Today, Columbia Pictures hosted screenings of never-before-seen footage from this summer’s release, The Amazing Spider-Man, in select theaters all around the world. Their marketing campaign has so far consisted of the usual tactics including social media targeting and viral teasers, but this afternoon’s event puts The Amazing Spider-Man in league with films like Avatar, Tron: Legacy, and Twilight as it dedicates an entire day to showing off new material to the public. The massive publicity event took place at certain locations in Rio de Janeiro, London, Mexico City,, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, Moscow, Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul, New York, and Los Angeles. At the Los Angeles screening in Century City, the line had formed for several hours before the noon show and extended far away from the theater entrance onto the street. Every single “Now Showing” poster slot from the entrance to the theater held a one-sheet for The Untold Story.
[POTENTIAL SPOILERS AFTER THIS]
Once seated (in the perfect spot, I might add), it was a short wait before the film’s director Marc Webb came in to introduce the footage and tell us put on our 3-D glasses. The first clip appeared to be a very extended trailer with completed 3-D and effects all set to a generic, though exhilarating orchestral composition. We’re given a look at the Stacy family dynamic as Peter (Andrew Garfield) has dinner with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and her father George (Denis Leary), the captain of the police. As they argue over the intentions of Spider-Man, Peter retorts, “Maybe he’s trying to do something the police can’t do.” George gives a shocked “Can’t?!” to Gwen’s embarrassment.
Webb has reiterated how the “untold story” embraces Peter’s search for answers to his parents’ disappearance and the trailer seeks to amplify that. Garfield’s Peter is driven by a different force than that of Sam Raimi’s edition, and while he’s still the brilliant, young prodigy, his sense of self is stronger. Peter’s encounter with Flash Thompson has him no longer cowering but instead contemplating how to do better by himself and by his peers. In addition to his own search, Peter’s Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) encourage Peter to connect with his parents. Ben ends up handing an old kit adorned with notes, a calculator, and various studies to Peter saying, “It was your father’s” and later, “Your father was a very secretive man.”
The trailer also brought out some of the comic’s sensibilities that were lost in Raimi’s version. Peter is a smart and rather witty kid, though this could get him in trouble more than it helps. For one, his brains are put to the test as he struggles to develop the famed, mechanical web-shooters for his wrists. A quick shot of his early tests shows Peter getting a face full of spider synthetic. Webb and Garfield also remember that Peter is a kid who’s excited to discover himself as a person and as a hero. Peter waits for a car thief in the backseat of the stolen vehicle and scolds him for dressing so obviously as a thief. Later on, Peter toys with the thief using blasts from a web, as he first feigns terror at the sight of a knife and then glues the thief to a brick wall while mimicking baseball pitches. Not to say that Raimi’s Spider-Man didn’t feature humor, but the stuff on display in Webb’s film seems to fit the comic’s sense of humor a little better.
There’s a great deal of web-slinging through the city and it looks just as good if not better than John Dykstra’s effects in last decade’s trilogy. The suited Garfield somehow manages to look even leaner than Tobey Maguire did, but his muscularity still shows in carefully choreographed fight scenes littered throughout the footage. And finally, we get our first look at the full form of Dr. Curt Connors’ monstrous Lizard. Perched atop a skyscraper, the reptilian villain braces for a swinging kick from Spider-Man. The green meanie is a good deal larger than his actor (Rhys Ifans) and spots a powerful tail.
Last but not least is a discussion on the 3-D. The film is shot in native 3-D with two large, digital cameras capturing the action. In my opinion, the footage looks on par with some of the better 3-D done including Avatar and Tron: Legacy. The web-slinging through the city street is nice, but it happens so quickly that it’s hard to follow as your eyes search for depth. Honestly, the original trilogy’s web sequences were just as immersive and wonderful and three-dimensional as these only they didn’t require glasses, just your suspension of disbelief and fantastic camerawork. I think I’m starting to notice less and less 3-D as I go on seeing these films. Yeah, everyone does the “Ooooooooooh” as the “This Preview has been approved for All Audiences” pops out before the movie and then the theater erupts in giggles. Honestly, I plan on seeing neither The Amazing Spider-Man not The Avengers in 3-D this summer.
Marc Webb took center stage once more to gauge the audience’s reaction, a mixture of applause and whoops, of course. His interviewer from KROQ radio station fed him easy questions and Webb revealed nothing new about the saga, except confirming that Sony wants a new trilogy. He expressed how excited he was for Spider-Man’s other side (his parents) and relationship with Gwen to be explored before asking whether or not we’d want to see more footage. No, Marc, they waited three hours to refuse more moviOF COURSE THEY WANT MORE.
The next set of clips was shown in 2-D since the 3-D work was still on-going. We see Peter defending (verbally) another nerd at lunch from the abuse of Flash Thompson. It fast-forwards past an assumed fight scene and Peter is talking with Uncle Ben in the school hallway. Ben says fatherly things and a new twist on “With great power…” before mentioning that Gwen Stacy looks familiar. “She’s the girl on your computer!” Oh, Uncle Ben… He exits, leaving Peter to face Gwen. “That’s my Uncle Ben. Quite a character and a pathological liar,” says Peter. “Aw, you mean I’m not on your computer?” asks Gwen. This is a very Marc Webb-ian scene; replace JGL and Zooey with two new lovers and you’ve got 500 Days of Spider-Man. The scene ends with the two agreeing on a date in the near future.
The clip has a little more web-slinging and fighting in between longer moments. Peter enters the chamber full of radioactive spiders (WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THIS?!). Dr. Connors, his right arm amputated at the elbow, is blown away by Peter’s math and science proclivities. George Stacy declares a warrant for the arrest of the vigilante known as Spider-Man. Peter learns (painfully) how to use and swing with his wrist-mounted web-slingers. Peter broods. Peter calms Gwen. “I created him, so it’s my job to stop him.” Next, a man sits in his car on [insert New York City bridge here] and watches as cars in front of him begin flipping to and fro as though a monster were charging through. In turn, a monstrous, muscular, green, scaly hand bashes through the roof to attack the man. We next see Spidey grabbing the car, now thrown from the bidge, with a deftly cast web. There are a lot of unfinished effects and pre-visualization captures in the clips, but it’s easy to tell how cinematic they’ll look.
The last part of the footage gives the audience what they’ve been waiting for – our first wide-open look at The Lizard. He’s born from Dr. Connors’ attempts to rejuvenate his lost arm. I would assume he uses reptiles’ abilities to regenerate but goes too far. The Lizard stands at least seven feet and both wears and doesn’t wear the signature lab coat. His tail is long, powerful, and acrobatic. It can smash buildings, cars, and Spider-Man; it can hoist the Lizard up on beams or snatch an unsuspecting Spidey. The face is more akin to Batman’s Killer Croc than the elongated face some versions of Spider-Man have utilized. By that I mean it’s certainly grotesque and scale, but the shape is still barely more human than animal. A quick look at Rhys Ifans in makeup instead of full-on CGI tells us that his transformation won’t be instant and might be painful to watch a la Cronenberg’s The Fly.
One last scene has Spider-Man getting shocked and dropped to the ground in front of a squad of NYPD officers. Captain Stacy gives his mask a lift, but before Peter’s face hits the light, he springs from his shackles and escapes. After this, the footage from the earlier trailer plays again and the thumping music kicks in.
If you have any specific questions about the sneak peek, please feel free to contact us or leave a comment. I might’ve forgotten something that I can elaborate on.
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