Movie
in Review
This summer two of the most famous
and recognizable super heroes, Batman and Spider-Man, had major blockbuster
films released in the same month (July). As a fan of both heroes, naturally I
saw both films on opening day. I try my best to publish movie reviews as soon
as I see them, but I was on vacation between releases, so I could not post
separate articles for the films. Instead, I will review each film separately
and comparatively here as they may have different appeal. I strive to be
as objective as possible in my and rate each film
on based on a 5-star system.
The Amazing Spider Man
This film is a studio reboot of the
previous Spider-Man film franchise, previously a trilogy directed by Sam Raimi
and staring Toby McGuire. (This film was directed by Marc Webb and stars Andrew
Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man). As such, this version had to take a
completely different approach. Not only is this film darker and more
character-driven than the more traditional Raimi films, but the story is
altered so that Peter’s parents are just as important to Peter’s origin as
Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). Don’t misunderstand me, Martin Sheen does a great job
as Uncle Ben and he really sells Ben's influence on Peter. The difference is,
in this adaptation—unlike most earlier
versions—Peter was old enough to
remember his parents before they disappeared, so he felt more of a connection
with them. Besides that single change, the story is solid and the characters
are likable, particularly Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and his
first girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). What I enjoyed most about this movie
was the humor. While The Amazing Spider
Spider-man’s story is a slightly darker drama and takes itself more
seriously than the films, original Spider-Man
films directed by Sam Raimi, one problem some fans (including me) had with
Raimi’s films is that they did not portray the Spider-Man character as funny. In
this film, Webb is able to juxtapose the dramatic story with a comedic
Spider-Man. For the nerds like me, this
is more faithful to the original comic book character, because when Peter puts
on the mask, he is a different person from the Peter in his average life. As
Spider-man, he’s cocky and will often make light of the villain or the
situation. This dual characterization is something the Sam Raimi movies sometimes
forgot. This movie doesn’t, and I found it quite refreshing. Every scene with
Spider-Man is enjoyable to watch for both the humor and the action. One flaw
that I will point out is that the climax is a little overdrawn and stretches
disbelief at times. It’s hard to elaborate without giving too much away, but
there’s a lot that has to happen to get to the final scene and some of it
happens too quickly to make sense, when you think about it (The Dark Knight Rises has this problem
too). Otherwise, The Amazing Spider-Man
is a well-executed thrill-ride start to finish. If you’re a Spider-Man fan, you
will like this movie.
The Dark Knight Rises
The final super hero movie this
year, The Dark Knight Rises, was also
the final film in director Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of Batman movies.
Whereas you may not necessarily have to see Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films before seeing The
Amazing Spider-Man, I recommend having watched Batman Begins and The Dark
Knight before seeing this film, because it is truly played as the finale.
If you aren’t familiar with the other two films, (especially the first) you may
not understand or appreciate this film as well as you could otherwise. The
story is less about the Batman character as it is about Gotham city and Bruce
Wayne adjusting to the aftermath of The
Dark Knight. Apparently, Batman has cleaned up the city of its criminals,
but at the expense of his body. Now, he is not Batman, but a beaten up, worn
out Bruce Wayne. You may be thinking, “Where is the powerful Batman in this
Batman movie?” Don’t worry, as long as trouble finds its way to Gotham City,
Batman will surface, weakened or not, willing once again to put his life on the
line to protect Gotham City. And “Oh Boy!” is there trouble in Gotham. First,
Bruce is introduced to the master thief/love interest Salina Kyle, a.k.a.
Catwoman. We also meet Bain, the incredibly strong and highly intelligent
member of the League of Shadows—the cult from the first film—that trained Bruce
to fight crime with the ultimate goal of destroying Gotham. Does all that seem
a little complicated? It is, especially when you add subplots about the police department,
represented by Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), and John Blake (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt), dealing with the aftermath of the Harvey Dent scandal from the
last film. However, if there is one thing screenwriters Christopher and
Jonathan Nolan do well, it’s making complicated plots easy to follow. Just like
in The Dark Knight, the right
exposition comes right where you need it. It’s not boring or wasteful. Like the
overall plot, it can get hard to follow at times. There’s a lot of movie to pay
attention to (165 minutes of it). But as I said, Nolan brothers always do a
great job of keeping you informed and entertained throughout the film. This
screenplay, while not quite as polished as The
Dark Knight’s, is nonetheless very good, and the acting is likewise superb.
Yes, Christian Bale still puts on that over-the top voice for Batman, which is
even sillier in this film. But Bale does a great job playing Bruce Wayne, and
the rest of the cast is top- notch—including the before-mentioned Oldman and Gordon-Levitt—as
well as the villains Bain and Catwoman—played by Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway respectively.
There is one other flaw to this film; and that is that the obligatory Chris
Nolan twist ending has a few problems with it—not the least being that if you aren’t
familiar with the Batman comics, then there’s a good chance you’ll be even more
confused. Those viewers, who are familiar with the Batman comics like me, are
more likely to understand and appreciate the ending, but if you’re not
familiar, you will probably be left with more questions.
As stated above, The Dark Knight Rises and The
Amazing Spider-Man are both worth watching, but for very different reasons.
The Amazing Spider-Man is more like a
typical superhero action film, whereas The
Dark Knight Rises is more of a psychological thriller and
character-study. Both films have action
(Spider-Man a little more), and both films have drama (The Dark Knight Rises a little more). While
I gave Spider-Man a higher
star-rating, I liked The Dark Knight
Rises a little better. This is because, while The Dark Knight Rises has more flaws than The Amazing Spider-Man, I appreciated and enjoyed it
more—despite them. Your tastes may differ from mine.
Both movies are available on DVD or
Blu-Ray this holiday season.
