The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

[Fricky]

4 minute sizzle reel!
http://youtu.be/16AwVWvjQhY
I was initially annoyed that once again, he takes his mask off in front of a stranger but what followed from that actually made me really like it. I'm a sucker for heroes being not only cool/badass, but actually heroic/inspirational like that. It was a great way to show his character.

[roddersj04]

The bit with the kid in the car was especially great stuff

[Frank Castle]

Originally Posted by Fricky

4 minute sizzle reel!
http://youtu.be/16AwVWvjQhY
I was initially annoyed that once again, he takes his mask off in front of a stranger but what followed from that actually made me really like it. I'm a sucker for heroes being not only cool/badass, but actually heroic/inspirational like that. It was a great way to show his character.

Have just watched it - I know I continually play Devil's Advocate on this thread, but I really don't like some of the ideas that they are putting into this movie.

1) The promo material I can understand, but when nearly the entire mythology of Spider-Man has been built around his secret identity, to have him just whip his mask off to calm someone down in the movie itself just irritates me. Remember in Civil War when a big deal was made of Peter Parker revealing his secret identity? To me this waters the character down - he's got no mystique, no basis to be larger than life, no ability to lead that double life, when it's ok for him to unmask at random points throughout the movie.

2) The idea that Peter's abilities are the product of a genetic experiment rather than an accident. Again, this is part of the mythology that looks like it's been chucked out the window in order to create a subplot that ties him to the villain and/or sets up a sequel. I never really liked how they altered the death of Batman's parents (by that I mean who shot them) in the 1989 movie, and I think this is taking a similar liberty for the sake of just doing something differently.

3) Whatever happened to Spider-Man's motto? It's not been mentioned once. "With great power comes great responsibility." Whatever happened to that eh? So far all I've seen is a a lot of this guy's face, posing like he's on the front of GQ, a storyline that looks to rewrite the origin of one of Marvels's most iconic characters, and some flitting CGI shots in the trailer that usually mean the thing they're hiding (The Lizard) will look like something from The Real Ghostbusters.

Sorry to be a moaner, and I know I'll be told that this is a big budget movie and can't stay completely faithful to the comic, but I find myself yearning for the Ultimate showdown, and we all know how that ends:

[Fricky]

Originally Posted by Frank Castle

1) The promo material I can understand, but when nearly the entire mythology of Spider-Man has been built around his secret identity, to have him just whip his mask off to calm someone down in the movie itself just irritates me. Remember in Civil War when a big deal was made of Peter Parker revealing his secret identity? To me this waters the character down - he's got no mystique, no basis to be larger than life, no ability to lead that double life, when it's ok for him to unmask at random points throughout the movie.

There's a difference between revealing your secret identity on live TV to the entire world, and showing your face to a panicking kid who probably isn't going to remember what you look like or describe you to anyone, when you live in a city of millions. The only other time we know of him being maskless in public is when the cops yank it off his head, and I'm betting no one gets a good look at his face during that scene because he's busy escaping and making sure they can't.

3) Whatever happened to Spider-Man's motto? It's not been mentioned once. "With great power comes great responsibility." Whatever happened to that eh? So far all I've seen is a a lot of this guy's face, posing like he's on the front of GQ, a storyline that looks to rewrite the origin of one of Marvels's most iconic characters, and some flitting CGI shots in the trailer that usually mean the thing they're hiding (The Lizard) will look like something from The Real Ghostbusters.

The motto got beaten to death in the Raimi movies. By the time Ben's GHOST showed up to say it I think it really got beyond the pale. It's become such a cliche in the comics that he falls back on it all the time rather than actually making his own mind up about what would be the best thing to do(when he was married, he never seemed to consider that maybe the responsible thing to do would be stop risking his life and instead settle down). I think we can afford for them to be a little more subtle about conveying that message without having people mentioning it every five minutes. The preview does show him using his powers to help people, and in in counter to point 1) the fact he unmasks shows he cared WAY more about that kid's welfare than his own secret identity, and that in general he's a pretty selfless guy.

[Knappos]

Only thing I've seen that I definitely don't like (and won't change my mind on) is blinky-lighty web shooters.

How's Spidey going to catch anyone by surprise with a trade mark web shot in the eye if they can see blinkylighty and know to dodge?

Everything else lacks context at this point so, it's wait and see. For me.

[Frank Castle]

Originally Posted by Fricky

There's a difference between revealing your secret identity on live TV to the entire world, and showing your face to a panicking kid who probably isn't going to remember what you look like or describe you to anyone, when you live in a city of millions. The only other time we know of him being maskless in public is when the cops yank it off his head, and I'm betting no one gets a good look at his face during that scene because he's busy escaping and making sure they can't.


The motto got beaten to death in the Raimi movies. By the time Ben's GHOST showed up to say it I think it really got beyond the pale. It's become such a cliche in the comics that he falls back on it all the time rather than actually making his own mind up about what would be the best thing to do(when he was married, he never seemed to consider that maybe the responsible thing to do would be stop risking his life and instead settle down). I think we can afford for them to be a little more subtle about conveying that message without having people mentioning it every five minutes. The preview does show him using his powers to help people, and in in counter to point 1) the fact he unmasks shows he cared WAY more about that kid's welfare than his own secret identity, and that in general he's a pretty selfless guy.

The point for me is though, is that while yes, there is a difference between doing it on live TV and in front of a scared boy, the inference for the viewer/reader is the same. WE see him take the mask off, and the reason its such a big deal for us that he does it is because we know his secret identity, and no one else does - part of the enjoyment for me, as it was with the Superman movies, is that we're in on the secret - we know something that most, if not all people in the movie, don't. To have him share that with people willy nilly seems to lessen the character to me.

And while, yes, I agree with you the catchphrase may have been done to death, it's still a huge part of the character, if not the cornerstone of Spider-Man's motivation full stop. He does what he does because he feels compelled to. I may well be wrong, but none of that has been present in trailers or previews, and if you didn't know the backstory, then you could be forgiven for thinking he just becomes Spider-man because the costume looks cool.

[Knappos]

Don't worry Frank, I'd feel pretty safe that Uncle Ben will say it at some point.

It's like Batman films and Bruce Wayne's parents.

[Frank Castle]

The display at my local Toys R Us. Actually quite impressive.

[Veela Magnet]

Total Film have just put their review up.

[Mr Cairo]

Originally Posted by Veela Magnet

Total Film have just put their review up.

That review is a little all over the place but i know my son is dying to see this so count me in the "opening weekend" crowd