This weekend, one of the biggest and heavily-promoted films
of the year swings into theatres in the form of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. Here
is everything you need to know about Sony Pictures’ adaptation of the Marvel
property.
Another Spider-man Movie? A certain amount of confusion is
understandable at this point, as this is the fifth Spider-Man film by Sony
Pictures since 2002. The first three films were directed by Sam Raimi with
Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spidey. After a disappointing third film, Sony
parted ways with Raimi and decided to wipe the slate clean. In what the
industry now calls a “reboot”, Sony unleashed THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN in 2012
with a new cast and a do-over on the character’s origins. This film, THE
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, is a direct sequel to that 2012 version.
Who’s behind this? Marc
Webb, who directed the first (rebooted) film, returns to direct. Prior to
becoming a webslinger, Webb’s other directing credit is the acclaimed 500 DAYS
OF SUMMER in 2009.
Who’s in this? Andrew
Garfield (THE SOCIAL NETWORK) returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Emma Stone
(ZOMBIELAND) returns as his love interest Gwen Stacy, and Sally Field returns
as Peter’s Aunt May. New cast members fill out a slew of villains. Paul
Giamatti appears as The Rhino, Jamie Foxx charges in as Electro, and young Dane
DeHaan (THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES) creeps in as The Green Goblin.
Why are there so many
villains? Call it a direct response to the uber-success of THE AVENGERS
with its superhero-teamup selling point. Sony Pictures doesn’t own the rights
to any other Marvel properties which Spidey can team up with like his Marvel
Studio-owned AVENGERS cousins. So in an attempt to capitalize on the public’s
apparent appetite for many super-beings in one film, Sony is essentially
pulling a reverse-AVENGERS by stacking the film with baddies.
What to look forward
to THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN very much served as a set-up film for its sequel
by introducing many storylines which were never concluded, so hopefully many of
those loose ends can be tied up in a meaningful way which will justify the
reboot. More importantly, this Blogger found that first film to be an
intolerable bore; a joyless affair which slogged around in-between action
sequences which went nowhere. A good sequel should always correct the mistakes
made in the past, so hopefully Marc Webb and his friends have learned a few
things and can put the amazing back in Spider-Man.
*
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 lands in theatres May 2nd.
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