The Amazing Spiderman 2

Spiderman is a well-established comic book hero. His story is part of common knowledge, so the big death happening in this movie should not be spoiler for you. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, walk away, walk away now. You probably shouldn’t be watching a movie about a guy bitten by a radioactive spider, saving a town dressed in red&blue spandex anyway.

So, spoiler alert provided, this is the moment when Gwen Stacy dies. I walked through adolescence helped by Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman, and his true love will always be Mary Jane Watson. Therefore, no tears here for Gwen Stacy, the blonde getting in the way of my favorite redhdead.

That being said, were Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone that sexy together in the first film? Because, in this one, I couldn’t get enough of them. Eating ice-cream, kissing in the broom closet, they were incredibly hot and I could listen to conversations like that all night (while drinking wine and eating gallons of ice-cream).

One of the villains has a classic comic book story: Electro (Jamie Foxx) is a guy ignored by everyone until he has a terrible accident. The other, however, is the Green Goblin, and they jumped straight to Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) putting on the suit, no Norman Osborn flying around in this franchise. Also, they set up the plot for the Sinister Six in the next movie. It’s also worth mentioning Felicity Jones (currently starring in the Oscar-nominated The Theory of Everything) as Felicia, Harry’s assistant. Not because she’s climbed the Holywood ladder, but because Felicia is the one who turns into the Black Cat.

It’s a fun movie, I liked it. And that’s a lot considering I see Spider-Man 2 (the original one, made by Sam Raimi in 2004) as the best super-hero film ever made. If you’re from my generation, try that one. If you’re younger, go for the new sexy franchise. Enjoy!

The Amazing Spider-Man

Primul film cu Spiderman a fost in 2002, adica acum zece ani. Trilogia aia s-a terminat in 2007. Nici 5 ani mai tarziu, niste „oameni importanti” au simtit nevoia sa ia povestea de la capat, pentru ca Sam Raimi era prea incapatanat pentru viziunea lor avida de incasari uriase. Eram in liceu cand a aparut primul film, si tot ce stiam despre super-eroii universului Marvel invatasem de pe FOX Kids. O moda s-a lansat atunci, care m-a prins si nu m-a mai lasat nici pana azi (anul asta am cerut de ziua mea jucarii Avengers – am primit cu Game of Thrones, just as good and a very happy geek here, thankyouverymuch 😀 ).

Deci…aceeasi poveste, alt ambalaj, am incercat sa-i dau o sansa. Chiar am incercat. Si filmul e bun, daca ai 14 ani si nu ai auzit inca expresia „With great power comes great responsability” (Martin Sheen ar fi putut totusi sa o spuna). Acest Peter Parker e inca in liceu, unde ramane pana inclusiv la sfarsitul fimului, e mai fraier si muuult mai balbait. Daca Tobey Maguire a fost un super-erou neasteptat de reusit, Andrew Garfield, este, din pacate, unul asteptat foarte mult si putin cam prafuit. Au spus bine povestea, au legat frumos totul, dar multi stiam deja o versiune de care suntem atasati. Frumoase scenele cu orasul, totusi.

Pe langa Martin Sheen mai apar Sally Field, in rolul matusii May, Rhys Ifans, care este The Lizard, nu Green Goblin, si Denis Leary in rolul prea scurt al capitanului Stacy – Leary merita mai mult timp pe ecran, mai ales ca aici ii cam tine locul lui J. Jonah Jameson. Iar Emma Stone este fata lui, Gwen Stacy, care, conform benzilor desenate, este iubita lui Peter din facultate. Sunt unii care considera ca Gwen este marea iubire a lui Peter, dar se inseala: Mary Jane Watson este jumatatea lui Peter Parker si ma astept sa o vad in filmul urmator, in care Gwen ar trebui sa moara.

Si a mai fost o chestie – parintii lui Peter au murit intr-un ciudat accident de avion, dar e cu dus-intors. Ar fi urat sa ne trezim cu ei in filmul urmator. Nu stiu daca povestea asta apare in benzile desenate, dar daca nu…urat.

In final, ce mi-a placut mie mereu la filmele cu Spiderman este conflictul lui interior, de ce face ceea ce face, cum impaca viata de erou mascat cu cea de om normal, umorul lui Peter in ciuda tuturor problemelor – au reusit sa pastreze ceva din magia asta, iar din aceasta cauza ar trebui sa vedeti filmul. Spiderman a fost primul super-erou adolescent care nu era side-kick-ul cuiva, si care nu a avut cine stie ce indrumari din alta parte. Este mai fresh daca vreti, nu are un trecut tumultos si intunecat ca altii, nici o misiune mareata de salvare a planetei. E doar paianjenul de treaba din vecini. Enjoy!

The Social Network

Oscar week continues with one of the best movies from 2010 (some say it’s the best, i say it’s second best). The Social Network is a good movie. Period. It’s based on a real-life and very actual success-story, the main character is not the usually adorably-moral guy and the end is bitter-sweet. For someone who only likes happy-endings, I found this movie enlightening.

However…Aaron Sorkin. I used to love the guy.He’s responsible for such jewels as Sports Night (I’ve talked about this one before, a 2 season comedy series you have to see), The West Wing (best president the US could ever have and will never have) and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (another jewel cut short by greedy studio executives). And then he goes and makes this…where is the smart dialogue? It’s not bad, true, but it’s also not great. All of the above TV series had so much more soul, so many smart comments and intrigues you couldn’t even follow in the re-runs. But this? I was disappointed when, after seeing the movie, I found out Sorkin was involved.

The story was great, and it must have been really difficult to figure out how to make Zuckerberg look. You go and explain how he legally diluted only Saverin’s shares, without affecting his share or Parker’s one. Or what’s the truth behind the story with the chicken. But, like it or not, Facebook is a phenomenon we’ll have to live with until the next big social thing.

This was Jesse Eisenberg‘s break-through role, and if he gets into something really big after this one, he’ll be an A-list star in no time. Remember, at the begining of the year he was still an indie-movie actor.  I’m  not sure why Justin Timberlake was in the movie, his fans were not that necessary considering it’s a movie about a site most of them access daily. And surely there was a better actor out there, who required a much smaller pay-check.

Armie Hammer was my surprise here: he wasn’t as annoying as he usually is. In fact, the part with „gentelman behaviour” was nice. It reminded me of the upper class from Gossip Girl (he had a short role in there). Best performance yet, although Morgan, the Devil’s son in the short-lived TV series Reaper was pretty good as well.

And finally, Andrew Garfield. He was nice. He’s gonna be the new Spiderman (sniff sniff) and we have to give him a chance, even though his Spiderman wil be in high school and will be dating Gwen Stacy, not Mary Jane Watson. So Andrew…you still have to grow on me!

Go see this movie before it becomes outdated :D. When it comes to websites, you never know…