Tag Archives: Marvel

Jul 6 2012

Amazing Spider-man!

The Amazing Spider-man was simply amazing. I was skeptical of a Spider-man reboot so quickly after the last one wrapped up in 2007. The new “Amazing Spider-man” stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker (aka Spidey). Garfield’s interpretation of Parker can only be described what you’d imagine if James Dean played a superhero. The Parker we meet is still smart, but not quite the nerd as previously portrayed. He is a bit of a loner, but still your average high school boy, trying to fit in and talk to the girl he has a crush on.

The choices of Sally Field as Aunt May and Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben bring some energy to the roles often portrayed as frail, elderly and partly clueless. Field’s May is sharp and witty and lets us know she is made of stern stuff, the strength you know that will get her by as a widow. Sheen’s Ben is wise and kind and still an authority figure, one you know will instill the values that will make Spider-man. I’m comfortable I won’t spoil anything in saying, as my wife remarked, it’s sad that Sheen’s character has to die in the first hour.

 Rhys, who I loved his tour de force role as a wiry kicker in The Replacements, plays Doctor Connors, a brilliant geneticist, whose breakthroughs are, shall we say, pivotal to the plot.  Rhys again ads a great depth to a role we’ve seen before.
 We now come to one of my favorites: Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, a classmate, Parker’s crush and the daughter of a police Captain played by Denis Leary.  Stone does a great job as a modern heroine; she is not only pretty but proactive in her own defense.  She doesn’t need to wait to be rescued, but still will need it. I love Emma Stone in her roles in Zombieland as well as in Easy A. I hope her character sticks around for the next film.
The effects in the film are seamless. My greatest complaint in the previous films was you could tell when Spidey switched between CG and live action. Also, I almost applauded when he had a pice of technology to fire his webs from his wrists and he didn’t just start spinning them himself.
I loved this film and it is all thanks to the script and the exceptional acting in the cast.  I cant wait for a sequel. And if Marvel really wants to make my day, they’ll make one where Spider-man joins the Avengers just like in the pages of my comics.
May 5 2012

The Avengers

What happens when you put a group of super powered “humans” together in one place? In the DC universe you get the Super Friends aka Justice League, in the Marvel Universe you get the dysfunctional ego ridden Avengers. The hero’s of the Avengers are not only The World’s Mightiest Hero’s but some of the world’s most complex.
I have been waiting for this movie for years. The chance to see some of my favorite super hero’s on one screen has been a dream. I then heard that Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy VS, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse) was directing and I knew they had the right man of the job. Whedon is not only a terrific storyteller and creative director but he is a fanboy. His love for comics is well know and he in my eyes was the right person for the daunting task of wrangling the an A-list cast and the cast of characters, many of which have very, very complicated back stories starting in the 1930’s.
I have to say success was achieved. The first minutes of the film are filled with action and the action almost never stops. The story, which I won’t give anymore away than the trailers let you know, is about the origin of the Avengers as a team. The World facing alien invasion lead by Thor’s brother Loki and the effort by S.H.E.I.L.D the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, to combat the invasion by assembling the best we have to offer to fight it off.
I don’t think the success of this film would have been possible without the long wind up by Marvel Studios to make the previous Ironman, Capitan America, Thor and Hulk films. The back ground given in those films gave you a primer on the universe and the background on several of the characters involved. You didn’t have to be told that Tony Stark is an ego maniac or that Thor is not of this world or that Cap is true of heart and conviction. The small introduction you got to Black Widow in Ironman 2 and Hawkeye in Thor as well as the easter eggs involving Nick Fury at the end of each film go along way with giving the Avengers a running start.
The action is fast and the story is sound filled with good dialogue and jokes that will keep you and the kids laughing. You even got to see some of the matchup you’ve dreamed about as a kid like Thor vs. Hulk and speaking of the Hulk, Mark Ruffalo may have just made the definitive interpretation of Bruce Banner the Hulks less violent side. I think this is saying a lot considering that there have been two other actors portraying the Hulk in 2003 and 2008.

We’ve seen NYC blown up every way to Sunday. We seem to try to make it an art. The destruction was viewed by a detached bus mirror, through the back of a broken taxi window and in the reflection of the shattering glass of buildings. The creativity gave us a new way to look at the city we seem to love to destroy. I for one if living in the Marvel Universe would not want to live in New York which seems to have a disaster every week.
I loved this movie in case you couldn’t tell. I recommend it you adults and youngsters. The PG-13 rating seems to be for violence. The violence is often against nonhuman looking creatures. So Assemble your friends and head to the movies for Avengers.