Film Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

The first thing that hits you about The Amazing Spider-Man is the same thing people have been saying since the film was announced. It's too soon. And, yes this reboot comes just ten years after Sam Raimi released his first Spider-Man film, and only 5 years after his last.

That last film was pretty bad, but not bad enough to warrant a franchise reboot, but here we are. With a new take on the origin story of Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man. But does it really add anything? Surprisingly, the answer is yes, and in a big way.

This time round the metamorphosis into Spider-Man isn't by chance, like in the first film from 2002. There, Peter Parker (then played by Tobey Maguire) just happened to be on a school trip where he just happened to be bitten by a radioactive spider. This time everything ties in with the main plot of the film, and it serves the film much better from a story and character point of view.

"At least I don't look stupid..."

After discovering some old papers of his parents, who mysteriously died years ago, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) follows the clues within them to Oscorp, and Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), and whilst there suffers a bite from a radioactive spider, changing his life forever.

With everything tying in with the plot, the characters are far better than the previous Spider-Man films. Andrew Garfield makes for a far more interesting Spidey than Tobey Maguire, and the same can be said for Emma Stone as love interest Gwen Stacey over Kirsten Dunsts Mary Jane. And even better, Garfield and Stone have far greater on-screen chemistry as a couple.

Where the character and story are stronger, the action is slightly weaker than its predecessors. Obviously, when you have a director like Sam Raimi, you are always going to get a very interesting style, a style that new director Marc Webb has yet to attain. But the action sequences are competent, and the film even harkens back to the first Raimi with a big  'Don't mess with New York' moment.

One moment I knew that was going to tug on the heart strings from the moment it was announced was Martin Sheen playing Uncle Ben. Even if you're not a comic book fan, you should know what happens there, and it's highly emotional stuff. And there's a callback to it near the end of the film that if you don't well up, you have no soul.

If the film had one point letting itself down, it would probably be the lead villain of the Lizard. Through no fault of Ifans, it just doesn't become that interesting a character, and that side of things is let down a bit.

When it comes down to it, it all depends on what you want out of the film. If it's slam-bam action with crazy camera work, then the Sam Raimi films will do you. But if you want more interesting characters, and a richer plot then the new Amazing Spider-Man is well worth a watch.

****
A new and improved Spider-Man, with a new and improved love interest to boot. Great performances and story, slightly let down by a weak villain. Just edges out Raimi's original. Just.

Film Review: American Reunion

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the American Pie franchise. At the time, I found the original as amusing as the next person, although I fear for it's rewatch value. As for the sequel, memories aren't too great, and I never bothered the other sequels and DTV efforts that have been constantly released up till the announcement of a movie reuniting the original cast...

Jim (Jason Biggs), Stifler (Seann William Scott), Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and the rest of the gang all return home for their high school reunion, but who has grown up and who hasn't? That's pretty much all the synopsis, you can kinda guess where it goes from there.

American Reunion is nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. It's not that great, but there are at least a few amusing moments. A failed attempt by Jim to watch some online porn whilst his wife Michelle is in the shower is thwarted by their baby son is a scene that elicited a couple of (immature) chuckles from me, and pretty much every scene with Jim's Dad (the ever brilliant Eugene Levy) were also good, including a part where he's signed up to a Jewish online dating site. And of course Stifler gets a few good lines in, but most of them fall flat.

There's a couple of new characters in the film that impress. Regular readers of the blog know how I rate Katrina Bowden as comedy actress (although she was utterly wasted in Piranha 3DD), and she has some great moments as Oz' (Chris Klein) new girlfriend, Mia, whose best moments are when her character is...utterly wasted.

The gang belatedly return

Also playing a brilliant douchebag boss (of Stifler) is Chuck alumni Vik Sahay. It would be good to see him in more stuff now Chuck has come to an end.

Everyone and everything else about the film is sadly pretty predictable. From the outset, you know exactly where everyone's storyline is going. You can see the inevitable 'bust up, only to be reunited' bit coming from several miles away, and the only surprising bit is how quickly and easily they patch everything up.

I guess it's admirable that they managed to get everyone back, but for someone who only saw the first two back when they first came out, I had no idea as to who some of the minor characters were. I had no idea John Cho was the first 'MILF guy' till now! So I imagine a lot of the jokes and references will work for fans of the franchise.

Some of the returns did cause a few raised eyebrows. Tara Reid (Vicky) has of course a few nasty looking run-ins with the plastic surgeons knife since the original film (Google it, it's pretty grim) but somehow emerges  looking exactly the same as she did in 1999. Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia) on the other hand now looks nothing like how she used to, and it's a good thing she was only in one scene, as it seemed liked a replacement actress scenario!

The nagging factor for me during this film is that no one would go to the cinema to see a film with these guys on their own (with the possible exception of Seann William Scott, who still manages to get the odd big film in), but together it's somehow OK? It's not even like they are a great ensemble cast or anything. The franchise tried to do the films with different, younger actors and that didn't work. And now the original cast, and it' still not very good. It may be time to finally end the American Pie franchise...

**
I'll give it 2 stars as there was some amusing moments peppered throughout, but it's just all too predictable and generic. Hope this is the end of the road for the franchise.