Two superhero movies in the same month? I don’t know how fans can handle that! Although Marvel isn’t known for having dark heroes or themes, their movies are quite entertaining. DC Comics have also started making stronger films nowadays, especially since Nolan signed on to do Batman. Oh, and there’s an upcoming Superman movie that’s going to be released in 2015; how exciting!
So when I found the time (and money) to watch the two, I was so thrilled. Note: The rest of the blog will not include any spoilers. I love Spiderman and his sarcasm; I was especially surprised how quirky Emma Stone was when she played Gwen Stacey. But Batman really hit the spot for me–although The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t as good as its predecessor, the ending was a great, albeit typical, closure to Nolan’s Batman series.
In The Amazing Spiderman, Marc Webb (haha, get it? He also directed 500 Days of Summer as well) was able to capture the awkward teenage love between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey. I thought Andrew Garfield was a great Peter Parker–although he isn’t a naturally gawky kid, he acted it well. And it was quite adorable! Maybe it’s because I can relate, but it was a different take on Spiderman and I enjoyed it. The villain chosen in the movie felt too reminiscent of the first Spiderman movie, and despite its cheesiness, the humorous lines thrown about was a great homage to the Spiderman series. Overall, I was pleased with the red and blue superhero. It didn’t manage to get on my favorite movies list or anything, but it wasn’t a complete waste of my time.
As for The Dark Knight Rises… well, I wasn’t completely disappointed. I still don’t think The Dark Knight is the best movie in the world, but it did feature one of the best villains ever. It’s hard to top a movie with an awesome actor (Heath Ledger), but I was pleasantly surprised with Anne Hathaway’s performance in the last instalment of Nolan’s Batman series. I’m still not a huge fan of Christian Bale as Batman, as I felt more connected with the other characters, but it wasn’t a huge let-down. I was extremely dissatisfied with Bane’s voice, though. It was obviously a voice over and it wrecked the mood for me. Plus, it was extremely difficult to understand him. Plus, his scheme wasn’t as creative as the Joker’s.
I felt like TDKR had a good ending to top off the series, though. It wasn’t exactly a cliffhanger, and it wasn’t as open ended as Inception was, but it was definitely not lackluster. I admit, I shelled out a few tears (thanks to Michael Caine’s wonderful performance as Alfred), but this movie isn’t going into my list of favorites, either.
All in all, you should definitely watch both of the movies. If you’re a bit frugal or lazy, they’re both worth waiting until a DVD release (although it might take a while). The action was definitely better in TDKR, but Spiderman made me smile and laugh a lot more. Oh, but don’t watch TDKR without doing a marathon of the first two Batman Nolan movies!
Verdict
| Criteria | The Amazing Spiderman | The Dark Knight Rises |
|---|---|---|
| Plot | 7.5: Decent, a bit too cliché though | 8: Good ending, decent plot twist, but overall the villain’s plan wasn’t that great |
| Characters | 8: Didn’t feel too connected or sympathetic towards the villain, but loved Spiderman and his love interest | 8: Batman’s pain wasn’t as sympathetic as it felt a bit too typical and Bale’s acting didn’t impress me as much. However, John Blake and Selina were interesting! |
| Visuals (2D) | 8: Loved how realistic things looked. I don’t recall anything that was too CGI, except for the villain’s costume. | 8.5: Nothing too much to complain about, other than an action scene or two with Batman’s ‘toys’ |
| Music | 8: Good like most action films, but nothing too memorable from it | 9: Hans Zimmer is awesome. ‘Nuff said. |
| Total | 8 | 8.5 |
