The Amazingly Average Spider-Man

In a world where comic book movies keep on getting bigger and better (The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises) I suppose it was inevitable that there would be setbacks. Green Lantern, for example, wasn't really terrible, but nor was it anything like as good as it could have been. The same goes for The Amazing Spider-Man. And to think in a previous blog I was so optimistic...

The problems with rebooting the Spider-Man series were numerous: the previous Sam Raimi-directed trilogy was a huge success and still fresh in the minds of many; the best bad-guys had already been used; previous casting had been spot-on. The latest film therefore has no choice but to try to be different: no Mary Jane (instead Peter Parker's love interest is bleach-blonde Gwen Stacy), no organic web shooters (the film is in this sense more loyal to the comic, but could a teenager really invent his own web shooting device?). There's a different origin story, and of course a different cast. And I'm sorry to say that the original trilogy, as flawed as it was, did everything better.

I thought Andrew Garfield was too cocky for a teenage Spider-Man (and too old - as was Emma Stone's Gwen). His discovery of his superpowers seemed relatively straight-forward and mundane. The Lizard was a bland baddie, and subjected to surprisingly poor CGI. Uncle Ben's death was barely felt. I admire the efforts to take the series down a different route, but I actually found myself bored towards the end. This surprised even me.

Here's hoping that any further Spider-Man films will have a bit more life to them. Spidey deserves more - and the film-makers should realise that with great power comes great responsibility...

The Dark Knight Rises

Well, one of the most eagerly-awaited films of the year is being released on Friday - Christopher Nolan's third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises.

As a huge fan of the first two films in this trilogy - I maintain that The Dark Knight is the best comic book film ever made, as great as the recent Marcel adaptations were - I couldn't be more excited.

Much has been kept secret, but what is clear is that this will definitely be the final Batman film for Nolan and star Christian Bale, and so how exactly it will all end is very much up in the air.

With reviews already appearing it will be hard to avoid plot spoilers, so to avoid having the suspense ruined it would be a good idea to get to the cinema as quickly as possible!

Prometheus

Warning: contains Prometheus plot spoilers.

Prometheus, then: director Ridley Scott's indirect prequel to his film Alien, which was the first in the long-running Alien series that progressively declined under different directors. There were big hopes that Scott's return to the series would produce something spectacular. And it does. In a way…

 

The plot itself is intriguing but drip-fed to the viewer. It seems to boil down to this: Gradually we learn of the Engineers – humanoid aliens, whose own origins are not explained but seem to have been around for several millennia – who appear to have made it their job to populate the universe with life, using their own DNA to seed planets capable of sustaining life. As the film later establishes (when a DNA match is made), Earth is one of these planets. Two thousand years ago, however, the Engineers appear to have decided that humans were not doing a terribly good job. (The reason for this is never made clear; Scott has mentioned that the idea of Jesus' crucifixion was considered but discarded, with the more likely explanation being the fall of the Roman Empire, which exemplified humanity's predilection for self-destruction and cruelty). The Engineers therefore set up a kind of biological weapons factory on the planet LV-223 which would then be used to eradicate life on Earth. The film does not determine whether this is the purpose of the Xenomorphs (the terrifying chest-popping, acid-blooded "aliens" from the Alien series) but it seems more than likely. Unfortunately, it seems that the Engineers were attacked by their own creations and forced to flee, where one surviving Engineer remained in hibernation until the arrival of the ship Prometheus and its crew, who were led to the planet by star maps found throughout ancient Earth civilisations. Predictably, everything then goes horribly wrong for the crew – key players being scientist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and android David (Michael Fassbender), the former approaching the trip as a search for answers and the latter more as an experiment – whose mixed motivations range from attempting to uncover the truth of humanity’s origins to simply being there to pick up a fat pay cheque.

 

If you aren't intrigued by this premise then arguably Prometheus is not for you, especially as there are a lot of questions raised and a few left hanging with the ending. What exactly was the reason for the Engineers’ decision to attack Earth? Were the star maps meant to be invitations or warnings? And where exactly do the Xenomorphs feature in all this? Yes, at the end of Prometheus we see the birth of a Xenomorph, but this is likely not the first such creature: the murals within the Engineers’ colony detail the Xenomorph's life cycle, and something attacked the Engineers. There is much to ponder after the credits role.

 

So while Prometheus both is an Alien film and it isn't, I would argue nevertheless that on its own merits it is a fantastic example of a science-fiction film. The opening images are simply beautiful, and much of the film is actually explained in the first scene of self-sacrifice, setting the tone for a film that is never once boring. The best films in the science-fiction genre focus on grand ideas and concepts rather than gimmickry: Prometheus has the guts to ponder the origins of life, its subsequent dissemination throughout the universe, and the use of weapons of mass destruction to destroy it. The film ends with Shaw departing to track down the Engineers in the search for answers, leaving the door wide open for sequels. Scott has mentioned in a BBC Radio interview that there would be at least a further two films before the series linked up with the original Alien - perhaps the greatest concern therefore is that, given Prometheus' mixed reception, these sequels may never be made. But even if they aren't, I believe the film stands on its own two feet as a shining example of what great science-fiction should be. There are odd moments that stick out uncomfortably: the script could have been sharper in places, one or two of the actors could have been a little more convincing, and it's never explained why Guy Pearce spends his entire screen-time in old-man make-up (apparently make-up free scenes of him as the younger Weyland were excised from the final cut).

Why has Prometheus received such mixed reviews? Its flaws are not so damaging to its overall impact. But perhaps everyone expected something perfect from Ridley Scott, and Prometheus is not perfect (but then again, no film is). No doubt some expected more answers, and more Aliens (with a capital A). But it seems that the film's flaws have been the focus of most reviews, whereas we should in fact be concentrating on what the film does brilliantly: creating a fascinating new legend separate from the previous Alien films.

Even taking into account its flaws, I have no doubt that Prometheus will be re-evaluated and considered to be a classic, much as Scott's Blade Runner was maligned on its release but is now widely considered to be one of the finest science-fiction films ever made. Sometimes it just takes a little time for people to truly appreciate what they have.