Mike Carlson (115 KP) rated The Amazing Spider-Man: Died In Your Arms Tonight in Books
Mar 18, 2018
The book really shines in two stories in particular. The first, "Peter Parker Must Die" has Peter dealing with a Ben Reilly repercussion called Raptor. The second,"Last Legs", contains the return of a physically inferior Doc Ock that wants the leave a lasting legacy. This issue was really good, and even the follow-up, which was a wedding aftermath issue due to a surprise wedding guest, was pretty entertaining.
Ryan Hill (152 KP) rated Spider-Man 2 (2004) in Movies
Jul 1, 2019
Set two years after the events of the first film, the story of Spider-Man 2 finds Peter Parker struggling to balance his personal life & his obligations as Spider-Man. His love interest is engaged to someone else, his grades have been steadily declining and he also seems to be losing his powers. Meanwhile, a brilliant scientist named Dr. Otto Octavius transforms into a supervillain with four robotic tentacles fused to his spine after his effort to sustain a nuclear fusion reaction goes horribly wrong.
Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 2 is a far more mature effort from him in comparison to his previous venture and presents the director in sublime form for this sequel picks up the story right where it was left off the last time despite the 2 years span, progresses the arc of its reprising characters amazingly well while giving a proper introduction to the new ones, and also does an outstanding job in balancing its storytelling elements with moments of action in a seamless manner, due to which everything about this sequel just works.
Alvin Sargent's screenplay is worthy of praise as well for the story takes a darker approach than the last time yet packs in enough humour to prevent it from becoming too bleak, and although the cheesiness of the first chapter isn't reduced, the narrative flow is much more stream-lined than before. Production design team comes up with bigger, more refined set pieces, Cinematography preserves the vibrant camerawork but has a firmer grip on it this time while Editing is definitely one of its strongest aspects for there isn't a dull moment in the picture.
Visual effects is much improved as well and by not overdoing its CGI elements, it keeps the artificiality of its universe at bay for the most part. Sure a number of moments are over-the-top but most of them still fall under the realm of on-screen believability. Last but not the least, Danny Elfman delivers again with a splendid soundtrack that stays true to the original film's score, works as a wonderfully evolved successor, and captures the darker tone with finesse just like it did the last time. Even the existing songs used in the picture are nicely chosen & help compliment the respective sequences.
Coming to the performances, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco & J.K. Simmons return to reprise their respective roles of Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn & J. Jonah Jameson and do a better job than before. Maguire builds up on his earlier input to impress once again and what he lacks in star presence, he makes up for it by chipping in a complex performance. Simmons is hilarious as before, Dunst & Franco are still on base level but it's Alfred Molina who impresses the most in what is a sympathetic rendition of Doc Ock, thus making him a classic foe in every way.
On an overall scale, Spider-Man 2 delivers everything one can expect from a sequel. It goes bigger, better & more action-packed than before yet stays completely true to its origin, plus finishes on a high with enough open choices for where it can be headed in later instalments, something that Sony failed to take advantage of. Sam Raimi has weaved a magical web yet again that tightly grasps on to every necessary ingredient to come up with an incredibly fun, highly enjoyable, wildly entertaining & thoroughly satisfying extravaganza that promises yet another high-flying, web-sligning roller-coaster ride and effortlessly delivers it.
Wolsey: The Life of King Henry VIII's Cardinal
6.0
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Cardinal Wolsey is a controversial figure: a butcher's son, a man of letters and the Church, a...
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Sequels, Series and Remakes: An Illustrated Filmography (1996-2016): Volume II
Kim R. Holston and Tom Winchester
Book
Science fiction, fantasy and horror movies have spawned more sequels and remakes than any other film...
MARVEL Contest of Champions
Entertainment and Games
7.8
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Prepare for epic versus-fighting action with your favorite Marvel Super Heroes & Super Villains in...
Erika (17788 KP) rated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) in Movies
Dec 14, 2018
The only thing that annoyed me was that it was another Spidey origin story, and frankly, I don't know how many more Spidey origin stories I can take.
This movie is going to kill the other wide releases here in the US this weekend.
James and the Giant Peach: Play
Roald Dahl and David Wood
Book
Orphan James is sent to live with his aunts, Spiker and Sponge, after his parents are killed in a...
Cinder & Ashe
Gerry Conway and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Book
* Cinder & Ashe are a team of private investigators hired to find a kidnapped girl - but as they...
Captain Britain - Volume 2: Siege of Camelot
Jim Lawrence, Steve Parkhouse and Larry Lieber
8.0
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The adventures of Marvel U.K.'s first all-original super hero continue! Captain Britain thought he...
David McK (3425 KP) rated Venom (2018) in Movies
Jul 29, 2019 (Updated Sep 3, 2023)
While he is still playing Eddie Brock/Venom, this pretty much straight up ignores that earlier film (probably for the best), with Tom Hardy completely chewing the scenery throughout.
While Stan Lee also makes a cameo, I'm not sure that this is set in the same 'universe' as the other Marvel movies, with no mention made of any of the Avengers or of any of the events from their solo outings.