By Dave Montalbano
http://cinemadave.livejournal.com
While the numbers are not as strong as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opened with an impressive $91 million box office last weekend. Not part of the Avengers canon, this series of Spider-Man movies is seeking to develop its own comics mythology for Sony’s Columbia pictures. FYI: The post title sequence features an action sequence from the soon-to-be-released X-Men: Days of Future Past from 20th Century Fox.
For the 5th Spider-Man movie in 14 years, the audience is finally able to see a movie in which Uncle Ben does not die. However, grief is an overall theme that hangs over The Amazing Spider- Man 2. Peter Parker, alias Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield), and his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) graduate from High School. Peter is late to his own graduation because he is battling the Rhino (Paul Giamatti), a pesky Soviet villain.
While Gwen, the school’s valedictorian with a steady job at Oscorp, is entertaining offers to attend a special program in Oxford, Peter is conflicted. He adores Gwen, but has promised her dearly-departed dad (Denis Leary) to stay away from her and, being Spider-Man, he is obliged to stop crime in New York City. Meanwhile, Peter tries to uncover a conspiracy of events involving his parents, who left him at a young age.
Being Part 2 of a projected 4-part series, this movie throws a lot of dialogue and teen angst at the viewer. Occasionally, Spider-Man battles Electro (Jamie Foxx) [and another surprise villain] to break up the exposition tedium, but these nighttime battles lack the clarity of vision. A much-anticipated climax from the comic book series is presented; but, instead of being emotional, the scene feels manipulated and mechanical.
The film does have some moments of luster, in particular when “Spidey” remembers that he is a role model. Before confronting a villain with his web-slinging, Spider- Man takes the time to talk the bad guy out of making bad choices. The film also redeems itself in its final moments when a miniature Spidey-clone attempts to confront a scary villain without Peter Parker’s help.
John Turturro’s directorial debut opens tomorrow, Fading Gigolo, co-starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara. Unlike his previous creepy on-screen personas, Turturro portrays a nice guy with a touch of Cinderella. This comedy from New York has garnered good word-of-mouth.
As Disneyworld completes its recent expansion of New Fantasyland, plans are underway for a larger expansion of Animal Kingdom.
Groundbreaking occurred last January for James Cameron’s Avatar inspired park. As Cameron prepares to create his next three movies, one can see the original Avatar with additional footage at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery & Science IMAX theater. (See more about Disney on Pg. 10).
Make a good Mother’s Day choice this weekend!
