Escape to the Movies: The Amazing Spider-Man

[Plinglebob]

Snip

I completely agree with you on this. When Bob was going on at that, I couldn't help but think "I'm sure I read that in one of the comics". Originally I thought the Ultimate incarnation, but checked and nope. This sort of happy coincidence occurs all the time in comics, films, books etc and knocking a film for it makes Bob seem really petty.

Bigger Snip

I snipped only because I would have made my post too big, but like with Kmadden, I completely agree. People complain about reboots or new games using the same ideas (*cough*Nintendo*cough*) but the people who complain the most are those that forget they arn't the target audience. The target audience for this film are the 11-13 year olds who were still crapping their pants and drawing on the walls when the previous trilogy started.

 

[Ickabod]

Even if this review was full of fanboyism, Bob is usually pretty good about acknowledging that in a review. He said that Green Lantern was a pile of dung and was right there, even if he was raging like a fanboy. Being a fanboy over something doesn't automatically discount the opinion.

But seriously how many of us knew this movie was going to be terrible from the moment it was announced to that first teaser trailer. It was a cash grab from day one, if it really is that terrible (I wasn't going to see it anyway) I hope that it fails.

 

[The Great JT]

You can't tell me Mephisto didn't have a hand in this getting made.

 

[Hungry Donner]

And, yeah, I know I'm going to get flamed for typing this up, but what the hell...

I think you backed up your point well.

It's true the whole "small world" bit is overplayed in most media (and even common in highly regarded stuff like Charles Dickens and Star Wars). However it's possible to do this without it feeling forced or blatant. I'm not sure if this is the exact problem with the new Spider-Man, I'd guess it's more that you can get away with such coincidences when the story is otherwise engaging.

Whenever someone asks me why I think your opinion should be taken with a grain of salt half the time, I'll point em to this video. You've been against this movie since before anything got announced besides that it's going to happen. And it shows. Even if this movie was The Dark Knight levels of good, you'd probably still say it was bad.

It's true that it's easy to get entrenched in disliking something. However I don't think Bob complaining about pre-release details really effected this review. Many of his complaints (bad CGI, bad pacing, character changes for no discernible reason) are criticisms he commonly makes. And really, if anything it lessened the blow: Bob went into this with low expectations.

 

[Dastardly]

I snipped only because I would have made my post too big, but like with Kmadden, I completely agree. People complain about reboots or new games using the same ideas (*cough*Nintendo*cough*) but the people who complain the most are those that forget they arn't the target audience. The target audience for this film are the 11-13 year olds who were still crapping their pants and drawing on the walls when the previous trilogy started.

I'll do ya one better: the idea of "target audience" is often what creates the problem. The fans often feel they are the target audience. The bigger the fan, the more a "target" they feel they should be. The smaller the target, the harder it is to hit. That's the problem.

To fans, their familiarity with the source material is like currency. They've worked to acquire it, and it then buys them greater enjoyment... but that's not all. That currency also buys them a greater stake in what happens next, or so they think. And that means each new "attraction" in the fandom must carry an "admission price," or something more akin to "You Must Be This Tall (A Fan) to Ride." And if it doesn't have that, they feel betrayed somehow, like rich people getting angry that "just anyone" an afford this-or-that luxury.

You can't keep marketing to the same crowd, because they inevitably shrink. And you can't bring in new people if the "You Must Be This Tall" keeps getting higher.

 

[Terramax]

I'm not being funny, but it's not as if the 3 other Spiderman films were any good.

The 2nd one was just awful. Especially the train sequence which ought to go down as the dumbest scene ever made.

50 people see whom Spiderman is, but all promise not to tell anyone? OFF! OFF! OFF!

 

[josemlopes]

Just one thing that I thought it sounded weird, you said that the visuals looked like they were trying to be gritty and shit but I dont see that, the costume is even quite colourfull and I dont dislike the costume due to that, I think it gives a nice visual contrast with a colourfull spiderman in a dark (but not even that dark, most of the lights seem quite bright) background.

 

[daxterx2005]

Some times me and Bob have different opinions on films, I'm hoping this is one of them....
I don't think it will be though.

 

[Ranorak]

This is bizzaro world.

No, I don't mean that the release of a rushed, cheap spider-man licence renewal movies would be a miss, I mean, the video game is actually pretty fun.

We have a movie that has a ...not-terrible video game, but this time the movie sucks.

 

[josh4president]

Hey guys don't quote me on this but I think Bob just might not like this movie very much.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Bob actually uploaded this review 3 days early to post how bad it was. And yet this still isn't the most negative review of ASM I've seen yet... comes close, though.

Of the sources I normally follow, I've got 2 scathingly negative reviews, 1 saying it's just bad, and the best one just saying "it's ok, but why does this exist?". I know he's focusing too much on the source material, but I personally always look for a comic nerd's perceptive on these kind of things becuase I'd do the same damn thing.

 

[guise709]

Yesh, I haven't seen you rage that much since the Green Lantern review. From the sound of it, it seen this year isn't good for Spider-man per say (well I don't know what going with him in the comic but I do know that Ultimate Spider-man is aweful).

Either way it look like my question had been answer to wheather to watch this or Prometheus if I'm going to the cinema any time soon before The Dark Knight Rises.

The Spiderman cartoon on Disney XD is the only good thing hes got going on. It has a lot of nods to other comics including his own and keeps him faithful to it.. Worth a look.

Best episode of the series in my opinion is "Freaky" which was the one where Spiderman switched bodies with Wolverine in and fight Sabretooth. Deadpool cameo as well.

 

[leviadragon99]

Welp, that's one moviegoer definately not going to be padding out that audience, I'll do my part and hope that others do the same in not rewarding such tripe.

 

[MrJoyless]

I watched this last night, and despite me being a huge massive retarded Spider Man fan, I actually enjoyed the movie MUCH more than other recent "action" movies.

Yes they toss around some of the base lore of the origin story (which has obviously sent Bob into a massive nerd rage), but honestly, it still works and in many places does better than the original Spider Man in making Parker's character more believable.

And honestly the action scenes are worth it on their own, actually watching Spider Man be fast and agile instead of slugging it out constantly like the last 3 movies was amazingly refreshing.

I would take this review with a grain of salt, Bob has obvious bias towards the original comic series, and has shown at least in this review, that one or two small changes (derp who cares who Parker's dad was it was a plot tie in, and herp derp Uncle Ben dies in damn near the same way but is in my opinion more tragic than the original scene)

Also web shooters...you of all people let the fact that the original spider man movies you adore decided to remove one of the biggest parts of the superheroes lore...the goddamn web shooters...

Bob decides nitpick about how a story about teenagers has awkward teenage B.S. scenes...seriously Bob not just 30-40 somethings go see movies...

 

[LordFish]

Ouch, I wonder if Bob expected it to suck this badly? I kinda did, I've only caught glimpses of trailers and I picked up on the whole 'Teen Angst' thing.. and I HATE teen angst in super heroes.

Ahh well, I'm not a spidey fan anyway ;P

 

[Vrach]

Whenever someone asks me why I think your opinion should be taken with a grain of salt half the time, I'll point em to this video. You've been against this movie since before anything got announced besides that it's going to happen. And it shows. Even if this movie was The Dark Knight levels of good, you'd probably still say it was bad.

Dunno, I saw the trailer at the movies when I was seeing Prometheus recently and I'm not surprised a single bit about this review. I'm not even into Spiderman movies, but my reaction was instantly "god, this is gonna be just drivel" the moment I saw it. Oh and note, I had no previous opinions about it nor did I see Bob talking about it anywhere.

Out of interest, have you seen the Amazing Spiderman? What's your take on it?

On a sidenote, did you have dinner with Yahtzee recently Bob? Seem to be talking quite fast this episode (and saw I wasn't the only one who noticed). Didn't mind it, just felt a bit odd ^^

 

[Jetsetneo]

Love how bob showed peach, then said 'convenient plot device' and showed Navi, when....Peach is also just a convenient plot device.

 

[portal_cat]

So, will there be a Movie review on Friday too or just this one?

 

[algalon]

I can only hope the franchise can redeem itself by having Sony's contract clock out just in time for the latest Avengers or Defenders iteration. Maybe after the Avengers knock out Thanos, they can pull out Secret Wars and put all of marvel continuity together in one huge hero beat-em-up.
Captcha:
Comma, comma (chameleon?)

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

Whether MovieBob is right about this movie being terrible or not doesn't really matter to me, I'm still avoiding it like the plague.

While Bob does seem to be a bit too prepared to hate the movie, he does have a right to hate everything it STANDS FOR. With all the marketing surrounding this movie (A lot more so than other summer blockbusters, don't try to deny it), it is blatantly clear that Sony was going for massive opening numbers before any reviews came up.

When Bob says this is a movie made by accountants, he's not that far off. If the movie was great, that's good for THIS movie. But, if Sony's marketing strategy works, and I'm sure it will, that opens the floodgates for all around lazy filmmaking. What this movie stands for is the next step to completely manufactured movies. And I'm not okay supporting that.