The Amazing Spiderman

The Amazing Spiderman 2 was everything I wanted it to be. Not only was the story well developed and a natural progression from the first film, but the acting was fantastic. I've been a long time fan of superhero films and in particular the Spiderman series. Since the first film of the new regeneration, I put a lot of faith in Andrew Garfield to continue the legacy with grace and subtlety. His acting has vastly improved since his early days in films like Social Network. He knows how to command the screen now whilst not over exaggerating his movements and making them seem unrealistic. In my mind, he has already surpassed Toby Maguire in my ranking of actors who have played the insect-human hybrid. Nicholas Hammond is still in last place, CBS really dropped the ball on that one. But back to the film in question, it was long. And long enough that it felt long, even though it was paced nicely, friends should be aware when seeing the film that it will take three hours from your day including pre-film adverts. However, I love a long film so Spidey and I were a great fit. I particularly enjoyed the introduction of Electro. Jamie Foxx managed to create a villain that I empathised with and frankly wanted to help!

My favourite two moments of the film were nearer the end. The first is a huge SPOILER... After defeating Electro, Spiderman and Gwen Stacy are about to celebrate when suddenly the Green Goblin a.k.a Harry Osborne arrives and makes the connection between his childhood friend and the hero he hates. In attempt to acquire his revenge, the Goblin scoops up Gwen and another fight scene commences. Sadly it ends with Gwen hitting the ground hard despite Spiderman's efforts to save her. She dies and what follows is five months without Spiderman's presence in the city. The reason why this scene stuck out was because it was unexpected. The whole film leads us towards a happy ending for the pair, so her death is shocking. I was also a little disappointed that this meant the end of Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. I had grown to love her in the role and was expecting to see more of her in the third film.

My second favourite moment was shortly after the first. As I said, Spiderman had been absent from the city of Manhattan for five months which resulted in Osborne (from his cell in the local mental institute) orchestrating the creation of destructive villains. As one of these take the streets, a young boy, seen earlier in the film befriending Spiderman, runs past barriers and police to stand in front of the villain in his Spiderman costume. The image was so powerful and worked to represent the connection that many young children have with the hero in our society. So many of them look up to the character as a role model and in some cases as a friend. Thankfully, in the film, the real Spidey turns up and saves the day.

Overall, I found the film to be surprisingly uplifting and captivating. It seems like this generation of Spiderman films has found its stride and is really hitting home with audiences around the world through its realistic themes between the love interests and the elaborate fight scenes reminiscent of the original comics. Whilst I am excited for the third film of this series, which was recently announced, I am interested to see if the films continue to impress fans like the last two have.

YSL & Divergent

This past week I have seen two very different films with one thing in common. They were both surprising.

First, I saw Yves Saint Laurent with my good friend from school. I can always rely on Emma whenever I want to go see a film and thankfully she felt the same as she invited me to an early morning showing of the French film. I hadn't looking into the content of the film before hand (sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't) so I wasn't aware that the film was French, subtitled and a biography. Originally, I was under the impression that the YSL film would be an art film - a display of sketches and runways set to jazz and electro punk. In this particular case, I'm very happy I was wrong. The film was actually a stunning retelling of Yves and his turbulent life from the time he started working for Dior to his death. Told from the point of view of Yves long term life partner, Pierre, the story tells of his start in the fashion world and how after Dior's death he was thrust into the spotlight with disastrous effects on his health. He was anxious and panicked and struggled to deal with people outside his immediate group of friends. But as the world changed and the drug culture erupted, Yves life became tumultuous as he fell into a deep well of alcohol, sex and drugs.

I found the film to be beautifully shot and carefully directed. It is always risky dealing with real, idolised people. Yet, even with the way Yves acted during moments of the film, I still left the cinema eager to learn more about his life and his work. Biographies tend to inspire me to go home and research everything about the subject as possible. So it was no surprise that I spent the rest of my day learning about Yves and the way he worked. I found myself to be equally fascinated with his lover Pierre. Through it all he was there for Yves and really only acted the way he did in an attempt to protect his love from danger (which Yves, in the later part of his life, seemed to hunt like it was prey). 

With this film, I was inspired to reconnect with the culture in my life. To appreciate the art that I grew up with and the work of those in fashion. Needless to say, I went on to watch September Issue and Coco Chanel later on that evening.

The second film I saw this week was Divergent. Set to be a big hit at the box office and a popular conversation topic for the next few months, I felt that I had to see it. I had also read both Divergent and Insurgent earlier last year, and I am always intrigued to see how popular books translate onto the screen. Having my reservations regarding the casting, I went in with an open mind! And yes, I was surprised! Shailene Woodley would be my last pick to play Tris, but actually she was fantastic. She gave real life to a character, that because of her Divergent nature could be incredibly distant from an audience. And all the other actors were fine. Just fine.
My only issue was the absence of Edward. Although he was listed on IMDB as being featured, readers of the book will have noticed one major thing when seeing the film. His eye. In the book, Peter is jealous that Edward is above him in ranking during training so he gouges his eye out with a knife. None of this happens in the film, in fact, we weren't even introduced to the character at all. Frankly, without Edward and the conflict, it was hard to believe Peter was as bad as the film tried to make him out to be. Another reason I am baffled by his lack of inclusion in the first film is because he becomes a vital character in Insurgent (in the book at least)! Due to the second book being pretty complicated, in terms of the number of new and old characters who come in and out, I'm not surprised that the movies will be split into three. I feel like this might give the director a real opportunity to develop the characters and expand on a good story that with the right tools could be made great.

My favourite part was the end. I really did enjoy the film, I promise! I just really liked how even though the film will be part of a trilogy it didn't end on a painful cliffhanger *cough* The Hobbit *cough*. It felt as though the story could have ended when the credits rolled, with the audience left to fantasise about the Divergent and the rebels living their life escaping the Erudite/Dauntless army.

With my new Cineworld Unlimited card, I imagine I'll be getting back into my old habit of writing film reviews. I enjoy this sometimes more than writing about my personal life. I can relax a little more without worrying about saying the wrong thing. I like movies. I like writing about movies. I like not always writing in the same structured way. I like being relaxed.