ScreenCrave.com » spider-man

Four-Minute ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Preview Shows Lizard Battle, Heavy Spoilers

Travis Woods — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:44:52 +0000

It’s the summer movie season of 2012. What does that mean? Well, it means that you’ll essentially be seeing at least 20 minutes of every major movie weeks before they are released, thanks to lengthy clips, spoiler-heavy trailers, and online features released seemingly every hour onto the internet. Today’s newest example? A four-minute The Amazing Spider-Man trailer, which features a full (and admittedly pretty cool) bridge battle/ rescue, some heavy Lizard fighting, and a lot of glimpses into Peter Parker’s mysterious past. Check it out after the jump.

Aside from the major bridge scene (that echoes, intentionally or not, the train “sacrifice” scene in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2), and some Spidey vs. Lizard business near the end, most of the four-minute clip is simply expansions of scenes we’ve seen in previous trailers, while at the same time dropping even more spoilers than the last few rounds of advertising.

It’s still hard to get a lock on the film’s tone, as various advertising has the film appearing to be a dark fantasy-adventure, a more light-hearted take on the Spider-Man character, and a CGI mish-mash mess of web-slinging throughout New York City. Perhaps the film is a mix of all of the above, or some combination; give us a few more clips of this size and we’ll probably be able to piece the entire film together for you.

The Amazing Spider-Man premieres on July 3.

What did you think of the clip?

Source: /Film

New ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Trailer Features More Lizard, CGI Web-Slinging, And NYC

Travis Woods — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:54:05 +0000

Can’t wait until The Avengers premiers on Thursday night at midnight to catch attached prints of the new The Amazing Spider-Man trailer, replete with its heavy-handed CGI web-slinging throughout the city (looks like some things just haven’t improved since the Sam Raimi days), copious shots of the villainous villain, more jokes, and more immersive 3D shots of New York City? Well, rest easy—we have the new trailer right after the jump.

Featuring far more shots of Spider-Man slinging throughout the city, The Amazing Spider-Man seems to carry with it some of the cartoonish CGI that marred some of the cityscape shots of Raimi’s take on the franchise—hopefully the film is still set to receive a CGI polish between now and the film’s July 3 premiere.

Elsewhere, we get more of the film’s backstory, in which Peter Parker’s (Andrew Garfield) abilities seem to be tied to the disappearance of his parents, Parker reveals his superhero identity to girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and does battle with The Lizard (Rhys Ifans).

Nothing particularly revelatory, although the trailer reveals the film’s silly sense of humor, which is nice—not every film needs to be a gritty, Christopher Nolan-esque reboot, right? Still, it’s enough to keep us excited for the film’s release in July 3.

What do you think of the trailer?

First Official Images Of The Lizard From ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Have Been Released

Travis Woods — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:41:07 +0000

Between the megahype concerning The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and Prometheus, you may have forgotten that a certain wall-crawler is getting a reboot this summer. As such, Sony is planning on releasing a new trailer today for the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man reboot just to remind fans that it exists. And as we count down to the new trailer’s premiere, Sony has offered up the first official pictures of the film’s villain, The Lizard.

Portrayed by Rhys Ifans (and a whole lot of CGI), The Lizard is Curt Connors, a scientist who, in developing research into the regenerative power of lizards (Connors is missing an arm, you see), accidentally transformers himself into a hulking beast that terrorizes New York City.

And, as you can see from the imagery below, Sony has gone with the “classic” Lizard look from the Spider-Man comics: the massive claws, the swinging tail, and, most importantly, the lab coat.

No word yet on who the Lizard is roughing up in the photo below, or why the poor guy’s skin looks so green and mottled—perhaps he’s been infected with the same Lizard mutagen as Connors? Only time, and ceaseless fan speculation without any foundation whatsoever, will tell.

The Amazing Spider-Man is set for a July 3, 2012 release.

What do you think of the new Lizard shots? Will you be seeing The Amazing Spider-Man?

Source: /Film

Is ‘Iron Man’ Wearing Out His Welcome?

Joseph Doherty — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Since exploding onto the screen in 2008, Marvel’s Iron Man has imbedded himself into the pop culture. In addition to headlining two Hollywood blockbusters, the character made a scene stealing cameo appearance in 2008′s The Incredible Hulk and will be featured prominently in The Avengers, which hits theaters Friday. But with Iron Man 3 well in the works, it begs the question – “Is the character wearing out his welcome?”

Looking back at the first Iron Man, it’s a minor miracle that the character became so big – it seemed poised to fail. Iron Man was a second tier superhero that lacked the mythic nature and pathos of a Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man. And Robert Downey Jr. – while being an enormously talented actor – never had to shoulder this sort of big-budget motion picture before, and a lot was riding on his metal outfit.

Behind the camera, you had Jon Favreau, who was known to bring an independent sensibility – including lots of improvisation – to any project he worked on. Arming him with a $140 million budget was a gamble for studio bosses. In the end, Favreau and Downey had the last laugh, crafting a well-rounded and occasionally riveting film. Iron Man had arrived and fans rejoiced.

But this has proven to be a blessing and a curse for both the character and star. Landing the role of Tony Stark gave Robert Downey Jr. a huge outlet to showcase his talents. and his Stark is one of the most debonair superheroes to ever grace the screen. Downey rocketed to the top of the A-list, becoming one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. However, his performance as Tony Stark is so iconic that Downey has become imprisoned by it. With the exception of Tropic Thunder (which was filmed before Iron Man was released), Downey has played a series of characters much in the same vein as Stark – his Sherlock Holmes is Stark with a British accent Though he can sell a one-liner with the best of them, Downey is capable of so much more.

As for Iron Man, Marvel has certainly done their job in saturating the market with toys, video games, and film appearances of the character in recent years. While Downey’s cameo in The Incredible Hulk provided a much needed jolt to an otherwise tame motion picture, cracks in the franchise began to show with the release of Iron Man 2. Though it had all the effects and action money could buy, the memorable characters got lost in the mix, including Tony Stark. Iron Man did a wonderful job of laying the groundwork for Stark as a three dimensional character and the sequel failed to build on that. It failed, period.

It looks as though the character’s appearance in the upcoming Avengers film will offer more of the same. Sure, Downey will deliver his characteristic rock-solid performance and The Avengers should go on to become one of the highest grossing films of the year, but is it a sin to ask for a little more substance? There is no question that Iron Man is still at his zenith commercially., but there could be a backlash if the films don’t become more artistically ambitious.

In December 2010, it was announced that Jon Favreau passed on directing Iron Man 3 and writer/director Shane Black would be stepping in. Having only helmed the action-comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (though famous for his scripts for Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout) it is hard to get a read on where Black will take the franchise. Last week at CinemaCon, he dropped a few subtle hints saying the film will be a thriller and incorporate elements of war and terrorism. More intriguing was that Black said the Tony Stark character will be seriously tested by these elements. Hopefully, Shane Black remains true to his word and gets back to the kind of deep-rooted character development featured in the first Iron Man. The last thing we want is Iron Man becoming the next Pirates of the Caribbean, another once-innovative franchise that was drowned in a sea of greed and repetition.

Do you think ‘Iron Man’ is wearing out his welcome?

‘Amazing Spider-Man 2′ Script Being Re-Worked By ‘Transformers’ And ‘Star Trek’ Writing Team

Travis Woods — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:36:29 +0000

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci—the scriptwriting team has been responsible for some massive blockbusters, from the Transformers franchise (sigh) to the rebooted Star Trek and it’s upcoming sequel, along with creating the Fringe TV series (they also wrote The Island and The Legend of Zorro which, along with the Transformers franchise, we’re working to forgive them for). Now, they’ve been asked to re-work the script to a sequel for a film that hasn’t even been released yet—The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Though The Amazing Spider-Man isn’t set to hit theaters until July 3 of this summer, work has already begun on the sequel, which is set for a May 2, 2014 release. The first draft of the film has already been written by Amazing Spider-Man scribe James Vanderbilt, and now Kurtzman and Orci are being brought in by Sony to rework the piece.

According to Spider-Man producer Matt Tolmach, the duo was brought in because they “have a unique ability to write great character and spectacular action that makes them pitch perfect for Spider-Man. They’ve been friends of ours for a long time and they have an exciting take on the franchise – we’re thrilled to have them join the Spider-Man family.”

Further, the duo themselves released a statement announcing how pleased they are at adding another jewel of awesome nerdity to their resumé :

“We grew up as huge Spider-Man fans so, to us, the opportunity to work on this film is akin to being handed the Holy Grail. We love the direction Sony and the filmmakers are taking the Peter Parker/Spider-Man mythology and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this legendary franchise.”

What do you think of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 News?

Source: ComingSoon

The Final ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Poster Is Out

Travis Woods — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:48:41 +0000

What with all the rumbling due to the ever-nearer Avengers release in May, as well as the new pictures from The Dark Knight Rises, you’d almost be forgiven for forgetting that a certain wall-crawler has a new reboot out this summer… which is why Sony picked the perfect moment to release the final one-sheet for The Amazing Spider-Man today, just to remind us that their web-slinger will be entering the superhero fray in Summer 2012.

Nothing too shocking is revealed here (But then, you didn’t really expect any major spoilers did you? Although, one hopes we’ll get some kind of warning if there’s going to be a emo-Spidey like last time)—instead we get some bold imagery that hints at events to come. Spider-Man appears to be bound within his own webbing (caught in a mess of his own making, perhaps?) and sporting some slashes across his chest, with are likely courtesy of the film’s villain, The Lizard.

Oh, and of course, the poster mentions that the film is the latest to be treated in 3D. While the three dimensions trend got old long ago, the 3D scenes at preview screening we attended earlier this year were pretty solid and entertaining. Hopefully, it works for the film’s full two hours and change running time.

The Amazing Spider-Man is set for a July 3 release—will you be attending?

Source: /Film

To The Point: Five Problems with Franchise Blockbusters

Damon Houx — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:00:32 +0000

I liked The Hunger Games. A lot. I have no problem with that. But I think that it’s also a film that should be graded on a curve, the franchise/blockbuster curve to which Hollywood seems most comfortable turning everything into (they’re trying to make a Horrible Bosses 2). As such, it’s worth noting that these films – including The Dark Knight - have very noticeable flaws. Here are the top five problems with every blockbuster franchise film.

1. They are Always Too Long and Made by People with Limited Range

We’re in the era where more is more, and most event films have around two and a half hour run times. It almost makes the original Spider-Man feel short in comparison in that it’s just barely over two hours (and the first X-Men positively anemic with it’s under two hour run time). Length isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but what often happens in big event filmmaking is that there’s a sag toward the end. Usually it’s because there’s a big action scene in the middle and the film then has to ramp up again from there. What that often means is that the third act feels a bit saggy. The Dark Knight is a prime example of this, it peaks with Joker’s big plan and the final building section gets a bit tiring. And I like that movie, but still.

The directors often have their specialties. Outside of Steven Spielberg (who pooped the bed with his Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull), most filmmakers excel in certain areas and fail in others. Michael Bay does great special effects work, but his performers are usually left to their own devices. Christopher Nolan picks one action scene to concentrate on, but the rest is usually not that great (Inception has the zero gravity fight, but the stuff in the snow is borderline incomprehensible). Gary Ross is great with the actors, but when he has to deliver action it goes for the shakey cam. Et cetera. To be fair, Paul Greengrass – with his Bourne films – is one of the best.

2. In Servicing the Hardcore Fans, The Films Feel Incomplete

From the last Harry Potter movies to The Hunger Games, we’re seeing elements of the films that don’t really add to or explain the narrative that are there (or forgiven) because they’re a part of the source material. Liam Hemsworth‘s character in Games has literally nothing to do for much of the film but watch Katniss. Though it’s an interesting idea, it doesn’t pay off – at least in the film proper. He’s a sequel ringer, and that may make his role more important when the franchise is done, but in the film it feels like it’s spending too much time with a character who has nothing to do. Or – in the case of the Potter films – they don’t really explain basic storytelling elements, like how Harry Potter survives as he does in the movie. It’s somewhat spelled out in the first half of Deathly Hallows, but even though the last film is very long, that Harry can withstand a death curse is not really established in the film. That’s just bad storytelling. But in both cases the faithful don’t care, because they know.

3. There Will Be Great Actors Slumming

Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci, Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, John Turturro, Bill Nighy, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and many other great actors have no problem working in films like Clash of the Titans, Transformers, The Hunger Games and the Harry Potter films even if they have a couple minutes of screen time and little character development. Often this is about a big paycheck for little work, so who can blame them, but it seems they are there to give gravitas to lesser and sometimes terrible material. The problem is that they usually have nothing to do or play. They’re there to be recognizable more than deliver good performances.

4. Not Really About Much

Arguably Superhero films are about responsibility and duty, and the Potter films are about growing up and also responsibility, but there’s generally very little going on under the surface. The Dark Knight was made slightly more interesting (even if thematically it’s muddled) because it dealt with surveillance and terrorism. But suggesting that the Joker is a version of Osama Bin Laden gets the point confused. The Hunger Games at least uses modern senses of television and gladiators as Reality television, but even there, it’s hard to suggest that it’s saying too much. Watching these movies is ephemeral. And that’s fine, I don’t know if they need to deal with weighty issues, but it also makes them forgettable and age poorly, especially with their self-evident flaws.

5. They are Virtually Impossible to Kill

What if The Dark Knight Rises is a bad movie? What if the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels are terrible? It doesn’t matter. There’s virtually no doubt that The Dark Knight Rises will make $300 Million domestically. There’s no doubt the film won’t open above $100 Million dollars opening weekend. Part of that is the goodwill for that franchise, but who liked Transformers 2 (other than Armond White)? Shouldn’t Transformers 3 have taken more of a hit from the second film sucking? Though it didn’t make as much domestically as the second film (which did over $400 Million), it still made north of $350 Million domestically, and over a billion worldwide.

And if a series falters or the creative team decide to close off the series? With The Amazing Spider-Man we get the corporate answer: Reboot. And even when an audience rejects an franchise film, like they did with Superman Returns, again reboot. To be fair, sometimes this works. See: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. And if they’re running out of material, why not make the source material into two parts for maximum profit? These are decisions made not because of art (which has never really been the case), but name recognition. And we as audiences keep falling for it. But now that we’ve seen the last book of Harry Potter in split into two films, we can also now see that they don’t fit together that well, and it doesn’t work as a five hour narrative.

These aren’t bad films, it’s just frustrating that they all show the same problems, which often come about from having piecemeal scripts. As we near the summer, you’re going to be seeing a lot of this.

What’s your biggest problem with Blockbusters?

Sony Is Still Pushing For A ‘Venom’ Reboot About The Spider-Man Super Villain

Travis Woods — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:06:03 +0000

Apparently, Sony agrees with our earlier news post today in which I stated that mainstream cinema only has, essentially, six primary types– films that Adam Sandler or Katherine Heigl would star in, films in 3-D, comic book adaptations, sequels, TV show adaptations, and genre vs. genre mashups—because they’ve let slip that they are working on a film that is both a comic book adaptation, a loose sequel, and something that would likely be in 3-D: a Venom film.

Yes, Venom, the Spider-Man villain, may be making a return to the big screen. He was previously portrayed by Topher Grace (yeah, we don’t know why, either) and featured in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3: Seriously, How Much Sh** Can We Toss At The Wall And See What Sticks? Because We’ve Got, Like, $300 Million To Spend, So Let’s Just Go Nuts And Screw The Franchise Into The Ground, and has long been rumored to get his own spin-off quasi-sequel.

But then came news of the death of Raimi’s Spider-Man continuity and the reboot of the franchise via The Amazing Spider-Man, so we all assumed than any logical, clear-thinking Hollywood executive in charge of development would put the kibosh on Venom. We, of course, were wrong—Sony is in talks with Chronicle director Josh Trank to make a Venom film. Whether or not the film will interact in any way with the new reboot’s continuity also remains to be seen. What is known, though, is that the last time a comic book villain got a spin-off film outside of the main franchise’s continuity, we got Halle Berry’s Catwoman. So, brace yourselves.

What do you think of the Venom news?

Source: The AV Club

‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ International Trailer Debuts New Footage

Travis Woods — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:37:11 +0000

Just last week, we showed you the, frankly, pretty awesome new trailer of the upcoming Spidey reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man. We also reported back from a screening of about 10 minutes of new, uncut Spider-Man footage—the first real shots of the Lizard, some NYC web-slinging, and more. Now, we’ve got the international The Amazing Spider-Man trailer, which features four new shots from the 3-D action/ comic book flick.

The trailer isn’t terribly different from the U.S. version, but at this point, considering how impressed we were with that original trailer as well as the uncut preview footage, we’ll take what we can get, even if it is just a tiny bit:

As far as the storyline goes, we noted in the preview “it seems that Peter Parker’s father, and possibly his untimely death, are tied into the early history of Doc Connors; Gwen Stacy’s dead unmasks Spider-Man in front of an armed police squad in the middle of a busy city street; and we get to see Pete construct his web-slingers, as featured in the comics.”

The Amazing Spider-Man will be released on July 3 in 3-D, and is directed by Marc Webb.

What did you think of the new clip?

The Official Trailer For ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Has Been Released

Travis Woods — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:46:30 +0000

As we noted on Monday, we were able to attend a sneak preview of new Amazing Spider-Man footage, along with the official trailer… and now, the trailer has been released for everyone to see. Curious as to what The Lizard looks like? Do the shots of Spidey web-slinging across New York look less CGI-y than the Sam Raimi films? Can Andrew Garfield pull off playing a high school student? Check out the trailer after the jump for answers.

While this trailer seemed much more epic on the big screen and in 3-D, it’s still not bad, even in a compressed YouTube fashion:

So what did you think? Yes, it’s retelling the origin story of Spider-Man and yes, it features another scientist gone mad after an experiment goes awry, but in all, we think the trailer looks great. In it, we get a look at the dynamic between Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and her dad (and it’s complicated), we see the cocky, sarcastic humor of Parker as Spider-Man, and we catch glimpses of the creature known as The Lizard. More importantly, something that was on ever more of a display at Monday’s screening can be witnessed—while this may be a special effects-laden comic book film, it’s one that seems deeply focused on characters. Unlike the last few Marvel films, The Amazing Spider-Man seems less interested in franchise building, or setting up other films, and is more about telling a new and exciting story about characters that fans cherish.

Is it July 3 yet?

What did you think of the trailer?

First Look: 10 Minutes Of New ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Footage Reviewed!

Travis Woods — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:57:36 +0000

Warning! Some spoilers!!

OK, Spider-Man fans, have I got some news for you: after having just left a screening of the new Amazing Spider-Man trailer (check it out) as well as about 10 minutes of new footage, I can say this: any doubts or fears about this reboot not living up to the potential, heart and scope of the first two Sam Raimi Spidey-ficks can now be dispelled. Amazing, indeed.

Given, the special screening (held worldwide in various theaters, from here in L.A. to New York, London, Rio, Tokyo and more) wasn’t of the whole film, and so a complete and total opinion cannot yet be formed. That said, we were given several extended glimpses into the lives of Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, Dr. Connors/Lizard, and more, and despite all the flashy special effects (some of which were not completed, some of which were breathtaking), what really caught hold were the performances and moments between characters. The upcoming film seems to be—again, judging by the footage seen today—not just a Marvel cash-in on a popular name brand, but also a genuine attempt to translate the Spider-Man franchise into a more “realistic” and human series of films than the previous three.

Complaints? If there were any, it was that once again we seem to be watching Spider-Man fighting a good scientist whose experiments have driven him mad. Beyond that, nada. Spoilers? Well, it seems that Peter Parker’s father, and possibly his untimely death, are tied into the early history of Doc Connors; Gwen Stacy’s dead unmasks Spider-Man in front of an armed police squad in the middle of a busy city street; and we get to see Pete construct his web-slingers, as featured in the comics.

In all, it seemed as if director Mark Webb has attempted to wed the epic and dramatic heft of the wonderfully grandiose and operatic first two Spider-Man films with gritty realism of a certain Christopher Nolan franchise that has now become the yardstick for “realistic” comic book films, making The Amazing Spider-Man shoot up from a film I was mildly curious about and into a movie I cannot wait to see.

PS: The Lizard in 3-D? Gotta admit, it was the coolest thing I’ve seen on the big screen in quite awhile.

What do you think of the Spider-Man news?

Latest Avengers Pictures and Superhero Cameo Rumors

Damon Houx — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:12:50 +0000

With less than four months to go until the launch of the The Avengers, we’re getting all sorts of stories, pictures and rumors about the film, which has a May 4 release date. Of late, Empire Magazine has had four character-specific covers, there’s hints at what the film’s Hulk might look like, and a completely baseless rumor about a possible Marvel franchise cross-over. Take a look….

Empire has four covers for the movie with Robert Downey Jr., Scarlet Johansson, Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth, and you can view those on their site, or right here:

Empire also has a sculpture for the upcoming Hulk Toy, and here’s some artwork from the likely film-approved comic-book tie-in.

But the most iffy news to come out is that Jenny Agutter (best known for her work in such films as Walkabout and An American Werewolf in London) was interviewed by The Radios Times, and talked about her role in the film where she mentioned how much secrecy was involved in making the movie. Though Agutter is not directly quoted, she supposedly shared Winnebagos with Iron Man and – more interestingly Spider-Man. Spider-Man is currently owned cinematically by Sony, and though it’s possible that the companies could work out some sort of cross-over for promotion, it seems more likely that the journalist or Miss Agutter are not all that comic-book savvy and thought the web-slinger was in the film. But what is the internet for if not baseless speculation?

What is the internet for if not baseless specualtion?

ScreenCrave.com » spider-man

Four-Minute ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Preview Shows Lizard Battle, Heavy Spoilers

Related Posts

New ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Trailer Features More Lizard, CGI Web-Slinging, And NYC

Related Posts

First Official Images Of The Lizard From ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Have Been Released

Related Posts

Is ‘Iron Man’ Wearing Out His Welcome?

Related Posts

‘Amazing Spider-Man 2′ Script Being Re-Worked By ‘Transformers’ And ‘Star Trek’ Writing Team

Related Posts

The Final ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Poster Is Out

Related Posts

To The Point: Five Problems with Franchise Blockbusters

1. They are Always Too Long and Made by People with Limited Range

2. In Servicing the Hardcore Fans, The Films Feel Incomplete

3. There Will Be Great Actors Slumming

4. Not Really About Much

5. They are Virtually Impossible to Kill

Related Posts

Sony Is Still Pushing For A ‘Venom’ Reboot About The Spider-Man Super Villain

Related Posts

‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ International Trailer Debuts New Footage

Related Posts

The Official Trailer For ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Has Been Released

Related Posts

First Look: 10 Minutes Of New ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Footage Reviewed!

Related Posts

Latest Avengers Pictures and Superhero Cameo Rumors

Related Posts