Posts Tagged ‘Spider-Man’

Movie Review – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Released to the theaters this weekend is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the sequel to 2012’s hit film, The Amazing Spider-Man.

While the first Spider-Man film in this series is an origin story, the sequel jumps right into the middle of action.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 shows us a version of Peter Parker who has to wrestle the emotions of whether or not to continue his relationship with Gwen Stacey.  At the end of the first film, Peter made a promise to Gwen’s dying father that he would not see her and, thus, keep her away from Peter / Spider-Man’s enemies.

While Peter and Gwen deal with their relationship there’s the sudden creation and rise of Electro, the main villain for this film.  We also see the arrival of Harry Osborn and his takeover of OsCorp after the death of his father.  Harry later transforms into the Green Goblin and becomes another of Spider-Man’s enemies.

Directed by Marc Webb, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 returns James Garfield in the title role of Peter Parker / Spider-Man.  Also returning are Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Sally Field as Aunt May, and a brief cameo of Dennis Leary as George Stacy.  New cast members in this film include Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon / Electro, Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn / Green Goblin, Paul Giamatti as Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino, and Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn.

Spider-Man creator Stan Lee has a cameo role as a parent in the stands at Peter and Gwen’s high school graduation ceremony.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 begins about sixteen years ago as Richard Parker (Campbell Scott) is rushing to destroy his research experiments at OsCorp.  He knows that he had been betrayed by somebody, and him and his wife are both in grave danger.  After destroying the material and returning home, Richard and Mary (Embeth Davidtz) know that their young son, Peter, is also in danger.  They decide to give him to his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and then Richard and Mary Parker flee the area.

The two of them end up in an OsCorp aircraft.  There’s trouble though when one of the aircraft’s pilots turns out to be an assassin.  He has already killed the pilot.  He tries to shoot and kill Richard when the scientist fights back.  Mary is shot in the process and the aircraft suffers some damage as well.  Richard is able to connect to a computer network and transfer his secret files to a secure location before the aircraft crashes, killing everybody on board.

Fast forward to today.

There’s a police chase on the streets of New York City.  Russian mobster Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti) and his gang had just stolen an armored truck full of radioactive material from OsCorp.  They’re trying to get away from the police when Spider-Man (James Garfield) swings into action and does whatever he can to end the chase. Read more…

Movie Review – The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

I’ll admit that I was very skeptical when first learning about the reboot of the already popular Spider-Man franchise.  Spider-Man 3 had some issues, but I thought that Sam Raimi did a good job with the first two Spider-Man movies.

I mean, is it too early to reboot a movie series?  Then again, it has been ten years now since the release of the first Spider-Man (2002) movie.

After watching The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, it feels like there’s a night and day difference between the two Spider-Man series.  This newer telling of the familiar tale is pretty darn awesome.  The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is doing to the Spider-Man series what Batman Begins did to the Batman series.  It’s that good of a movie.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man begins with Peter Parker as a young child.  One day he’s playing a game of hide-and-seek when he discovers that somebody broke into his dad’s office.  His dad rummages around and finds a secret folder that the thief missed.  Realizing that their son is in danger, Parker’s parents leave him in the care of his Uncle Ben (played by Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (played by Sally Field).  His dad says goodbye to young Peter, and he doesn’t see them again.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – (c) Columbia Pictures

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man jumps ahead to what we assume to be Peter Parker’s (played by Andrew Garfield) senior year of high school.  He’s an avid photographer for his school, has a passion for science, and has the guts to stand up to Flash Thompson, one of the bullies in his class.  One day he stands up to Flash and gets a pounding from the bully.  His beating wasn’t a complete loss though as it caught the attention of fellow classmate, Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone). Read more…

Movie Review – Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Finishing out Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is the third installment, creatively named Spider-Man 3, released on May 4, 2007.

Like 2004′s Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 brings back the familiar cast of the first two characters along with some people we haven’t seen since the first movie.  Tobey Maguire reprises his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst is Mary Jane Watson, James Franco is Harry Osborn / New Goblin, and J.K. Simmons is once again the leader of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson.  Spider-Man 3 introduces us to Thomas Hayden Church as Flint Marko / Sandman, Topher Grace as Eddie Brock / Venom, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy.

Spider-Man 3 continues some time after the events of Spider-Man 2.

New York City is currently on a Spider-Man craze.  The hero is immortalized and the talk of the town.  Peter Parker is making a living as a photographer for the Daily Bugle, doing well in his college studies, and very much in love with Mary Jane Watson.  Mary Jane has advanced from the small stage and is now starring in Broadway productions.  Harry Osborn, in the meantime, still carries his grudge towards Parker and has been tinkering with his dad’s weapons at Oscorp.  He’s also subjected himself to his father’s performance enhancing drugs from the first movie.  Harry’s hatred towards Peter has reached its breaking point.

Spider-Man 3 (2007) – (c) Columbia Pictures

In the beginning of the movie we see Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) spending time together in the evening.  Not too far away a meteor crashes in the park.  Unknown to Peter and MJ, a strange black substance crawls from the wreckage and attaches itself to Peter’s moped.  He unknowingly transports the extraterrestrial creature back to his apartment. Read more…

Movie Review – Spider-Man 2 (2004)

The smash hit of 2002′s Spider-Man virtually guaranteed that Hollywood would give the fans a sequel.  2003′s record-breaking X2: X-Men United would only further fuel this thirst for another a sequel to Spider-Man.

Released on June 30, 2004, Spider-Man 2 thrilled the superhero audiences once again.  Spider-Man was back, and this sequel was bigger and better than its prequel.

Once again directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 2 brought back the cast of the first Spider-Man film.  Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco all reprise their roles in the first movie.  Spider-Man 2 also brings along Alfred Molina as Dr. Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus.

Set in New York City, Spider-Man 2 picks up where Spider-Man finished.

Peter Parker’s (Toby Maguire) life is harder than ever as he tries to juggle a part-time job and his college classes, all while saving people and stopping criminals while disguised as Spider-Man.  In addition, Parker is trying to improve his relationship with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).  Mary Jane finally got herself into acting, and she’s trying to get Peter to see her perform on stage.

Spider-Man 2 (2004) – (c) Columbia Pictures

We see Peter Parker try to make it as a pizza deliveryman.  His only problem is that while rushing to delivery the pizzas, people keep needing the help of Spider-Man.  Parker is forced to don the costume and save people, all while racing the clock to make his delivery on time.  He ultimately fails with the delivery and loses yet another job.  Parker’s financial problems double at home as Aunt May is facing foreclosure from the bank. Read more…

Movie Review – Spider-Man (2002)

The country is in spider-fever again as everybody’s favorite masked, wall-crawling superhero once again hits the movie theaters.

In honor of The Amazing Spider-Man movie now in theaters (NOTE – This is a new version of Spider-Man and not a continuation of Sam Raimi’s blockbuster trilogy), let’s take a step back and look at the Spider-Man trilogy that began ten years ago.  Wow, has it really been ten years since Spider-Man premiered in the the movie theaters?  Time just passes way too quickly.

2002′s Spider-Man finally brought the superhero to the movie theaters as part of a growing superhero craze.  2000 saw the release of the first X-Men film along with Unbreakable, and 2003 gave us Daredevil, Hulk, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  2005 would rock the audiences with the retelling of the Batman stories with Batman Begins.

Spider-Man tells the tale of Peter Parker as he becomes the legendary superhero.   Set in New York City, Peter Parker (played by Toby Maguire) lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May in Queens.  His best friend is Harry Osborn (played by James Franco), son of Dr. Norman Osborn (played brilliantly by Willem Dafoe), a brilliant engineer and president of Oscorp manufacturing corporation.

Spider-Man (2002) – (c) Columbia Pictures

In the beginning of the movie we see Peter Parker as a nerdy student in high school.  His smarts keep him out of trouble from bullies, but his shyness keeps him away from his female classmates.  He really wants to get to know his fellow classmate and next door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson (played by Kirsten Dunst), but Peter just can’t seem to get a chance to talk to her. Read more…