And now, to the thoughts that arose while I watched the trailer:
1) Will a franchise rebooted this quickly be able to grasp its former audience as well as a new generation of audiences?
It may not seem like it, but it's only been nine years since the first of Sam Raimi's Spider-man films hit theaters back in 2002. The most recent - and ultimately final - installment in that particular branch of the franchise was released in 2007 and sizzled in rather lackluster fashion, in my own personal opinion. Because of creative differences, the studio chose to part ways with the Raimi and Tobey Maguire-led films, instead choosing to restart everything. Now, we have seen quick reboots before (need I remind you of the 2008 film, The Incredible Hulk, which came only five years after Hulk), so I suppose it's not entirely unprecedented. However, Raimi's Spider-man franchise was (mostly) applauded, so taking something that worked and tweaking it so soon could spell certain doom. Fortunately, I have quite a bit of faith in this particular adaptation, for one particular reason...
2) ...which is the cast list for The Amazing Spider-man.
While the use of Tobey Maguire as our central lead in Raimi's films worked relatively well, I never could get past the fact that he was a little on the annoying side. Sure, he had some stellar
actors working alongside him (with Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina and James Franco, just to name a few), but seeing him as the lead in this big-time action franchise never sat well with me personally. However, the reboot's cast list seems extremely promising. First and foremost, we're getting a high-caliber, uprising star in Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, which would be enough to make me see the film. He first blew me away with his subtly dramatic performance in 2008's Boy A, and he reached the collective consciousness of the mainstream public in 2010's The Social Network. I think he'll take this role and run with it. The rest of the cast fills out rather nicely as well, if I do say so myself, with the likes of Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Rhys Ifans and Denis Leary in lead or supporting roles. It's almost a little unfair when you think about it.
3) How will director Marc Webb perform with this much pressure?
If you don't instantly recognize the name of Marc Webb, I honestly wouldn't be surprised. The man made his career start by directing music videos for the likes of No Doubt, Green Day and 3 Doors Down. He only has one feature film to his name to date, but that one film - 2009's (500) Days of Summer - was a sheer act of brilliance. Still, there's nothing to say that he won't be a one-and-done director, and I'm sure there's a lot of speculation as to whether Webb can deliver in this particular situation. I have faith that he'll be just fine, but because it's only his sophomore
effort, I can assure you that he'll have his skeptics.
4) Does this film seem a little bit darker to anyone else?
While Raimi's franchise always seemed a little cheesy to me, probably as a result of Maguire's inclusion, there's something about this trailer that makes me think that The Amazing Spider-man might be delving into a deeper and darker level. And how can you blame them for such? With the success of superhero films like Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise, there really shouldn't be anything stopping them from trying to get into the grit of the story. Will it work for this particular film? No one can really know for sure, but I know that Garfield is capable of reaching those deep emotional levels, so we could be in for quite a performance.
5) Hooray for exposition!
As you can see at the beginning of the trailer, we'll be getting at least a little bit of the back-story as to why Peter Parker ends up living with his aunt and uncle rather than his own parents. Now, I can't quite remember everything from the first of Raimi's Spider-man films, but I don't recall ever having any true discussion as to Peter's parents' whereabouts. If you know me at all, you'll
know I'm a bit of a sucker for exposition and background, so this should play right up my alley. Kudos to the filmmakers already!
6) How will this film look visually?
There's moments in the trailer where I was already being wowed by what I was seeing. For example, I instantly fell in love with the beauty of the room where Peter is ultimately bitten. However, there are a few scenes in the trailer that made me scratch my head as well, most noticeably the final sequence where we see Spider-man weaving his way through the rooftops above New York City. I don't know about the rest of you, but that scene felt a little too much like a video game in its look and style, and although it was definitely a fascinating watch, there's a part of me that's quietly hoping the visual effects won't quite look like that. I realize the film's still a year away, but that's enough to give me reason to pause. At the end of the day, this will be a big-budget action flick, and it has to look the part.
The Amazing Spider-man is set to hit U.S. theaters on July 3, 2012.
1) Will a franchise rebooted this quickly be able to grasp its former audience as well as a new generation of audiences?
It may not seem like it, but it's only been nine years since the first of Sam Raimi's Spider-man films hit theaters back in 2002. The most recent - and ultimately final - installment in that particular branch of the franchise was released in 2007 and sizzled in rather lackluster fashion, in my own personal opinion. Because of creative differences, the studio chose to part ways with the Raimi and Tobey Maguire-led films, instead choosing to restart everything. Now, we have seen quick reboots before (need I remind you of the 2008 film, The Incredible Hulk, which came only five years after Hulk), so I suppose it's not entirely unprecedented. However, Raimi's Spider-man franchise was (mostly) applauded, so taking something that worked and tweaking it so soon could spell certain doom. Fortunately, I have quite a bit of faith in this particular adaptation, for one particular reason...
2) ...which is the cast list for The Amazing Spider-man.
While the use of Tobey Maguire as our central lead in Raimi's films worked relatively well, I never could get past the fact that he was a little on the annoying side. Sure, he had some stellar
actors working alongside him (with Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina and James Franco, just to name a few), but seeing him as the lead in this big-time action franchise never sat well with me personally. However, the reboot's cast list seems extremely promising. First and foremost, we're getting a high-caliber, uprising star in Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, which would be enough to make me see the film. He first blew me away with his subtly dramatic performance in 2008's Boy A, and he reached the collective consciousness of the mainstream public in 2010's The Social Network. I think he'll take this role and run with it. The rest of the cast fills out rather nicely as well, if I do say so myself, with the likes of Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Rhys Ifans and Denis Leary in lead or supporting roles. It's almost a little unfair when you think about it.3) How will director Marc Webb perform with this much pressure?
If you don't instantly recognize the name of Marc Webb, I honestly wouldn't be surprised. The man made his career start by directing music videos for the likes of No Doubt, Green Day and 3 Doors Down. He only has one feature film to his name to date, but that one film - 2009's (500) Days of Summer - was a sheer act of brilliance. Still, there's nothing to say that he won't be a one-and-done director, and I'm sure there's a lot of speculation as to whether Webb can deliver in this particular situation. I have faith that he'll be just fine, but because it's only his sophomore
effort, I can assure you that he'll have his skeptics.4) Does this film seem a little bit darker to anyone else?
While Raimi's franchise always seemed a little cheesy to me, probably as a result of Maguire's inclusion, there's something about this trailer that makes me think that The Amazing Spider-man might be delving into a deeper and darker level. And how can you blame them for such? With the success of superhero films like Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise, there really shouldn't be anything stopping them from trying to get into the grit of the story. Will it work for this particular film? No one can really know for sure, but I know that Garfield is capable of reaching those deep emotional levels, so we could be in for quite a performance.
5) Hooray for exposition!
As you can see at the beginning of the trailer, we'll be getting at least a little bit of the back-story as to why Peter Parker ends up living with his aunt and uncle rather than his own parents. Now, I can't quite remember everything from the first of Raimi's Spider-man films, but I don't recall ever having any true discussion as to Peter's parents' whereabouts. If you know me at all, you'll
know I'm a bit of a sucker for exposition and background, so this should play right up my alley. Kudos to the filmmakers already!6) How will this film look visually?
There's moments in the trailer where I was already being wowed by what I was seeing. For example, I instantly fell in love with the beauty of the room where Peter is ultimately bitten. However, there are a few scenes in the trailer that made me scratch my head as well, most noticeably the final sequence where we see Spider-man weaving his way through the rooftops above New York City. I don't know about the rest of you, but that scene felt a little too much like a video game in its look and style, and although it was definitely a fascinating watch, there's a part of me that's quietly hoping the visual effects won't quite look like that. I realize the film's still a year away, but that's enough to give me reason to pause. At the end of the day, this will be a big-budget action flick, and it has to look the part.
The Amazing Spider-man is set to hit U.S. theaters on July 3, 2012.
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