The Amazing Spider-Man

[katikat]

I liked the movie better than the previous films with Tobey Maguire. I really like Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as a couple, they are incredibly sweet and the fact that they really are that close in RL bleeds over into the film...



The CGI was amazing and a real treat in 3D. There were some quite LOL-worthy scenes and the action sequences, especially between Spider-Man and The Lizard, were breathtaking. The last one, wow, just wow! I also hope that Peter's enemy-turned-friend Flash will appear in the sequel, I really liked his relationship with Peter. Also, I didn't know that C. Thomas Howell was in it and though his part was rather cheesy, I almost cheered out loud!

On the other hand... the movie is nice but quite forgettable. While watching it, you cheer and laugh, but once you leave the cinema... There is nothing that would stay with you and that you would want to discuss in detail.

My rating: 6/10

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We also saw the trailers for The Dark Knight Returns and The Hobbit - both were AMAZING on the big screen!

And for Brave - which did nothing for me. The whole "I'll fight for my hand myself" and "let's make the contestants the biggest doofuses ever" irritated me. There's really no need to make women look good at the expense of men (ETA: or vice versa, of course). Women are awesome in their own right. Both genders should be equal, not one better and one worse and that's exactly how the trailer felt to me: Merinda = awesome; every guy, her father included = idiot. Meh.

Comments

[keire_ke]

About Brave - I heard that the movie itself is a study in the relationship between mother and daughter, so heavy on interactions and conflicts between women, and that the trailer is really misleading, but then again I was avoiding most spoilers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed all the same.

[katikat]

It's possible. I also heard that the trailer was misleading. On the other hand, already from the character design you can see it's "women are awesome" and "men are idiots". Both mother and daughter have a beautiful design - all the men look like a trampled cow poo. I would very much prefer if Merinda could prove herself against real men, not some hillbillies.

It just... it raises my "double standards" hackles. Can you imagine the uproar if it was a movie about a beautiful prince and a bunch of fat, ugly women? Everybody would be yelling about sexism and misogyny. There's equality and then there's turning one gender specifically into a laughing stock.

[keire_ke]

Whew! Having finally seen Brave I can reply - as far as feminism goes, this movie is brilliant. The "fighting for my own hand" is very much an acknowledged fuck-up on Merida's part and that she is better at archery than the suitors is a result of her specifically choosing archery as the thing she is good at, while they are (as per tradition) extremely competent brawlers. They also barely show up again, so it's never a case of Merida proving herself against them, and while the men brawl all the time, they are nonetheless presented as brave and capable. I thought the gender roles were handled very well - I personally find the trope of singular maiden warrior annoying and sexist, so it was great to see Elinor rocking traditional femininity and being strong because of it, while Merida is the oddball. I won't spoil you, but I thought that this movie is feminist as very few movies are: it's a casual "normal" feminism, the girls screw up and have to repair what they wrecked, etc.

Now, this is a weird movie, for its genre, and most people have a lukewarm reaction to it. I personally liked it very much (and god, is it visually beautiful), but I need to see it again without dubbing to see if I really liked it as much as I thought (other than, y'know, the feminism).