RedLetterMedia says Amazing Spiderman is forgettable & nothing special

Just saw The Amazing Spider-Man.

And it wasn't amazing.

More like, The Below-Average Spider-Man.

What other data points are you using to generate the average? It's WELL above average if we're factoring it with the Raimi films.

Did Andrew Garfield remind anyone else of Norman Bates in this movie?

For me, it's because I know the origin story. I have watched all the Spider-Man cartoons and have read it in the comics (when I was an adult).

I fully understand the whole 'but a lot of kids weren't around ten years ago' argument but for us adults who have the first film fresh in our memories, it just makes it boring for the most part. I like the fact that they do change it up a bit (we see Peter's parents at the start) but I wanted to see a new Spidey adventure. I guess I'll have to wait for the next film.

Ya the general consensus seems to be that Spiderman 1 and 2 are better than this reboot. I haven't seen it so I can't comment, but just from that Red-Letter-Media review I can see why that would be the case. I know you guys are out on the fringe as haters of Raimi's goofy take on spiderman, but at least Spidey 1 and 2 are consistent tonally. The movies exist in a kinda goofy/campy universe and that's just how they roll.

If the Amazing Spiderman starts out trying to be Batman Begins and then morphs into the 2nd half of Spiderman 1, I can see how that could be really problematic.

Just saw the Red Letter Media discussion... A few thoughts....

1. I'm hesitant about predicting the imminent collapse of the Hollywood studio system when the box-office of these movies is consistently breaking $1Billion. Quite the opposite i.e. more of the same. There's enough cashed up teens in emerging markets in the developing world that haven't grown up with the same movies we have - so it's all new to them. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean it's going to end. Slavery lasted for centuries - in other words, something can be morally wrong but still be financially successful.

2. The opera/classical/Shakespeare world has lasted for 200 years with a business model of recycling the same works over again. If superheroes movies are the default template, then whoever are the hot, young 'popstars du jour' can be inserted into the roles. There's always a next generation of stars&starlets coming through. There'll be some updated effects as rendering times/costs come down. There's still plenty of old material that hasn't been given the 48fps, IMAX, 3D treatment - so at least there's a thin veneer of 'freshness' for the next decade. Also, MPAA standards change over time, so what was 'R' rated in the 1980s is PG13 now, so that's something the studio can market as new.... i.e. 'it's darker'.
Same template but new actors, more effects at higher-res, and a few more F-bombs, with each incarnation. Doesn't matter if the scripts are identical. It's been obvious for a long time that movies are NOT punished for having poor scripts.

3. Hard core geeks that whine about the the current vacuous tentpole movies should stop seeing them.

4. The studios might claim in response to Red Letter Media... we DID give you a NEW tentpole movie this year JOHN CARTER, and you bastards didn't see it. We lost bigtime on it. But when we served up Avengers, everyone saw it twice. Fine... now you're getting another five Avengers.

[I personally think this ever-decreasing reboot time trend sucks as well, but I'm just trying to see it from the studio perspective. I too saw Prometheus, so I'm guilty of supporting lazy tentpole schlock]

Last edited by avatar (2012-07-10 16:48:31)

That doesn't account for legs though, sure Twilight and Harry Potter have never been great in that department, but LOTR, even for the time of year, did exceptionally well. And so did The Avengers and The Hunger Games, they had staying power because people liked them. Prometheus, for example, did not have that, it opened big and collapsed from there. Fox could only be disappointed by it.

And the sad thing is they're right. I really don't see this changing anytime soon. If anything, there's constantly more and more theaters worldwide, which just makes the audience bigger and bigger. Why WOULDN'T you continue doing what you're doing if it's working. If I was in their shoes I would objectively have to make the same call.