchise building, but come on, Captain America, Thor, etc are all franchise building blocks for Avengers movies. In fact each of the building block movies (with the exception of Ironman I) that preceded The Avengers was as good or maybe slightly better than ASM.
I wanted to see Spiderman swing past Captain America and smash the hell out of a bad guy too, but that tragically isn't going to happen. And no amount of voodoo hexing the ASM franchise will make it happen, Sony has Spider-Man...sigh
Since I disagreed with Bob about the 1st one, after that I thought 'this must be great then', but that description did sound genuinely bad. Still gotta see this train wreck though.
Is it wrong that I've always wanted Spider-Man to be sold back to Disney? Not "So he can be in the Avengers.", because Spider-Man was always an iffy addition to the team. I want the rights to go to Disney because they'd put out a decent Spider-Man movie. That's what Disney seems to be doing, outside of the bigger Avengers picture, they make the best movie that they can for their super hero and I'd like to look forward to a Spider-Man movie for a change.
On the original topic: is anyone shocked? Anyone? Because I'm just going to say, even though I'm a pessimist, I called this movie being bad as soon as the Amazing Spider-Man came out. When Sony officially released that they weren't proud of their movie and were hoping the next one would be better. That's when I said "Bet you it sucks." So despite The Amazing Spider-Man 2 being predictably awful, what's important here is that I was right.
On the original topic: is anyone shocked? Anyone? Because I'm just going to say, even though I'm a pessimist, I called this movie being bad as soon as the Amazing Spider-Man came out. When Sony officially released that they weren't proud of their movie and were hoping the next one would be better. That's when I said "Bet you it sucks." So despite The Amazing Spider-Man 2 being predictably awful, what's important here is that I was right.
This isn't an issue with modernizing comic book characters. It's about taking such iconic characters and doing the most sub-par effort with them solely because their names draw people in.MrJoyless said:
As a fan it doesn't bother you that all the Spider-Man villains who use to have unique and individual backgrounds are now, as Sony is planning, just another science experiment by Oscorp? Or how even in the first movie every major element was connected to each other? Bob even pointed it out in his review of it.
Peter's dad just happened to work with Dr. Conner, who just happened to work for Oscorp, who just happened to be the same company that made the spider that gave Peter his powers (and who also made the webbing Peter used), who just happened to have Gwen as his lab assistant, who just happened to be the daughter of the chief of police.
This doesn't make create a growing universe. This shrinks it.
Yeah, this is pretty much how I felt when Halo started to try telling me what the Forerunners were like. Except that was more of a "meh, the universe that killed Star Wars for me just killed itself, now I have to make my own", and this sounds more like that one scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
And now I hope you're not serious. Look, I understand being bothered by problems with a line. They killed my favourite line of White Wolf books in part as a "fuck you" to the fans, because that's what White Wolf does. But the beautiful thing is, I still have those books. And now they're up on DTRPG, so I have those books in ebooks that I'll be able to keep for however much longer I manage to cheat death. I don't get the "they did something bad so now everything is retroactively ruined" mentality, and I'm kind of hoping I never will.JimB said:
I think this has more to do with Bob's love for Raimi. Because a lot of the complaints he's made about both movies describe the Raimi trilogy, sans the "franchise-building" deal, which I get. And that's one of the things I've noticed about the people complaining about ASM and ASM 2: it's different when Sam Raimi does it. They were so into Sam Raimi's Not-Spider-Man that they seem to look for anything this movie does "wrong," even if Raimi's movies did the same. Because ponies.MrJoyless said:
I am.Zachary Amaranth said:
So do I. I have those books that were badly written from the very first day, that were broken from the very first day, that no one in the managerial or oversight departments cared about from the first day; that I was dumb enough and naive enough to think could be made to work, like (if you'll forgive me for making a comparison that will no doubt seem to trivialize what I'm about to reference) a battered wife thinking loving her husband will stop him from beating her.Zachary Amaranth said:
Look at a thing you love through a lens of betrayal, and everything good in it will seem like poison. This feeling will pass in time depending on how quickly you get over the wound, but while it exists, the feeling is real.Zachary Amaranth said:
Damn. I knew Bob wasn't going to enjoy this movie, but damn. Just...damn.
By the way, those opening lines, about being in love with something and then having it tainted? That's how I'm worried I'm going to feel about Star Wars. Having 20+ years of my life suddenly ripped away in the E.U. hurt something fierce. Now, seeing the casting roster, I'm even more worried. I'm afraid the new Star Wars films are going to do the same thing to me that this Spider-Man film did to Bob.
By the way, those opening lines, about being in love with something and then having it tainted? That's how I'm worried I'm going to feel about Star Wars. Having 20+ years of my life suddenly ripped away in the E.U. hurt something fierce. Now, seeing the casting roster, I'm even more worried. I'm afraid the new Star Wars films are going to do the same thing to me that this Spider-Man film did to Bob.