First, I must confess I’m a HUGE Spiderman fan. Growing up in rural Ontario, sans cable, I only had one cartoon superhero to choose from — Spiderman, 8 a.m., every Saturday morning. If I wasn’t playing hockey, I was in front of the tv. So when I heard there was a NEW Spiderman movie, ANOTHER Spiderman movie, I was cautiously excited. There’s so many great storylines and villains to choose from, surely they would continue where the first trilogy of movies left off?
Unfortunately not — this movie is a mish mash of “the origin story,” with a few interesting lines thrown in, and the introduction of the Lizard villain Dr. Conner. While Andrew Garfeild and Emma Stone turn in decent performances, this movie just smelled like a bit of a “we can do it in 3D” cash-in. While enjoyable, it ultimately adds nothing to the Spidey story we haven’t read or seen before. 3/5 stars.
Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises, the “conclusion” of his Batman trilogy, is a vision realised, if somewhat long winded, and with huge continuity mistakes.
A recluse after taking the fall for Harvey Dent, Batman/ Bruce Wayne has been absent from a peaceful Gotham City for eight years. Christian Bale does another commendable job conveying the complex emotions of the two; Michael Caine is perfect once again as Alfred. In fact the whole supporting cast is good; the movie has the cool gadgets and vehicles, a thought out backstory on the villain Bane, everything the first two movies did, and more.
Little details stop it from becoming brilliant though, and it starts to wobble two thirds of the way through. Is the audience supposed to believe the Gotham Police Force is fine and capable of fighting after three months of underground seclusion? They looked far too clean and shaven, once they were freed! Also, the dialogue between Batman — Mr. Gruff Voice himself — and Bane, with a mask on his mouth, was annoyingly muffled.
Also, the ending…well, I can’t spoil it, but it was a little too cute and neat for my liking. At the end of this three hour epic though, I have to admit it was the better of the two movies.
-Nelson from Nelson
A few weeks ago, Nelson from Nelson and I made our way to Castlegar to see the new Spiderman movie, The Amazing Spiderman.
I remember seeing the Tobey Maguire movie in theatres with my friends in Victoria. I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t terribly excited by it.
When I left the theatre in Castlegar, I felt like I’d seen the same movie but in 3D and with a different villain.
Unlike Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Amazing Spiderman retold the same story movie goers already know: Boy’s parents die, lives with aunt and uncle, grows up, meets girl, gets bit by spider, spidey senses develop, harnesses powers, villain emerges, defeats villain, gets the girl — OK in this one he doesn’t get the girl, but the rest is pretty much dead on.
If you like 3D, then it might be worth seeing but overall it didn’t live up to the hype. And if you really want to be entertained by a spiderman movie, I would recommend Italian Spiderman on YouTube instead. It’s not in 3D but that’s probably a good thing.
The following week we made our way back to Castlegar to see the highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises. While I don’t have much super hero experience, I do like Batman. I think I always the like that fact that really he isn’t that “super.” He doesn’t have special powers or senses, he’s just a man with the desire to protect and save his city.
We were a bit daunted by the projected three hour length, but settled in and at the end I thought it was a little flabby. I wanted more high adrenaline action scenes but instead those were replaced with character development and the introduction of new characters.
I enjoyed how Christopher Nolan unravelled his story slowly to the audience and how it wasn’t until the very end of the movie that we understood who he was.
I always find Batman’s romantic escapades a bit distracting, and The Dark Night Rises was no different. But something I notice about his ability to cave to the charm of the women that enter his life is that it highlights his human vulnerability, because let’s face it, we can all be rendered powerless when it comes to attraction and lust.
In this super hero summer selection, I would highly recommend The Dark Knight Rises and give The Amazing Superman a miss.
-Megan Cole
