The Amazing-Spider Man 2

In 2012, the first Spider-Man came out from the new reboot series and it came out in a very "out of the blue" way. I can't say I never did appreciate a Spider-Man film though because Spider-Man is for sure one of my favorite superheroes out there. Why though, would they create a Spider-Man series five years after the last film in the original series?

The Amazing Spider-Man of 2012 still was a positive even with all the hate I give it. It brought in new rising stars who we got to know and it played well in the summer market. The film got a new audience for this famous Marvel character and it generated sequels.

In this movie, following the events in last movie, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is really up in the air (no pun intended) with his relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and a new villain, Electro (Jamie Fox) comes into the spotlight. Peter Parker also must deal with an old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) who is now in charge of Oscorp and who's emotions turn him into the villain the Green Goblin. Parker is sure dealing with lot of tuff and it's starts to show.

Andrew Garfield is again likable which makes you wish he was around more often in films. He has very good chemistry with his co-star Emma Stone but the story of them trying to solve their relationship is surely past done by now. Still though, they make this film and I don't know where this film would be without the two of them together. Electro is nerdy and not a mentally stable guy and it's quite interesting for him to be in this film because he is not the most known villain in the Spider-Man universe which makes him original. The special effects with him are quite quirky and of a different vibe than what we have seen before but like the most characters in this film, his pacing is way off. Rising star, Dane DeHaan known for the forgotten but solid film Chronicle is just as silly as Electro but it's Dehaan himself who eventually who ruins this character for us. He can't develop the character himself making it a mundane character nor is his acting really up to a par. Even the usually lovable Sally Field as Aunt Jane is nowhere to be found and really adds nothing to film even when she is around.  

There also isn't much of a plot here. Sure, these characters do add something but a large portion of the film wanders around going nowhere and the movie has some really bad pacing. You would expect the typical long, action battle scenes to end the story and here the last battle scene sure does change the whole series. The main settings is New York City which it had to be but really you know what you are getting with this setting by now. It' a plot that has a lot to it but doesn't really go anywhere with it. I give the substance here a barely passing grade.

These are probably some reasons why this is movie is getting hated on after only one week at the top of the box office. You have wonder what Sony Pictures thinks of the future now for this series. This reboot continues to introduce us to new things to this character that we never thought would come to us but still fails to deliver the necessary stuff to make a really good Spider-Man film. I can't even say that I'm even looking forward to the likely sequels coming in the next few years and I never said this when the original sequels were coming. The Amazing Spider Man 2 and this whole reboot series  sure seems like a big question mark to me.

3/5

The Croods

If you think about it, prehistoric times seems like it would be one of the most interesting settings for a film. It certainly is something that has not been done much. There could also be the educational and curiosity factor as it would be interesting to see prehistoric times depicted on film with the different and now extinct animals and beasts that you could use. If you really tried, you could come up with something pretty cool. That said, this idea probably would also have some difficulties though. It might be hard to come up with a plot idea for primitive cavemen. Also humans didn't live that long back then for a lot of reasons but one could be dealing with predatory animals which could be interesting and maybe challenging. The Croods is set in prehistoric times and is one of the first animation films of the year. It really does touch on a lot of the issues above and has a lot of ups and downs with mostly pretty decent results.

The film follows the Crood family who are really your basic prehistoric family, if we knew what that was. Grug ( Nicolas Cage) is the father who is trying his best to keep his family together and this character and most of the others have pretty good development throughout the movie. Ugga (Catherine Keener) is the mother of this family and the weakest character in the story who is just not provided with much to say or do. Eep (Emma Stone) is the oldest child who is hungry for adventure and wants to live a different lifestyle outside of the cave in opposition to her father and this character is developed very well. Thunk (Clark Duke) is the overweight middle child who along with the grandmother character Gran (Cloris Leachman) provide most of the humor of the story. Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is a boy who is found in the wilderness and is more advanced than the Croods who primarily stay in their cave. Guy shows the family a  new way of life and adds some nice variety to the film.

This film uses an old story-line of one world physically coming to an end which forces the characters to journey and venture to a safer land. This part of the film is a bit strange as the plot does not hint at this or lead up to this and there is no explanation  as to why this is happening. This really makes the ending kind of a mixed bag. It is original and creative but it was out of place and hard to believe and I didn't really see the point of it


                                           


Actually some of the secondary highlights of this film come close to being better then the main highlights which was probably not intended. There are some very good action scenes, nice atmosphere and  the animation fits this period with dark, light and colorful designs. The movie is visually beautiful.

I suspect that the Croods will likely be forgotten quickly as the subject matter might not be all that appealing, especially for kids who might be one of the target audiences here. A film that is a first of it's kind for 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks and the animation world and that's definitely saying something.

3.5/5