Public information film

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Public information films or PIFs are a series of government commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the UK. The US equivalent is the public service announcement (PSAs).

Subjects

The films advise the public on what to do in a multitude of situations ranging from crossing the road to surviving a nuclear attack. They are sometimes thought to concern only topics related to safety, but there are PIFs on many other subjects, including animal cruelty, protecting the environment, crime prevention and how to vote in an election or fill in a census form.

Many of these films were aimed at children and were shown during breaks in children's programmes during holidays and at weekends. The general low-budget quality and the infamous static "crackle" before them gave them a Hammer Horror style aura. Some of them were quite terrifying and remained ingrained in the child's psyche well into adulthood, others were quite humorous and used comedy to show the dangers or ridicule the folly of those who ignore them (Joe and Petunia are a good example of a comic PIF). Many of them involved or were narrated by celebrities of the day.

History

The earliest PIFs were made during the Second World War years and shown in cinemas; many were made by and starred Richard Massingham, an amateur actor who set up Public Relationship Films Ltd when he discovered there was no specialist film company in the area. They were commissioned by the Ministry of Information, and Massingham's work has since gained a cult following for their quirky often humorous tone[citation needed]. After the war PIFs were produced for the Central Office of Information, and again by private contractors, which were usually small film companies, such as Richard Taylor Cartoons.

PIFs were supplied to broadcasters free of charge for them to use whenever they wished. Their usefulness as a cost-free means to fill the gaps in fixed-duration commercial breaks left by unsold advertising airtime led to their being used regularly and extensively in the 60s, 70s and much of the 80s, and consequently, within both the COI and broadcasting companies they were typically known as "fillers". They are still being produced, although the vastly reduced need for broadcasters to turn to third-party filler material to deal with unused airtime during breaks or junctions means they are now only seen rarely, usually in night time spots. Fillers are still produced and distributed by the Cabinet Office by the Filler Marketing team https://communication.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/fillers

Some advertisements and charity appeals have gained the status of honorary PIF among fans, including Cartoon Boy, a 2002 campaign about child abuse produced by the NSPCC, while films such as the 1980s British Gas advertisement about what to do in the event of a gas leak can be considered non-Governmental PIFs.

PIFs have a nostalgic cult following and a DVD was released in 2001 called Charley Says: The Greatest Public Information Films in the World, comprising the contents of two earlier VHS releases. A sequel was released in 2005.

Public Information Films produced by the Britain's COI covered a wide range of subjects. The fillers listed above were for domestic consumption. However COI Films was also commissioned by the British Foreign Office to supply films for overseas use. These films dealt with research and development, British products and the British way of life. They were usually distributed through the diplomatic network but not always. Some films were sold commercially to overseas outlets, mostly television.

One of the darker sides of this effort was the production of a series of films supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the Red Army occupation of that country. A fictionalised version of this work can be found in Val Wake's novel When the Lions are Drinking.

Famous public information films

Charley Says
An animated series of PIFs with a ginger cat called Charley (whose warning growls were voiced by Kenny Everett) who advised children against various dangers they might encounter in their daily lives.
Green Cross Code
A character played by David Prowse who advised children about crossing the road safely. An earlier road safety campaign targeted at children featured the animated squirrel "Tufty", and a Tufty Club for young children was later founded.
Apaches
A public information film shown in primary schools about the dangers of playing on farms. This PIF is notorious for being extremely graphic.
Robbie
A film based around a child losing his legs after being struck by a train. A modern equivalent, Killing Time was shown in secondary schools during the 1990s but was later replaced for, apparently, being too graphic. Robbie replaced the notorious and extremely graphic The Finishing Line. However, Robbie and The Finishing Line are arguably not strictly PIFs, being produced by British Transport Films.
Protect and Survive
A series of films (never shown) advising the British public on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. They would have been shown constantly on all television channels in the build up to a war. Voiced by Patrick Allen.
Play Safe
A series of three made in 1978 warning children of the dangers of playing near overhead power lines and electrical sub-stations. The films, narrated by Brian Wilde (of Last of the Summer Wine and Porridge fame), were particularly graphic and frightening, depicting the electrocution of young children.
Lonely Water
A 1973 film warning children of the dangers of foolhardy behaviour around lakes and ponds. The film was shot in horror movie style with a menacing black-robed figure, featured a memorably chilling voiceover from Donald Pleasence ("I'll be back-back-back...!) and allegedly frightened and traumatised a generation of children.
Front Seat Child
A chilling film from 1977 warning you not to let a small child ride in the front of your car (from the days when it wasn't illegal not to wear a seatbelt). We see a man turn up at a park and learn throughout the course of the film that he took his daughter there in the car one day, she was in the front seat without a seatbelt and she was fatally injured on the way. We hear voiceovers describing how he has identified the body of his daughter and how the car was in good condition, but a van pulled out in front of them, causing the crash. It even mentions the fatal injuries his daughter suffered as a result. To make it even more chilling, we see a young girl on a swing, the result of the man remembering bringing his daughter to the park before the accident, The Narrator concludes "Make sure your child always rides at the back of your car, Strapped in safely as possible, Never let a small child travel in the front.
Never Go with Strangers
Narrated by Gary Watson, this 1971 film opens with brief animated sequences depicting the classic stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, and Aladdin, warning children not to be like the title characters and to avoid putting themselves in danger. Children are encouraged to "think of a stranger's car as danger", and as a recurring theme, a stranger's car flashes red whenever a child is approached, accompanied by a dramatic synthesiser chord. In one memorable sequence, a terrified kidnapping victim is shown cowering on a sofa while the enlarged shadow of an unseen stranger engulfs her.
Joe and Petunia
A series of animated PIFs about a couple whose amazing stupidity caused dangerous problems for everyone around them. They appeared in only four PIFs ("Coastguard", "Water Safety – Flags", "Country Code" and "Worn Tyres"), but their popularity grew so quickly that it was decided to kill them off in the last one. However, they were "resurrected" when "Coastguard" was remade in 2007 with updated references: Petunia is reading Hello and listening to an iPod; Joe wears a Burberry cap and phones the desktop PC-using coastguard on his mobile phone.
Drinking And Driving Wrecks Lives
A series of 1980s – 1990s PIFs targeting drink-driving offenders. An equally well-known and successful road safety campaign was Clunk Click Every Trip, fronted initially by Shaw Taylor and later by Jimmy Savile.
Amber Gambler
A film about the dangers of racing through amber lights before they turn to red.
Supersafe with SuperTed
This short 1986 film featured characters from the Welsh animated series SuperTed who were flown to Earth by SuperTed, to teach his friend Spotty how to cross the road safely. A flashback reveals an incident when Spotty was nearly killed by running across the road on the planet Spot (his home), to talk to his sister Blotch. After teaching Spotty the proper procedures for crossing safely, SuperTed then warns the viewer that he "can't always be there to save you, especially on planet Earth". The animated "setting" for the film was based on Castle Street in Cardiff city centre, Wales, with Cardiff Castle as a backdrop.
Reginald Molehusband
A man who demonstrated the correct way to park safely. His reverse parking was "a public danger", bets were laid on his performance and people came from all round to watch, until the day he got it right – "Well done! Reginald Molehusband, the safest parker in town." This film is now classified as missing and is not in the archives of either the COI or the private company, which now owns most of its archive footage, although an audio recording still exists.
Clunk Click Every Trip
A series of films about the importance of seat belts, similar to US Crash Test Dummies PSAs.
Julie
A film about the importance of rear seat belts, which ran for 5 years between 1998 and 2003 with a return in 2007, and was so successful it was repeated in France. It was updated with the Think! logo in 2001.
Carry a Knife, Lose Your Life
A series of short adverts and films created to discourage people from carrying knives and to show the consequences of knife crime. The advert starts with two identical-looking people talking about an ambition in life they both share, then end with "But I never thought...". The ad then shows one person having reached their goal and pursuing a career based on their ambitions, whilst the other person explains how they thought would never get into trouble for carrying or using a knife.
Say No to Strangers
A 1981 film depicting a young girl who is approached after school by a stranger, but declines to go with him; this is followed by an extended sequence showing what might have happened had the girl accepted, followed by shorter segments stressing the importance of children not placing themselves in dangerous situations and watching out for their friends. The footage is interspersed with shots of the arcade games Phoenix and Scramble, used to show if the child in question made the right or wrong decision, and also features a brief clip of the "Little Red Riding Hood" animated sequence previously seen in an earlier PIF with a similar theme, Never Go with Strangers.
Market
An anti-piracy short produced by FACT, appearing at the beginning of many commercially released VHS tapes in the UK during the middle and late 1990's. A man attempts to return a dodgy copy of Trainspotting to a market-stall, complaining that the sound and picture are rubbish. The seller tries to deflect these concerns, suggesting that the customer is having trouble understanding the actors' Scottish accents and his tracking controls are set incorrectly. A narrator reminds viewers that "most pirate videos are unwatchable, and there's no comeback" before the seller then refuses a refund, saying that the customer doesn't have a receipt. The customer walks off without his tape, which the seller then immediately tries to sell again to another passer-by, with the ending tagline "Pirate Videos: Daylight Robbery."
AIDS – Don't Die of Ignorance
Two sets of PIFs from 1987 told by John Hurt, about the dangers of AIDS. One showing the iceberg at sea until the camera pans down into the sea to see an embossed AIDS Text on the side. Another one when a man is engraving AIDS on the monolith, when it's done is lies flat on the ground with the AIDS leaflet and the bunch of lilies on it.
Searching
Fire safety film created by the BFI from 1974, which is shown when the camera goes inside a burnt house and echoes of a family screaming are heard as we look around, when we reach inside the bedroom and to the wardrobe. The clip burns up to reveal the text "KEEP MATCHES AWAY FROM CHILDREN" with the voice over concludes 'Please keep matches away from children'.
Frances the Firefly
Animated PIF told by Richard Briers dating back to the 1990s (remade by Fire Kills in 2000) about a young firefly named Frances. Because she's too young, her tail does not glow and she feels sad. Meanwhile a naughty cockroach named Cocky Roach, shows her a box of matches that was left by his mum on the kitchen table and gives one to her. She lights the match and flies around with it, until the flame burns her and she drops the match. The match causes a fire, and Frances' wings were badly burned. Following an emergency meeting led by King Chrysalis, the insects rebuild the buildings. It ends with Frances being told not to play with matches, and Cocky Roach being banished from King Chrysalis' kingdom and is found hiding amongst the litter bins in towns and villages, never to dare show his face again. The narrator concludes, 'Remember – Never play with matches!'.
Moonlighters
Another animated Fire Kills PIF, told by Alexei Sayle, about two aliens called Biblock and Hoblock going for a stroll one day, and find a 'strange object' lying in the moon dust. Back at the Moon City, they ask their computer what it is. The computers tells them it's a lighter and they are very dangerous, children must not touch them. Later at night Hoblock goes out and secretly brings the lighter back to the Moon City. Hoblock plays with the lighter, which sets the Moon City on fire. It ends with Hoblock building the computer back together again. Because everyone was so cross with Hoblock for what he did, no-one came to visit him again, apart from his little sister Hiblick bringing him sandwiches every day. Hoblock repeats the same warning to her every day, 'NEVER PLAY WITH LIGHTERS!', then Hiblick replies 'AND NEVER PLAY WITH MATCHES EITHER!'. The narrator concludes, 'AND GROWN-UPS – KEEP LIGHTERS AND MATCHES AWAY FROM CHILDREN!'.
Don't leave your children alone
Fire safety film from 1960s, which is shown when the girl narrates about last Christmas about losing her brother as the camera looks at the Christmas tree then to the picture of a boy and a girl and then in the hallway up the staircase and in the girl's bedroom to reveal the girl sleeping alone in the dark with the narrator concludes 'Fire can break out at any time. This Christmas, don't leave your children alone in the house' as the tagline "DON'T LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN ALONE" appears.
Powerful Stuff
Electricity safety film from 1988, which shows of a group of boys, Darren, his brother Tom and Andy walking to school together. On the way they set off a gang of teenagers who chase them all the way to an electricity substation. Tom spots a football in there which Darren tries to break in and get, but a reluctant Andy talks him out of it; instead, they play football with other friends to school. Once they enter the class, Mr. Jones who works for the electricity board, teaches them the dangers of electricity like touching overhead cables, being careless around cables and climbing pylons, showing clips of what happened when people ignored or did not know the danger that could be present in the situation. Darren ignores all of this by listening to his Walkman and daydreaming of going on a motorcycle that his friend was using earlier in the beginning. On the way back from school, the boys see the friend's motorcycle. They come over until Darren sees his friend's ball is deflated, thus making Darren remember the football in the substation and takes Tom with him. Darren breaks through a fence while Tom keeps lookout. Darren runs up to the ball, and as Andy sees the deflated ball he realises that Darren has broken inside the substation to get the football. Darren throws the football but it gets him electrocuted. Tom runs in to help him but gets electrocuted as well, much to the horror of Andy and his friends. Later, the fire brigade, ambulance and the police arrive at the scene at night as Andy remembers Mr. Jones' lecture to the class about dangers of electricity followed by yesterday's men in the background along with the news report of the incident as Andy and his friends mourn for the deceased brothers.

Cultural references

A number of musical artists have been heavily influenced by the analogue, overdriven sound of British PIFs, including Boards of Canada and most artists on the Ghost Box Records label, especially The Advisory Circle, whose most recent album, Other Channels directly references or samples many PIFs, including Keep Warm, Keep Well. Additionally, their debut album features a few reprises with the suffix "PIF". Another example of PIF influence in music was that of the song Charly by The Prodigy, from 1991, which heavily sampled the meows of Charley Cat. The comedian Chris Morris satirised Public information films in The Day Today in an episode where there was a constitutional crisis.

See also

References

External links

Public information film

information update[1]

                                                                               the amazing spider man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man upside down on the side of the OsCorp tower.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Marc Webb
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
Based on The Amazing Spider-Man 
by Stan Lee
Steve Ditko
Starring
Music by
Cinematography Dan Mindel
Edited by
Production
  company
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date(s)
  • April 16, 2014 (International)[1]
  • May 2, 2014 (United States)
Running time 142 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $255 million[3][4]
Box office $704,726,304[5]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (released as The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro in some markets)[6] is a 2014 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, directed by Marc Webb and released by Columbia Pictures. It serves as a sequel to the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man and was announced in 2011. The studio hired James Vanderbilt to write the screenplay and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to rewrite it.[7][8] Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Field star.

Development of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 began after the success of The Amazing Spider-Man. DeHaan, Giamatti, Jones, and Cooper were cast between December 2012 and February 2013. Filming took place in New York from February to June 2013. The film was released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 2, 2014 in the United States. The film received mixed reviews, but was a box office success, grossing over $704 million worldwide.

Contents

Plot

Scientist Richard Parker records a video message to explain his disappearance. Later, he and his wife, Mary, are aboard a private jet hijacked by a man sent to assassinate Richard. With the pilot dead, the plane crashes, taking the lives of both Richard and Mary.

In the present, Richard and Mary's son Peter continues to fight crime as Spider-Man. He pursues and apprehends Aleksei Sytsevich, who attempted to steal a truck containing plutonium vials. During the chase, Spider-Man rescues OsCorp Industries employee Max Dillon. While speaking by phone with Gwen Stacy, Peter sees a vision of her father, police captain George Stacy, reminding him to leave Gwen out of his affairs as Spider-Man. Afterward, Peter meets with Gwen at a restaurant outside, but insists he needs to keep his vow to her father by staying away from her, and a frustrated Gwen ends their relationship.

Peter's childhood friend Harry Osborn returns to Manhattan to see his terminally ill father Norman, CEO of OsCorp. Norman explains his illness is hereditary, and Harry is at the age where it first develops. Norman gives Harry a small device he claims contains his life's work. The next day, Norman dies and Harry is appointed the new OsCorp CEO. He accuses the OsCorp board of trying to wrest control from the Osborns, as they have been privy to Norman's secret biogenetic projects for foreign military powers.

Thinking that they have become friends, Max idolizes Spider-Man. While tending to some maintenance in an OsCorp laboratory, he loses his balance and falls into a tank of genetically modified electric eels. They attack him, and he mutates into a living electric generator. Meanwhile, Peter attempts to maintain a friendship with Gwen, but she reveals she may move to England for school. Before they can discuss it, Max wanders into Times Square and accidentally causes a blackout. Spider-Man attempts to calm him down, but the police fire at Max, and Spider-Man's resulting rescue of the endangered citizens draws media attention away from Max, making him lose his temper and attack. Spider-Man eventually stops him, and Max is taken to Ravencroft Institute.

The first symptoms of Harry's illness show, and he uses the device Norman gave him to deduce that Spider-Man's blood could help save him. He asks Peter, who has been selling photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle, for help finding Spider-Man. Peter attempts to dissuade him, unsure of what effects the transfusion would have, and although he does come to Harry as Spider-Man, he still refuses, and Harry develops an intense hatred towards Spider-Man. The OsCorp board-members frame Harry for covering up Max's accident, and remove him as CEO. Harry's assistant, Felicia, informs him of equipment that could help him, so he makes a deal with Max (now calling himself Electro) to get him back inside the OsCorp building. There he finds a suit of armor and other equipment made by Norman, as well as venom from the now-destroyed genetically altered spiders. At first, they appear to cure him, but instead accelerate his illness and transform him into a hideous, goblin-like creature. The suit detects Harry's condition, and a built-in, emergency protocol restores his health.

Peter uses information left by his father to locate the video message in an abandoned subway station's hidden lab. Richard explains he had to leave because he refused to cooperate with Norman Osborn's biogenetic weaponization plans. Peter then hears a voicemail from Gwen, telling him she was offered the scholarship in England and is heading to the airport earlier than expected. He manages to catch her and professes his love for her, and vowing to go wherever she goes, they agree to go to England together. Electro causes another blackout, and Peter heads off to fight him. Gwen follows, and together they restore power and overload Electro's body, seemingly killing him. Afterward, the transformed Harry arrives equipped with Norman's armor and weaponry; upon seeing Gwen, Harry deduces Spider-Man's true identity and, swearing revenge for being refused the blood transfusion, kidnaps her. He fights Spider-Man at the top of a clock tower. Spider-Man subdues Harry, but despite his attempts to save Gwen, she falls to her death. A distraught Peter gives up being Spider-Man and he spends several days throughout the year at Gwen's grave.

Over the next five months, Harry is healing from his transformation at Ravencroft. His associate, Gustav Fiers (the "man in the shadows" from the first film), visits Harry and breaks Sytsevich out of prison. Equipped with a mechanical suit of armor, Sytsevich calls himself the Rhino and rampages through the streets. Peter, inspired by Gwen's graduation speech, returns to battle him as Spider-Man.

Cast

  • Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man / Peter Parker: An orphaned teenage boy who received amazing spider-powers after being bitten by a genetically altered spider. Peter first uses his powers to try to hunt down the killer of his uncle in The Amazing Spider-Man but soon decides to use his powers to fight crime as the vigilante known as Spider-Man. Garfield explained that the suit that he would wear in the film would undergo a new design. Garfield hoped to bring back the theme of him being an orphan stating, "I wanna keep exploring that theme of being fatherless, being motherless, searching for purpose and finding a purpose within himself". He felt that it was a responsibility to take on the role and that he does not take it lightly.[9]
  • Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy: A high school student and Peter's love interest. When asked about Peter and Gwen's relationship in the sequel, Stone said, "She saves him more than he saves her. She's incredibly helpful to Spider-Man... He's the muscle, she's the brains."[10]
  • Jamie Foxx as Electro / Max Dillon: An electrical engineer who works for OsCorp Industries. Foxx described the character as "a nobody" who initially idolizes Spider-Man.[11] He develops an obsession with Spider-Man after being saved by him and obtains his powers through an accident at OsCorp involving electric eels.
  • Dane DeHaan as Green Goblin / Harry Osborn: An old friend of Peter and son of Norman Osborn. He was sent away to boarding school around the same time Peter's parents disappeared, and meets him for the first time since then in the film.[12] He eventually assumes the role of the Green Goblin.
  • Colm Feore as Donald Menken: A member of the OsCorp board, and Vice President.
  • Felicity Jones as Felicia: Norman's assistant at OsCorp, and later Harry's.
  • Paul Giamatti as Rhino / Aleksei Sytsevich: Giamatti said of his character, "He’s a Russian mobster. Russians are always good villains. I have an ability to just destroy things,” he said. "My accent is pretty hammy. I loved doing it. It seemed to me like an opportunity to be as over-the-top hammy as possible. It was really fun."[13]
  • Sally Field as Aunt May: Peter's aunt.
  • Campbell Scott as Richard Parker: Peter's father.
  • Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker: Peter's mother.
  • Marton Csokas as Dr. Ashley Kafka: The head of Ravencroft Institute.

Chris Cooper portrays Norman Osborn, the president of OsCorp and Harry Osborn's father, while B. J. Novak portrays Alistair Smythe. Denis Leary reprises his role as George Stacy from the first film. Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as a guest at Peter and Gwen's graduation ceremony. Michael Massee reprises his role as the Man in the Shadows from the first film, with the character now credited as "Gustav Fiers (The Gentleman)." Aidy Bryant appears as a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

Production

Development

The sequel's villain was teased in the 2012 film.[14] Webb stated that the origin story would further unfold in the second installment.[15] In June 2012, Webb said he was unsure whether he would return,[16] though it was confirmed on September 28, 2012, that he would return to direct the sequel.[17][18] He claimed he "wanted to create a universe that not only can withstand but anticipate future storylines" while also "working in and of itself for one movie."[19] Andrew Garfield had also expressed hope to reprise his role,[20] and in September 2012, it was confirmed that he would do so.[17][18] Emma Stone was later confirmed to be reprising her role as Gwen Stacy, having signed a contract for two Amazing Spider-Man sequels.[citation needed] The original costume and mask from The Amazing Spider-Man was altered and has lens in the mask, making the eyes bigger. The web shooters were also modified.[21]

Actor J. K. Simmons expressed interest in reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy should the studio offer it to him.[22] In October 2012 Electro was rumored as the next villain.[23] Jamie Foxx was given the role.[24][25][26] That December, Foxx confirmed that he was cast as the character, and during an interview with MTV, he explained that the redesign of the character would be more grounded along with details of his depiction.[27] On December 3, 2012, Marc Webb revealed that Dane DeHaan was chosen to play Harry Osborn.[28] Paul Giamatti was confirmed as a cast member in February 2013.[29] Felicity Jones confirmed her involvement with the movie under an undisclosed role.[30] Giamatti also indicated in an October 2013 interview that he would return in The Amazing Spider-Man 3 as well.[31] On February 27, 2013, Chris Cooper was cast as Norman Osborn.[32]

By October 10, 2012, Shailene Woodley was in talks for the role of Mary Jane Watson.[33][34] By March 14, 2013, Woodley had concluded filming her small role.[35] Garfield recalled, "I think all of [those scenes] were in our backyards. We had two or three scenes with me talking over the fence, and there was one with us riding together on a motorcycle that we never got to shoot."[36] By mid-June, Mary Jane was cut from the film, with director Webb explaining it as "a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship."[37]

Filming

On February 4, 2013, Marc Webb posted on his Twitter account that principal photography had begun and that the sequel was being shot on 35mm film in the anamorphic format,[38][39] instead of being filmed digitally as the preceding film was. Sony revealed this would be the first Spider-Man film to be filmed entirely in New York State, including a car-chase scene that was filmed in Rochester because the speed laws are less restrictive in upstate New York.[40] It became the largest film production ever in New York State.[41] The decision to film in Williamsburg, Brooklyn near the Passover holiday caused some controversy, as critics believed that this was culturally insensitive, and would cause problems with parking.[42] The filming company decided to work with the community and then agreed to adjust its production activities for Passover.[43][44]

On June 25, Webb posted on his Twitter account that filming was completed.[45]

Soundstage work was done at Grumman Studios and Gold Coast Studios, both in Bethpage, New York, and at the at Marcy Armory in Brooklyn.[40][46]

Post-production

The film was mixed in Auro 11.1 and Dolby Atmos in the converted William Holden Theater. The mix for both was completed by Paul Massey and David Giammarco.[1]

A mid-credit teaser scene from X-Men: Days of Future Past was added to the film after its London premiere, due to an existing deal between Webb and 20th Century Fox, in which Fox allowed Webb to direct the film if Sony would promote the X-Men film for free.[47] The scene, set during the Vietnam War, sees Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), a rogue mutant, trying to infiltrate a military camp led by William Stryker (Josh Helman) in an attempt to recruit fellow mutants Havok (Lucas Till) and Toad (Evan Jonigkeit).[48][49][50] The scene's inclusion sparked confusion among some viewers in the United Kingdom, who thought it meant an X-Men–Spider-Man crossover film was being planned, based on how Marvel Studios and Disney use codas within the Marvel Cinematic Universe to promote future films.[47]

Music

On July 20, 2013, Webb announced that Hans Zimmer would be composing the music for the film, replacing James Horner, the composer of the first film.[51] On October 25, 2013, Pharrell Williams revealed to Billboard that he would co-compose the score with Zimmer.[52] Webb and Zimmer formed a supergroup called The Magnificent Six with Williams, Johnny Marr, Michael Einziger and former Eurythmic David A. Stewart to create the music for the sequel.[53] The soundtrack for the film was released on April 22, 2014 by Columbia Records and Madison Gate Records.[54] Hans Zimmer described his work for this movie to be different from previous works that he did, thus revealing one of the themes for the movie, which was first heard on the website.[55][56]

On March 31, 2014, a track called "It's On Again" was uploaded to Soundcloud. It features vocals by Kendrick Lamar and Alicia Keys. Via Twitter, Keys announced the song and credited Zimmer and Williams along with Lamar and herself for the song, and she included a hashtag saying "Spiderman", indicating the song is part of the soundtrack.[57][58]

Marketing

The release of the film in the United Kingdom was pushed forward to April 16, 2014, two days ahead of its original April 18 date.[59] Deadline reported that, in addition to the production budget, the film's marketing budget was $180–190 million.[4]

Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International promoting The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

On July 17, 2013, Sony released a clip from the film with the first released footage of Jamie Foxx as Electro to encourage attendance at their panel at the San Diego Comic-Con International.[60] At the panel they premiered a four-minute trailer, which was not publicly released but eventually leaked on the internet. Viral marketing for the film included a version of the Daily Bugle on the blogging service Tumblr, which included references to Kate Cushing, Detective Stan Carter, the "Big Man", Izzy Bunsen, Joy Mercado, Donald Menken, the Vulture, Hydro-Man, Spencer Smythe, Ned Leeds, Anne Weying, J. Jonah Jameson, Shocker, Alistair Smythe, Doctor Octopus, Eddie Brock, The Enforcers and Puma.[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] Marc Webb tweeted a photo of a message in Dwarven language revealing that the first trailer would debut prior to 3D screenings of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.[70][71][72]

On December 8, 2013, it was announced that new footage from the film would be presented during New Year's Eve festivities at New York City's Times Square.[73]

The film was further promoted during the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) "Earth Hour" campaign. The cast was present at the launch of the 2014 event in Singapore.[74] Disney Consumer Products announced a merchandise product line for the film at the American International Toy Fair on February 17, 2014.[75]

In March 2014, Gameloft and Marvel announced the launch of a mobile game of the same name for smartphones and tablets.[76][77] It was released on consoles afterward.[78] Kellogg's released an application featuring the film.[79]

Evian serves as a promotional partner of the film. On April 1, 2014, the brand released an advertisement "The Amazing Baby & Me 2" featuring Spider-Man and a baby version of him, as a follow-up to their original "Baby & Me" campaign.[80]

The film partnered with NBCUniversal for advertising. Spots for the film appeared on Bravo, E!, USA, Syfy, Telemundo and mun2 and a customized page was created on Fandango.[81] In May 2014, Marvel announced that Spider-Man's costume from the film would be available within Marvel: Avengers Alliance.[82]

Home media

Fans who saw the movie have started petitions on several petition websites to include a "Director's Cut" in the home video release for cutting out scenes from the film's marketing, including scenes featuring Martin Sheen reprising his role as Uncle Ben and Chris Zylka reprising his role as Flash Thompson, along with Shailene Woodley's deleted scenes and a post-credits scene.[83] The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to be released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for digital download on August 5, 2014 and on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on August 19, 2014.[84]

Reception

Critical response

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 received mixed reviews from film critics.[85] The Los Angeles Times said, "[The film is] overstuffed with plot lines, set pieces and villains, although stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone do their best to give the movie heart."[86] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 53% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 5.9/10 based on 251 reviews. The site's consensus states: "While the cast is outstanding and the special effects are top-notch, the latest installment of the Spidey saga suffers from an unfocused narrative and an overabundance of characters."[87] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the film also has a score of 53, based on 49 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews".[88] CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave the film was B+ on an A+ to F scale.[89] The main criticisms of the film were the underdeveloped characters, overlong running time, and crowded script.[90][91][92] However, the special effects, chemistry between Stone and Garfield, and DeHaan's performance were met with high praise.[93][94] Foxx's portrayal of Max Dillon/Electro was met with mixed reviews.[95]

Tim Robey of The Telegraph said, "Marc Webb's Spider-Man sequel is overstuffed with high-voltage villains, but the sparks between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone save the day".[96] Simon Reynolds of Digital Spy said, "Peter's past, present and future all intertwine in a sequel that offers bang for your buck. That said you can't help feel the franchise bean counters at work here thanks to all the ominous foreshadowing and unresolved character arcs. Too many cooks and all that...".[97] Kim Newman of Empire, scored the film three out of five stars, saying: "A few too-broad gags aside — and even these are in the funky spirit of ’60s Marvel — this is a satisfying second issue with thrills, heartbreak, gasps, and a perfectly judged slingshot ending."[98] Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter said, "The eponymous hero hits his super-heroic stride here, as does Andrew Garfield in the role, especially when Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker learns there's always some fine print in a contract with this many benefits. The plot gets itself tangled up in multiple villain strands, but in the main, this installment is emotionally weightier and more satisfying than its predecessor."[99] Guy Lodge of Variety said, "Redundancy remains a problem, but this overlong superhero sequel gets by on sound, fury and star chemistry."[100] Richard Roeper gave the film a B+, stating that "It's about 20 minutes too long and it's overstuffed with too many characters and too many subplots, but there's enough good stuff in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to warrant optimism about the next chapter of the franchise."[101] A negative review came from Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, giving the film two stars out of five, he said: "Things go wrong quickly with Amazing 2. Am I the only one who hates the word Amazing to describe a movie that isn't? Just asking."[102]

Box office

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 grossed $8.7 million on its early Thursday night showings.[103] It finished its opening weekend in first place with an estimated $92 million, $30 million more than the opening weekend gross of the first film. As of July 6, 2014, the film has grossed $200,938,015 in North America and $503,788,289 in other countries, for a total gross of $704,726,304.[5]

Brooks Barnes of The New York Times said, "Revenue climbed primarily because studios crammed an unusually large number of big-budget releases into theaters, but these giants also cannibalized one another, leading to a series of megaflops, led by “The Lone Ranger.”"[104]

Outside North America, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opened on April 16, 2014 to $2.73 million in the UK and to $190,000 in Belgium, while opening to $1.44 million in Australia and $1.11 million in Germany.[105] The film's release in India is the biggest opening weekend of all time for a Hollywood title.[106] In China, the film played on 11,002 screens, which is the biggest release of any film in history.[107] On its opening day in Hong Kong, the film earned $1.23 million, the highest opening gross in the territory ever.[108]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2014 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Sci-fi/Fantasy The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Pending [109]
Choice Movie Actor: Sci-fi/Fantasy Andrew Garfield Pending
Choice Movie Actress: Sci-fi/Fantasy Emma Stone Pending

Sequels and spinoffs

On June 17, 2013, Sony announced two more planned sequels to follow The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with the third film getting the release date of June 10, 2016, and the fourth film on May 4, 2018.[110] On October 2, 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Kurtzman, Orci and Pinkner would return to write the third film.[111] In December 2013, Garfield revealed that he is signed for three films, but is not sure of his involvement for the fourth film.[112] In February 2014, Sony announced that Webb will return to direct the third film.[3] In March 2014, Webb stated that he would not be directing the fourth film, but would like to remain as a consultant for the series.[113] On March 31, 2014, Woodley said she was unsure she wanted to be in the third film as Mary Jane, due to commitments with the Divergent film series.[114] On May 8, 2014, Webb told Entertainment Weekly that the third film's story will focus on Peter's recovering from Gwen's death.[115]

In December 2013, Sony announced two planned spinoffs of the film series featuring Venom and the Sinister Six. Kurtzman will direct Venom and co-write the film with Orci and Ed Solomon. Drew Goddard will write The Sinister Six,[116][117] and it was later confirmed in April 2014 that he would also direct the film.[118] Both films may release before the fourth Amazing Spider-Man film,[119] and potentially may include an appearance from Spider-Man.[120]

See also

References

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The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man, wounded, is covered in a spider web with New York City in the background and as a reflection in his mask. Text at the bottom of the reveals the title, release date, official site of the film, rating and production credits.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Marc Webb
Produced by Laura Ziskin
Avi Arad
Matt Tolmach
Screenplay by James Vanderbilt
Alvin Sargent
Steve Kloves
Story by James Vanderbilt
Based on The Amazing Spider-Man 
by Stan Lee
Steve Ditko
Starring Andrew Garfield
Emma Stone
Rhys Ifans
Denis Leary
Irrfan Khan
Martin Sheen
Sally Field
Chris Zylka
Music by James Horner
Cinematography John Schwartzman
Edited by Alan Edward Bell
Michael McCusker
Pietro Scalia
Production
  company		 Columbia Pictures
Marvel Entertainment[1]
Laura Ziskin Productions
Arad Productions,inc.
Matt Tolmach Productions
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date(s)
  • June 30, 2012 (Tokyo premiere)
  • July 3, 2012 (United States)
Running time 136 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $230 million1
Box office $757,930,663[3]

The Amazing Spider-Man is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man and sharing the title of the character's longest-running comic book of the same name. It is the fourth theatrical Spider-Man film produced by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment, and a reboot of Sam Raimi's 2002–07 trilogy preceding it. The film was directed by Marc Webb, written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves and stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curtis Connors, Denis Leary as Captain George Stacy along with Martin Sheen and Sally Field as the uncle and aunt of Peter Parker, Ben Parker and May Parker. The film tells the story of Peter Parker, a teenager from New York City who becomes Spider-Man after being bitten by a genetically altered spider. Parker must stop Dr. Curt Connors as a mutated Lizard from spreading a mutation serum to the city's human population.

Development of the film began with the cancellation of Spider-Man 4 in 2010, ending director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film series that had starred Tobey Maguire as the titular superhero. Columbia Pictures opted to reboot the franchise with the same production team along with James Vanderbilt to stay on with writing the next Spider-Man film while Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves helped with the script as well. During pre-production, the main characters were cast in 2010. New designs were introduced from the comics such as artificial web-shooters. Using Red Digital Cinema Camera Company's RED Epic camera, principal photography started in December 2010 in Los Angeles before moving to New York City. The film entered post-production in April 2011. 3ality Technica provided 3D image processing, Sony Imageworks handled CGI and James Horner composed the film score.

Sony Entertainment built a promotional website, releasing many previews and launched a viral marketing campaign, among other moves. Tie-ins included a video game by Beenox. The film premiered on June 30 in Tokyo and was released in the United States on July 3 in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D and released in home media in November 2012. The reboot was well received by critics, praising mostly the Andrew Garfield's performance and the visual style, but both critics and audiences were mixed with the reinvention of the titular character and the introduction of the character Lizard. The film was a box office success, grossing over $757 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2012, and the highest-grossing reboot of all time.

The film's sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, was released on May 2, 2014, with director Marc Webb and most of the first film's main cast returning to their previous roles. A third film is set for 2016 and a fourth for 2018. In addition, Sinister Six and Venom spin-off films have been announced. [4]

Contents

Plot

A young Peter Parker discovers his father Richard Parker's study has been burgled. Gathering up hidden documents, Peter's parents take him to the home of his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, then mysteriously depart.

Years later, a teenaged Peter attends Midtown Science High School, where he is bullied by Flash Thompson and has caught the eye of the beautiful Gwen Stacy. At home, Peter finds his father's papers and learns he worked with fellow scientist Dr. Curt Connors at Oscorp. Sneaking into Oscorp, Peter enters a lab where a "biocable" is under development from genetically modified spiders, one of which bites him. On the subway ride home, he discovers that he has developed spider-like abilities.

After studying Richard's papers, Peter visits the one-armed Connors, reveals he is Richard Parker's son and gives Connors his father's "decay rate algorithm", the missing piece in Connors' experiments on regenerating limbs. Connors is being pressed by his superior, Dr. Ratha, to devise a cure for the dying (but unseen) head of Oscorp, Norman Osborn. In school, Peter gets into trouble after a basketball challenge with Flash in which Peter accidentally shatters the backboard glass. Uncle Ben changes work shifts to meet with the principal and asks Peter to replace him walking home with Aunt May that night. Peter gets distracted and helps Connors regenerate the limb of a laboratory mouse. Peter returns home late, having forgotten to pick up Aunt May, leading to an argument with Ben that prompts Peter to storm out. At a nearby deli, a cashier refuses to let Peter buy a chocolate milk since Peter is two cents short; when a thief suddenly raids the store, Peter indifferently observes. While searching for Peter, Uncle Ben attempts to stop the thief and is killed. The thief escapes as Peter finds Ben on the sidewalk.

Afterward, Peter uses his new abilities to hunt criminals matching the killer's description. After a fall lands him inside an abandoned gym, a luchador-wrestling poster inspires him to create a mask to hide his identity. He adds a spandex suit and builds mechanical devices to attach to his wrists to shoot a biocable "web". Peter accepts a dinner invitation from Gwen, where he meets and has a tense conversation with her father, police captain George Stacy, over Spider-Man's motives. After dinner, Peter reveals his identity to Gwen and they kiss.

After seeing success with the mouse using lizard DNA, Ratha demands Connors begin human trials immediately if Osborn is to survive. Connors refuses to rush the drug-testing procedure and put innocent people at risk. Ratha fires Connors and decides to test Connors' serum at a VA hospital under the guise of a flu shot. In an act of desperation, Connors tries the formula on himself. After passing out, he awakens to find his missing arm has regenerated. Discovering that Ratha is on his way to the VA hospital, Connors, whose skin is turning green and scaly, goes to intercept him. By the time he gets to the Williamsburg Bridge Connors has become a violent hybrid of lizard and man, tossing cars, including Ratha's, over the side of the bridge. Peter, now calling himself Spider-Man, snatches each falling car with his web-lines.

Spider-Man suspects Connors is the Lizard and unsuccessfully confronts the creature in the sewers. The Lizard learns Spider-Man's real identity via the name on an abandoned camera and follows Peter to school where they fight. In response, the police start a manhunt for both Spider-Man and the Lizard. The police corner Spider-Man and Captain Stacy discovers that he is really Peter. The Lizard plans to make all humans lizard-like by releasing a chemical cloud from Oscorp's tower, to eliminate the weaknesses he believes plague humanity. Spider-Man confronts and battles the Lizard on the roof of Oscorp Tower and eventually disperses an antidote cloud instead, restoring Connors and earlier victims to normal, but not before the Lizard mortally wounds Captain Stacy. Before his death, Captain Stacy makes Peter vow to keep Gwen safe by "leaving her out of it." Peter initially does so by avoiding to go to Captain Stacy's funeral. Later at school, Peter sits behind Gwen in class and suggests that he is not keeping his promise to her father. Spider-Man then takes his final swing through the city as the screen cuts to black...

In a closing-credits scene, Connors, in a prison cell, speaks with a man in the shadows who asks if Peter knows the truth about his father. Connors replies, "No", and demands Peter be left alone before the man disappears right before his eyes.2

Cast and characters

Andrew Garfield (top) and Emma Stone (bottom) at 2013 San Diego Comic Con
A teenager struggling to find his place in life ever since his parents disappeared when he was a child. A spider bites him on the back of his neck, giving him spider-powers. He becomes Spider-Man [6][7] Garfield described Parker as someone he can relate to and stated that the character had been an important influence on him since he was little.[8][9][10] Garfield drew from his life experiences as inspiration for the role, revealing, "I was thinking of my history and thinking of the kid at school who I wasn't as strong as, who behaved badly to a lot of people – including myself – and who I constantly tried to stand up to but never had the physical prowess to".[11] Discussing his predecessor, Garfield said he respects Tobey Maguire as an actor and that when he first saw Maguire play Spider-Man he "was blown away by his interpretation."[11] Garfield said in interviews, including one in which he was interviewed by Maguire, that when he watched the film Spider-Man when he was younger, he would jokingly recite Maguire's lines in the mirror with a friend who joked that he would never be Spider-Man.[11][12] On accepting the role Garfield explained, "I see it as a massive challenge in many ways... To make it authentic. To make the character live and breathe in a new way. The audience already has a relationship with many different incarnations of the character. I do, as well. I'm probably going to be the guy in the movie theater shouting abuse at myself. But I have to let that go. No turning back. And I wouldn't want to."[13] After taking the role, Garfield studied the movements of athletes and spiders and tried to incorporate them, saying Parker is "a boy/spider in terms of how he moves, and not just in the suit."[14][15] He did yoga and Pilates for the role in order to be as flexible as possible.[16] When first wearing his costume Garfield admitted to shedding tears and trying to imagine "a better actor in the suit",[17] which he described as "uncomfortable" and admitted to wearing nothing beneath it since it is skintight.[18] When filming Garfield explained that he had four months of training and described his physical roles on stunts as terribly challenging and exhausting.[19]
A high school classmate and love interest of Parker's,[20] a smart and charismatic girl who is the chief Intern at Oscorp.[6][7] For the role, Stone went back to her natural blonde hair color, from her previously known color of red.[21][22] She felt that she had a responsibility to educate herself on Spider-Man, admitting she "hadn't read the comic book growing up, and my experience was with the Sam Raimi movies... I always assumed that Mary Jane was his first love",[23] and having only been familiar with Bryce Dallas Howard's portrayal in Spider-Man 3.[24][25][26] Stone said, "There's a part of me that really wants to please people [who] love Spider-Man or Gwen Stacy and want her to be done justice. I hope they'll give me license to interpret her my way."[22]
One of Oscorp's leading scientific minds who attempts to engineer a revolutionary regeneration serum to help regrow limbs and human tissue. Something goes wrong, and he is transformed into the monster known as the Lizard.[6][7] Ifans said his character spends the majority of the film as a human. While playing the 9-foot-tall reptile, Ifans was required to wear a CGI suit. Initially, a large stunt-double was used as a stand-in for the role, but Ifans insisted on portraying the transformed character. Commenting on the technology used to bring his character to life, Ifans continued, "I had a green suit on, and then this cardboard head, and these small claws... Each and every time you see the Lizard, the technology is so advanced now that when the Lizard's eyes move, they're my eyes. If I frown or show any emotion, they're my emotions. That's how spectacularly advanced technology is."[29] Ifans said that he voiced the man-beast as well, explaining, "I'm sure the voice will be toyed with in the eventual edits, but when I was shooting the CGI moments, when I wasn't actually human, when I was Lizard, I looked like a crash-test dummy in a green leotard thing. There were many moments when I had to speak to Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as the Lizard."[30]

"This is a Denis Leary you've never seen before — he's not the cool cat bucking the system, he is the system. He's got wit, he's got an attitude, and he's got 500 officers looking for Spider-Man — who just happens to be dating his daughter."

—Matt Tolmach explaining Leary's character.[31]
Gwen's father and a New York City Police Department captain who hunts both Spider-Man out of distrust and the Lizard for his rampage.[32] Leary explained that he did not know much about Spider-Man in the comics and was "more of a Batman guy. Not the '60s [TV version] but the really dark Batman. But my wife was a Spider-Man nut, which was why I went to Tobey Maguire ones."[33] He added that long before he was cast as George Stacy his friend Jeff Garlin, a Spider-Man fan, "said to me, 'The first time I met you, I thought you were George Stacy!' This was like 30 years ago. I was like, 'What?!'"[33] Director Webb said of his casting, "[W]e all trust Denis Leary. He's got this attitude, but you love him. In this movie, he puts pressure on Peter Parker. He's on Spider-Man's case, but you understand him. I've said this before, but good drama comes from competing ideas of what's good."[34]
Peter's uncle.[35] Sheen admitted he was unfamiliar with Spider-Man other than Maguire's portrayal, and knew little of the character Ben Parker except for knowing Cliff Robertson had played the part.[36] Sheen described his character as a surrogate father, saying, "I'm dealing with this adolescent who is having problems with changes, with hormones changing and his getting out of hand. I have to give him the marching orders and so forth."[37] Webb said, "You think of Martin Sheen as President Bartlet [of TV's The West Wing]. He has that sense of benevolent authority, but there's something else that's important, in terms of the dynamic that I wanted to explore, vis-à-vis Peter's relationship with his absent parents." Webb felt that unlike the scientifically inclined Peter, Uncle Ben represented the blue-collar working man, a gap that could create a dynamic between the characters.[34]
Ben Parker's wife and Peter's aunt.[38][39] Field said the main reason she felt she had to be in the film was because of producer Laura Ziskin (they worked together on the 1985 film Murphy's Romance) because she had an instinct that this was to be Ziskin's last film. After Ziskin's death Field expressed her gratitude of being a part of both Ziskin's first and last films.[40] Director Webb felt that "when you cast someone like Sally, they come with a certain level of awareness and real genuine affection, which for Aunt May is an incredibly important thing to have." Webb said that while "we all love Aunt May", he wanted to create a tension between May and Peter. "He's got bruises on his face, and what happens in that moment? That can create some tension, but you want there to be love there. That's what someone like Sally Field gives you."[34]
An Oscorp executive, Connors' immediate superior.[42] Khan said he was offered what he described as this "pivotal role" after appearing in the TV drama series In Treatment.[43][44] Webb described himself as a fan of the actor when watching the series along with the films The Namesake and The Warrior.[42] Khan said he was uninterested in the project at first, but that his sons were excited about it and insisted he take the role.[45]
A high school bully who picks on Parker.[46] On playing the role, Zylka said, "You just try to focus. As an artist or as an actor, you just try to focus and stay in that world and block it all out."[47]

Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz portray Peter's parents, Richard and Mary Parker.[48][49] Leif Gantvoort plays the burglar who robs the convenience store. Hannah Marks portrays Missy Kallenback, an unpopular girl who has a crush on Peter.[50] Kelsey Chow's brief role is simply credited as "Hot Girl" during the end credits of the film, but the actress revealed to media outlets around the time of the film's release that her character is in fact Sally Avril.[51] Similarly, C. Thomas Howell's character is credited as "Jack's Father" at the end of the film (Jack being a boy that Spider-Man rescues on the Williamsburg Bridge) but he is referred to as Troy by one of his fellow construction workers in the film itself. Unlike the previous films, J. Jonah Jameson does not appear.[52] Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance, as he did in the previous films. At the 2011 Dallas Comic Con, Lee detailed that he plays a librarian listening to music on his headphones while stamping books, oblivious to the ongoing battle.[53] Michael Massee plays the mysterious man in the shadows who talks with Connors in his prison cell in a teaser scene during the end credits.[54] As to the man's identity, director Marc Webb said, "It's intentionally mysterious. And I invite speculation..."[55] Michael Papajohn, who played Uncle Ben's killer in the 2002 film, has a cameo as Alfred, Dr. Ratha's limo driver.[56]

Themes and analysis

"I have tried to capture how Peter copes with the feelings of being an underdog, his confusions and his self-doubt. This, I hope, has brought, a certain empathy and sensitivity to his character that explains how it helps him become the hero that he eventually turns out to be."

—Andrew Garfield[57]

Webb described the film as "a story about a kid who grows up looking for his father and finds himself."[58] Both Webb and star Garfield described Parker as an outsider by choice, someone hard to get close to.[58][59] As in the early comic books, the character "is a science whiz. If you look back to the early Stan Lee and Steve Ditko comics, he's a nerd with big glasses," said Webb. He explained "the idea of what a nerd is has changed in 40 or 50 years. Nerds are running the world. Andrew Garfield made a movie [called The Social Network] about it. ... What was important in those early comics was this notion that Peter Parker is an outsider and how we define that in a contemporary context."[60] Garfield compared his Spider-Man façade as a metaphor for internet anonymity, saying, "You feel the power of it, the power of not being seen, the power of the mask. Peter becomes witty when he's got that protective layer. It's like he's on a message board. He's got the anonymity of the Internet within that suit, and he can say whatever the hell he likes, and he can get away with anything."[61] Garfield tried to explore Parker as an orphan, whom he feels "are the strongest human beings on the planet."[57] He said Parker is "a human hero [who] goes through all of the same struggles that we all have gone through, especially the skinny ones [who] want more power than they feel they have." He believes Parker represents "a very inspiring, aspirational character that symbolizes goodness — and how difficult it is to be good — but how worth it it is."[15] Rhys Ifans compared this film to William Shakespeare's Hamlet on the grounds that Spider-Man can be redone over and over in different ways. He felt that they are similar in that they both represent meaningful archetypal young men grappling with the loss of their father.[62] Critics like Claudia Puig of USA Today felt that Garfield's character as the superhero "embodies the nerdy Parker, the anguished fatherless teen and the cocky super-hero in equal doses".[63] Boyd Hoij of Variety noted that Garfield's character as Spider-Man makes an interesting hero in the film because of how it establishes early on that Peter's growing pains along with his search for an identity are common to any teenager and that "his struggles involve real people — and real lives."[64]

Stone described her character as "a daddy's girl" who is very responsible and protective of her family and loves science.[23][65] She said her character "offers Parker a world of stability, of a family unit not marred with parental loss and, beyond physical allure, the two forge an intellectual connection over their shared love of science."[23] Her character, she explained, "is stuck between [her father] the Captain and Peter Parker and Spider-Man, who have different ways about going about finding justice in their lives" which she felt was a fun thing to explore.[24] Dana Stevens of Slate described her character "as the stuff of a comic nerd's dreams: a sweet, smart, wisecracking dame in demure sweaters, miniskirts, thigh-high stockings and boots."[66]

Rhys Ifans described the character that he is portraying as a villain as similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from the classic book of the same name.

Webb felt that the Lizard was the best villain because, "He's the literal embodiment of the theme of the movie, which is we all have a missing piece. He has no arm. Peter has no parents, and he fills that void with Spider-Man."[67] Producer Avi Arad felt likewise, explaining, "[Y]ou look at Peter, he misses the parents, [and] Connors has one arm. ...[E]motionally, [it] is a very similar problem. It is a cautionary tale."[68] Webb said that the Lizard "is not the worst villain on the planet. He's not a mustache-twirling guy who wants to terrorize people. He believes he's doing the right thing."[69][70] Actor Rhys Ifans described his character as a flawed character comparable to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.[71] "Curt Connors is by no means an evil villain," Ifans stated. "He's not like the Batman villains, like the Joker, who are the embodiment of evil. Curtis Connors is a great man who makes a bad decision. ... [T]hat's the whole magic of the Spider-Man idea. These people are the embodiment of our flaws and our desires that lead to tragedy."[72] Ifans described Connors as a force for good throughout his life: "He's a geneticist who wants to help people, like him, who are limbless. In his eagerness to advance that science, he makes a mistake and that's an occurrence we've seen throughout time, sometimes to our benefit, sometimes to our detriment. ...He is a broken man who wants to fix himself."[73] Ifans added, "I'm not portraying a villain in any sense. Connors does feel cheated by God, and he's looking for answers in science. God seems to intervene."[69][70]

Webb said that Oscorp Tower is pivotal as a part of a new mythology of the film. He liked that Parker was connected to the building in some way and to think of it as "a Tower of Babel in the middle of Manhattan that has something dark and seedy going on in there."[74] The critic Roger Ebert described the place as a "typical comic-book mega-corporation with a madman at the top."[75]

Production

Development

Following the release of Spider-Man 3, Sony Pictures Entertainment had announced a May 5, 2011, release date for Sam Raimi's next film in the earlier series. By this time, screenwriters James Vanderbilt, David Lindsay-Abaire and Gary Ross had all written rejected versions of a script and Ziskin's husband Alvin Sargent, who wrote the second and third films, was working on yet another attempt.[76][77] Raimi wanted John Malkovich to play his next villain.[76] However, on January 11, 2010, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that rather than continue the earlier saga, they were rebooting the series with a new cast and crew. Industry reports claimed that Raimi had admitted that he could not meet the scheduled release date and retain creative integrity.[78] Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and Ziskin continued as producers.[78]

Arad later explained, "We were working on what we called Spider-Man 4 and it was the same team [as with the first three films]. The problem was we didn't have a story that was strong enough and warranted ... another movie. And Sam Raimi ... realized we [didn't] have a good reason to make another one. And between [him] and Tobey and obviously the studio, we all went into it not feeling good about the next story."[79] Tolmach said one reason to restart the series was that the producers felt the core Spider-Man story was that of a boy becoming a man.[80] Screenwriter Steve Kloves did a polish of Sargent's script, saying he had originally declined the opportunity to do so but relented "as a favor" to the filmmakers.[81] "I also really wanted to write for Emma Stone, because I like to write for women and I particularly like Emma," he explained. "So ...I did basically character and dialogue, and that was enjoyable for me. So that was my hand in it. And I did a little plot work, but a lot of the plot was done." He did "a little bit" of dialog for Peter Parker / Spider-Man.[81] In April 2012, writer-director Paul Feig said that Webb "invited me on set, and I did a little bit of writing for that movie, for one of the high school scenes".[82]

"When you walk out of the theater, I want the world you see to resemble what you saw on the screen. Part of the joy of cinema [is that] you make the impossible look real. I wanted it to be more grounded and more realistic and that went for the emotion of the scenes, the physical action and wardrobe. It's less based in Steve Ditko world and probably closer visually and more influenced by "Ultimate Spider-Man" but it is also very much a world of our own devising."

—Marc Webb in an interview with the Los Angeles Times[60]

Days after announcing Raimi's departure, the studio announced that Webb, whose previous film (500) Days of Summer was his directorial debut, would direct the reboot.[83][84] Tolmach, now president of Columbia Pictures and Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said they looked for a director who could give sharp focus to Parker's life.[83] Webb said he "was a little sceptical at first — you feel the presence of those other movies. But then I was like, 'How could I walk away from this? What an opportunity!'"[85] Webb said in the press release announcing him that, "Sam Raimi's virtuoso rendering of Spider-Man is a humbling precedent to follow and build upon. The first three films are beloved for good reason. But I think the Spider-Man mythology transcends not only generations but directors as well. I am signing on not to 'take over' from Sam. That would be impossible. Not to mention arrogant. I'm here because there's an opportunity for ideas, stories, and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas, and creative voice to Spider-Man."[83] Webb felt Spider-Man is different from the Harry Potter franchise, which is based on a small number of novels and "more like James Bond" because "there's so much material in Spider-Man that there are so many stories to tell and so many characters."[86] He described the film as "not a remake" explaining that "we're not making Sam's movie again. It's a different universe and a different story with different characters."[87]

Casting

Chosen supporting cast for comic book characters roles

In May 2010, The Hollywood Reporter said the actors who met with Webb to be considered for the lead role included Jamie Bell, Alden Ehrenreich, Frank Dillane, Ose Hayble, Garfield and Josh Hutcherson.[88] In June 2010 the Los Angeles Times reported that the shortlist had expanded to include Aaron Johnson and Anton Yelchin.[89] At least Bell, Ehrenreich, Garfield, Yelchin, Logan Lerman and Michael Angarano had screen tests.[90] On July 1, 2010, the choice of Garfield was confirmed.[5] Webb stated that he felt he knew Garfield was the right guy when they were filming a cutscene where he was eating a cheeseburger while telling Gwen to calm down.[91]

Sony then held auditions for the role of the young Peter, who needed to resemble Garfield.[92] Webb said, "I think we saw the origin of Spider-Man before but not the origin of Peter Parker." Webb felt that when you try to build the film you must build the protagonist from the ground up. That's why he wanted Parker to begin as a child.[58]

It was reported originally that the film would feature both Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy as love interests,[93] but the website The Wrap later reported that only Gwen Stacy would appear.[94] In August 2010, the list of candidates included Imogen Poots, Ophelia Lovibond and Lily Collins, with Teresa Palmer, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Emma Roberts cited by The Hollywood Reporter as "potentially in the mix".[95] In September 2010, Variety reported that the shortlist had expanded to include Stone and Mia Wasikowska.[96] The shortlist was reported to then include Dianna Agron, Georgina Haig and Dominique McElligott.[97] On October 5, 2010, the choice of Stone was confirmed.[20] Webb noted that the chemistry between Stone and Garfield made her the clear choice.[20] That chemistry inspired their off-screen romance.[10]

On October 11, 2010, Rhys Ifans was confirmed to be the unnamed villain, and two days later his character was revealed to be Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard.[27][98] Arad said that Lizard is his favorite Spider-Man villain, and he had long wanted to use him in a film.[25] Well before the choice of villain, Arad had had conceptual drawings prepared for the character.[25]

In November 2010, Martin Sheen was reported to be Uncle Ben while Sally Field was in negotiations to play Aunt May.[35][38] Also that month, Denis Leary was reported to accept the role of George Stacy.[32] In December 2010, Campbell Scott and Julianne Nicholson were in negotiations to play Peter's parents. Khan was originally reported as playing Van Adder until the character's name was revealed to be Dr. Ratha.[41][48] Embeth Davidtz then replaced Nicholson.[49] Annie Parisse was originally reported to play "the villain's wife", and Miles Elliot was reported to portray Billy Connors, son of Dr. Connors; but they did not appear in the final cut of the film.[28][48]

Design

Webb felt a responsibility to reinvent Spider-Man.[60] One departure from the preceding trilogy was to have Spider-Man build artificial web-shooters, as the character does in the comics.[99] In February 2011, with the launch of the official website, the title and first official image of Garfield as Spider-Man depicting both his costume and web-shooters for the first time were revealed.[100][101] Writer Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times was skeptical of the change, feeling that it was too hard to believe that a financially strapped young man could conceive a wrist-worn device that can instantly produce a strand of synthetic webbing and noted "the suit lives up to the challenge of being different from the Sam Raimi films but not too different from the classic suit that stands as one of the great comic-book costumes ever."[102] Matt Goldberg of Collider admitted that he was not crazy about the costume, explaining that the bug-yellow eyes felt weird to him and the mesh-pattern felt too busy. He explained that the design of the gloves caused flashbacks to the Spider-Man 2099 costume which he did not like, although he felt that the web-shooters looked fine.[103] Webb explained that he felt that "the web-shooters were able to dramatize Peter's intellect". Webb paid attention to the question of "How would a kid make it?" and then took some license with it. About the new costume, Webb explained that he and the crew "wanted a design that would make the body longer and more lithe, more of an acrobat, someone incredibly agile and the legs of the spider [symbol on the chest] were something we used to emphasize that." He revealed that the film used varying suits for different lighting conditions. They made the webbing on the costume a little bit darker.[99] Webb stated that "With the costume and the web-shooters we wanted to emphasize that these are things that Peter Parker made".[99] Webb also looked at the Mark Bagley art in Ultimate Spider-Man for the hero's body.[104]

While Webb introduced a few elements from Ultimate Spider-Man, he wanted to keep the mainstream version of Gwen Stacy instead of that world's punk rocker.[104]

The release of Lizard merchandise designs along with unconfirmed concept art featuring a humanoid-shape with a layer of scales on top instead of a pronounced snout (similar to a dinosaur or crocodile) as in the most recent comics, produced a mixed reaction. Many commenters compared it to other fictional characters instead of his rendering in comics.[105][106][107] Russ Fischer of /Film described the character as looking more "Steve Ditko derived" (the character's original artist).[108] Webb felt that there are different incarnations of Lizard in the comic book. He felt that he should do it without the snout because he was interested more in human emotions and wanted to keep Rhys' presence in the creature. Webb wanted him to have emotion, have a face and have feeling.[34] He stated "that in a comic book, you just put that thing up there, and you can say, oh, thought bubble, whatever. But when you try to do that and make it look real, it's a different challenge, and I'm creating a movie, I'm not creating a comic book. That was part of the design."[104]

Webb "wanted to do something that felt more contemporary, and was less based in representing panels from the comics" and focus on spirit over style.[109]

Filming

Some of the filming locations in New York City were near East River close to the Williamsburg Bridge as shown above. However, most of the action scenes could not be done there. A 150-foot replica of a piece of the bridge near a tank had to be replaced for some of the action scenes in Los Angeles and some tighter shots and close-ups were done on a soundstage in New York City.[109]

Principal photography began on December 6, 2010, in Los Angeles.[110][111] The working title was Fiona's Tale.[112] The 90-day shoot included two weeks in New York City, while the bulk of filming occurred in and around Los Angeles, including such locations as the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, St. John Bosco High School's Gym, Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Mid-Wilshire and various locations around South Pasadena, San Pedro and Woodland Hills.[113] Sony Entertainment spokesman Steve Elzer explained, "[T]here is a comfort level in producing a project of this size and scope on your own backlot ... Basing the film on the lot also makes it easier for producers to interact with Sony's in-house visual effects team, and gives the studios greater control of quality and security."[113]

Some location shooting took place in New York City. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House served as the exterior for NYPD headquarters, and an apartment house at 15 West 81st Street, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, was used as the exterior for the home of Gwen Stacy and her family. A row of houses on Fuller Place in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Windsor Terrace stood in for the Forest Hills, Queens neighborhood of Ben and May Parker. A web-swinging stunt sequence takes place along the Riverside Drive Viaduct in Harlem.[114]

The film was the first Hollywood production to be filmed with the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company's RED Epic camera and was shot in 3-D at 5K resolution.[111] Cinematographer John Schwartzman had this to say about the camera: "Today was Epic, Monday December 6 marks the first day the Red Epic camera was used to shoot a major studio motion picture. I can say for certainty the camera does exist and boy is it ready for primetime, as a matter of fact it's a true game changer."[111] Schwartzman felt that the 3D would have been impossible without it. He said, "I can tell you without these cameras it would be impossible to move a 3D rig in the ways that THIS story demands, if Jim and the crew hadn't made these cameras available to us I don't think we could have shot this movie the way our director envisioned it in 3D."[111] Webb wanted cameras small enough to fit on the rigs and swing around very fast, saying that the "RED Epic cameras were the right cameras to do that." Webb continued that "you need to shoot it with a level of velocity and 3D cameras can be very large... and so we need those cameras to mount on rigs that could fly to the air and run to the streets in a certain pace. That allowed us to do it."[115] The Amazing Spider-Man's climax was filmed in a 1:78:1 aspect ratio for its IMAX DMR release.[116]

On April 2011, Stone revealed that the cinematography had wrapped and that post-production began in May although some reshooting took place in New York City in November 2011 and in Los Angeles in December 2011.[117][118][119]

Stunts

Webb stated that he and the crew wanted to keep the stunts more grounded physically, a challenge for a superhuman character.[60] The stunt performers included the Armstrong family,[60] Vic[120] and Andy, along with Richard Norton who plays a SWAT team member.[121][122] Andy Armstrong was the stunt coordinator while Vic was the second unit director.[115] To determine how Spider-Man should swing, Andy videotaped an Olympic Games gymnast swinging on a horizontal bar.[123] Andy noted that in the computer-generated swing in the earlier Spider-Man films, "he swings down at the same speed as he swings up," and this "constant" speed is unlike a real gymnast's movement where "he's accelerating until he reaches the bottom, then as he starts to come up, he's decelerating until he gets to the top of his swing and he actually gets negative gravity, where he'll go weightless for a second, and then the next swing starts, and it becomes another violent swing again."[124] Vic felt that Spider-Man's moves were comparable to those of Tarzan, and he wanted to add that in the film.[125] While filming in New York City, they swung a man through traffic down the street. Then, while the crew built a rig hundreds of feet long over Riverside Drive in Harlem, Andy built a car rig with a series of wires to help with effects which Webb said required an "incredible wealth of acrobatics".[122] These rigs were over 200–300 feet long and demanded months of rehearsals and design.[115] According to Andy, operating the rigs "was a combination of a lot of human skills and mechanical engineering."[124] The purpose of the rigs was to depict Spider-Man's swing in a way that wasn't computer-generated.[60] Garfield was reported to be involved with some of the stunts.[126] Leaked pictures reveal Garfield with a nosebleed that reports claimed was from swinging.[127] Arad explained that "Andrew is not only a brilliant actor but he is a sportsman. This gave us the opportunity to try things with him that were it not so it would have been almost impossible."[68]

Effects

External video
The Amazing Spider-Man: Sewer Battle Shot Build on YouTube.
How Sony Imageworks brought Spider-Man's poses and environments to life on YouTube
The Amazing Spider-Man: The Lizard Shot Build on YouTube.
The Amazing Spider-Man: High School Fight Shot Build on YouTube.

The company 3ality Technica of Burbank, California produced some of the equipment.[128][129] The film was reported to be the first to adopt 3ality Digital's TS-5 wireless and handheld beamsplitter mirror rig.[130] 3ality technology helped make it possible to avoid 2D to 3D conversion.[128] Webb wanted a new 3D experience for Spider-Man: "Because we're shooting in 3D, I wanted to conceive of certain things very specifically for 3D. There's an experimental component to 3D that's fascinating and we're experimenting with generating that point of view – so you feel what Peter Parker feels, you feel what Spider-Man feels when he's jumping over buildings and over the streets."[122] He felt that Spider-Man was ideal for 3D, admitting that they "started making the movie around the time Avatar came out" which made every studio want 3D. This was Webb's first film using the technique, and he did not want a force-fit or clumsy conversion as he had seen in other films.[86][131][131] Webb cited childhood films such as Creature from the Black Lagoon and House of Wax for inspirations to push the 3D in his film even further than the type of depth that James Cameron uses in his film.[34]

The Vancouver branch of Sony Pictures Imageworks was responsible for the digital touch-up.[132] The group improved the sewer and high school battle scene with many of Spider-Man's poses and environments that were used in the film. The comic book was cited as a basic source for Spider-Man's poses.[133] The visual designers helped bring the Lizard to life by first building a digital version of a production design maquette.[133] Many staff were involved with the process. They also started by thinking about lizard biology and how his muscles would work.[134] A large man referred to as "Big John" stood in as the character during shooting, performing much of the interaction with other characters.[34] The computer-generated Lizard replaced him in post-production.[34] The creators would then fuse the design of the Lizard with the actor Rhys Ifans.[133] Ifans then used motion capture for the Lizard's speaking parts, which Webb found challenging to incorporate into the character's final version.[34][104]

Music
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Critics like Filmtracks.com's Christian Clemmensen felt that "Horner's mix of the electronic elements into the major ensemble cues is tastefully handled" in this score. He also felt that the instruments such as the piano like played in this score is one of the heart of the score following Parker's relationships in their tender and mysterious turns.[135]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

James Horner scored the film.[136] Webb described Horner's first musical cue as "spectacular". Webb said, "I wanted to create a score that felt massive and huge but also intimate and small."[137] The film also features the Coldplay song "'til Kingdom Come" from the album X&Y.[138] In May 2012, Sony Classical revealed details about the soundtrack.[139]

Marketing

Merchandising

Spider-Man's stunt double shoots a Hardee's/Carl's Jr. commercial promoting the film.

Spider-Man and Lizard PEZ dispensers were revealed at the November 2011 Comic-Con first depicted the film's Lizard.[140] In December 2011, it was revealed that Mega Brands had the rights to produce construction sets.[141][142] A Marvel Select Spider-Man action figure by Diamond Select Toys was announced on January 2012 — the fifth Marvel Select Spider-Man figure, but the first based on a film.[143] The first look at a Hasbro action figure of the film's version of Spider-Man was revealed at the July 2011 Comic-Con.[144] Hasbro made a radio control speed-climbing figure.[145] Minimates made action figures from the film.[146] Other companies releasing action figures for the film include Hot Toys, MediCom and Kaiyodo.[147] OPI Products released a collection of The Amazing Spider-Man nail polish.[148] Trading cards were also available.[149]

CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, helped sponsor the film. Chief marketing officer Brad Haley said they would market a new burger as part of the promotion.[150] The burger was dubbed "The Amazing Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger". It was promoted through film-themed commercials and radio ads featuring Stan Lee. Spider-Man-themed premiums were offered as part of the Cool Kid's Combo. Tours and PlayStation 3 game prizes were part of the promotion along with a video game.[151] Stan Lee then helped spread the word that fans would also have been treated for a free Amazing Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger in Independence Day if dressed as Spider-Man.[152]

Big Cola was reported to enter a deal for promoting the film.[153][154] The Kellogg Company and the Keebler Company built marketing campaigns around clips from the film.[155] Sony launched a new augmented reality mobile application for the film using Qualcomm's Vuforia platform. Sony's Dwight Caines felt that the "use of augmented reality technology is a fun way of embracing the 3D aspects of the movie while nurturing the playful kid inside all of us who wants to collect items from their favorite superhero character to share with their friends and family."[156] Twizzlers challenged fans nationwide to help the hero build a virtual web of Twizzlers Twists to unlock prizes and exclusive content.[157] D-Box Technologies provide motion simulation for the film in select theaters.[158]

As is common in Sony films, Sony product placements abounded, replacing the ubiquitous Apple Computer products often used by other studios. The film's mobile phones, tablets, monitors and laptops all came from other Sony divisions. Other placements included Microsoft's Bing search engine.[159]

Previews

The point of view shot in the teaser trailer that was compared to the 2008 first person video game, Mirror's Edge by writers. This was the first preview audiences had of Spider-Man fully in the new costume in video. Only a few of these scenes appeared in the final cut of the film.

A teaser trailer was leaked on the Internet and aired at San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2011, attached to the superhero film Captain America: The First Avenger.[160] Rob Keyes of Screen Rant felt that "it takes on a noticeably different tone from that of Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man movies, and presents itself in a similar fashion to what Christopher Nolan did with Batman Begins."[161] Some writers observed that the trailer very closely resembles the 2008 video game Mirror's Edge.[162][163][164] After the third trailer was released, Webb defended the point of view footage, saying it was an early rendering and that the CGI was still in production.[34]

A "sneak peek screening" of The Amazing Spider-Man was held on February 6, 2012 in 13 cities internationally: Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Seoul, Sydney and Tokyo.[165] On January 8, 2012, the Spider-Man logo appeared on some of the world's most iconic buildings, such as the Sydney Opera House, the Colosseum of Rome, the Kremlin in Moscow and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.[166][167] The screening revealed a second trailer in 3D, which thereafter appeared online. Glen Levy of Time magazine felt that the trailer's "dialogue goes hand in hand with the action, rather than be dominated by it" and that the action scenes from the film looked "polished and slick".[168] The special screening included an eight and a half minute extended trailer.[169] Scott Mantz of Access Hollywood felt that the extended footage seemed is edgier and more character-driven and that "the Lizard looks like a great villain".[170] Peter Sciretta of /Film said that the trailers had left him "impressed" and had captured a feeling of dark naturalism alongside Spider-Man's trademark wisecracking.[171] With the second official trailer and the sizzle reel, Webb felt that it was important to provide a more specific idea of the film, such as showcasing Peter and Gwen's relationship and the visual effects, just to display the attitude of the film that he and the crew were trying to create.[172] On February 7, 2012 it was reported that the latest official trailer revealed a link to the viral marketing internet site for the film.[173]

A third official trailer debuted on iTunes on May 3, 2012. The trailer was attached to the 3D première of The Avengers, the day after.[174][175] The trailer contains what most reporters called a better and more fleshed Lizard.[174][176][177][178] Adam Chitwood of Collider said, "The webslinging has an edge to it and The Lizard has much more texture. I like Andrew Garfield a whole lot, and the biggest draw for me here is the character work between Garfield and Emma Stone. They look to have some great chemistry and Garfield brings out a... side of Peter Parker that we didn't really see in Sam Raimi's trilogy."[179] Sandy Schaefer of ScreenRant felt that "the darker color palette and 3D visuals shown here look overall quite crisp, even without the benefit of the big screen."[175] Webb felt that "there's a small, intimate little indie movie at the heart of Spider-Man".[34]

In May 9, 2012 the first television trailer was revealed which teased an "4 minute Super Preview" on NBC with the season premiere of America's Got Talent on May 14.[180] The super preview revealed Spider-Man saving a boy near a bridge.[181][182] Fans and writers rated that scene the highest in the trailer.[183][184] Angela Watercutter of Wired called the rescue scene "pretty freaking epic."[184] Kofi Outlaw of Screen Rant felt that the biggest thing to note "is the tone and composition of the film" and that most of the footage "manages to showcase a version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man that is both familiar and fresh."[185]

A six-minute 3D preview was tied in with IMAX 3D showings of Men in Black 3.[186] Sony's Rory Bruer explained that the audience of Men in Black 3 should be a perfect match for this footage and that the six minutes should get everyone excited.[187] The footage revealed an exchange between Peter and Gwen that Brad Williams from WhatCulture.com described as "brief and cutesy". Brad found the CGI fairly clean and felt that the film seemed like a perfect match for 3D.[188]

Viral campaign

Graffiti of the Spider-Man logo in Seattle, Washington, painted by operatives for the viral campaign for The Amazing Spider-Man.

The main viral marketing site was revealed in the second trailer in February 2012.[173] The official Twitter account revealed a scavenger hunt by posting "Property of Peter Parker... Lost" with the longitude and latitude coordinates of direct markets in major US cities. The missing items included a JanSport backpack. One of the clues hidden in the backpack was a link to a page on the viral site that unlocked countdown timers for the cities of Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, Arizona.[189][190] Once the countdown was up, each of the city-specific Twitter accounts for the marketing campaign sent out five locations in each city. A person at each spot waited to give the first person with the password a package and the tag-name "operative".[191] These operatives painted the Spider-Man logo as graffiti.[192] The operatives then could view a scene related to the film.[193] The main viral website revealed hints to other websites, such as a photo blog that expressed Peter Parker's point of view.[194][195] An unlocked puzzle there revealed the words "evolve", "through" and "engineering" which when put together led to another website with design sketches on how to build a web-shooter.[195][196][197]

A Daily Bugle website revealed Denis Leary as George Stacy, lamenting the appearance of the wall-crawler and asking whoever spots Spider-Man to e-mail the police. The site hosted the best fan-made Spider-Man scenes.[198][199] People who uploaded images of "Spider-Man" on the "Webbed Menace" viral site received a poster that sent them to a website for a boxing gym called "Jerera's Boxing Gym".[200] The gym was funded by Peter Parker's school. A viral website of that class was discovered. Entering the correct password revealed Parker's class schedule. The Midtown High School site then revealed a Twitter user tracking down Lizard and asked people in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Austin, Tampa, Minneapolis and New Orleans to stay tuned for details.[201][202] A viral site for Oscorp Industries was available.[203] The Twitter account that coordinated a nationwide effort to track Lizard sightings revealed locations that had packages containing Connors' shredded lab coat, an Oscorp ID badge and scientific samples of reptilian skin. When unscrambling the letters listed on each sample, the words "animal dynamics lab" led players to a new Oscorp Industries site focusing on a science program about reptile genetics. The site depicts Doctor Connors search for interns who could begin applying on May 14.[204] Completing the application and supplying the keyword "Mutagen" unveiled a Lizard featurette.[205][206] The Oscorp Industries website contained puzzles that revealed two in-game documents, two video updates featuring Connors and a following cipher that as of July 2012 had yet to be cracked. From there images were then unscrambled, revealing a research project with spiders, a letter from Mary Parker to Richard Parker that exposed his workaholic habits and a Daily Bugle newspaper that contained notes about Oscorp.[207]

On May 30, 2012, the third (and apparently final) set of challenges in the Animal Dynamics Lab was launched with two new video updates of Doctor Connors, an image of Richard and Mary Parker, letters from Rajit Ratha to Doctor Connors, one from Doctor Connors to Richard Parker and another note to Richard from Mary.[208] In June 1, 2012, a Carl's Jr. in Glendale, California hosted the next viral campaign by decorating webs and declaring a crime scene due to Spider-Man's apprehension of a serial car and motorcycle thief. It was announced via The Mark of the Spider-Man Twitter feed, and with the code word "Web of Crime", a hidden message was discovered, entitled a "Spider cipher". The code name "adhere" named another sub-site of the Mark of the Spider-Man campaign that revealed crime reports.[209]

Oliver Lyttleton of indieWire felt that viral ads such as the webbed menace website seemed a little forced and cribbed heavily from the example set by The Dark Knight with viral games.[210] Silas Lesnick of SuperheroHype!, on the other hand, described the film's viral as "one of the most comprehensive film virals to date".[201]

Philanthropy

T-shirts depicting the film's Spider-Man to help the cause for Stand Up to Cancer were available. Garfield wore the shirt, explaining that "these shirts underscore the idea that anyone has the power to be a hero. Cancer is one of our greatest villains. I'm proud to join others in standing up to this disease."[211] Ziskin's death from cancer was used as inspiration for the cause.[212] Sony created a website for the cause.[213] Columbia Pictures teamed up with New York City cultural institutions to create "Spider-Man week" by helping out in the community.[214]

Release

On February 10, 2010, Sony announced that the film would be released in 3D and IMAX 3D on July 3, 2012. Release dates outside the US were moved up to June in other countries to increase first-week sales.[215][216][217][218] Premieres took place in Tokyo, Japan on June 13.[219] The film is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence.[220]

Critical reception

The Amazing Spider-Man was the last Marvel Comics based film that Ebert ever reviewed before he died. He regarded it as "probably the second best" within the Spider-Man film franchise.[221]

The Amazing Spider-Man received mostly positive reviews by critics upon release with critics praising the performance of Andrew Garfield. The review aggregator film site Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating, based on 126 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The consensus: "A well-chosen cast and sure-handed direction allows The Amazing Spider-Man to thrill despite revisiting many of the same plot points from 2002's Spider-Man."[222] On Metacritic, as of July 5, the film had received an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 42 critics, signifying "Generally favorable reviews".[223] According to Rotten Tomatoes yearly lists, (by using a weighted formula of the critics review in the site) it was placed number 32 on its list of best comic-book movies in 2012 and was placed number 36 in 2013.[224][225] CinemaScore's audience graded it an A-.[226]

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter felt that the film was satisfying, explaining that Webb directed with emotional and comedic touches and provided a darker depiction and a stronger romance than the original.[1] Boyd Van Hoeija of Variety described the film as a "mostly slick, entertaining and emotionally involving recombination of fresh and familiar elements".[64] A columnist of The Village Voice, Chris Pakham felt that the film was faithful to the comics and that "Garfield's spindly physicality evokes the Marvel illustrations of the 1960s."[227] Conversely, Lou Lemenick of the New York Post wrote that the film was dull and uninspiring and felt that it did not compare to Batman Begins and was "a pointless rehash in the mode of Superman Returns."[228] New Yorker critic Anthony Lane described the film as "running out of nimbleness and fun, and the promise contained in its title seems ever more tendentious."[229] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called the film "memorable in pieces but not as a whole" and said that its best element is the relationship between Peter and Gwen, while the Lizard "is not quite an opponent for the ages."[230]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A- describing the film as "a friskier, sweeter-natured variation" when compared to Raimi's work. She explained that the most "amazing" element was not the "blockbuster wow!" but instead the "intimate awww."[231] Claudia Puig of USA Today explained that "as a new chapter in the superpowered arachnid saga, it stands on its own quite nicely, focusing more on human emotions than on a panoply of special effects." She said "where Tobey Maguire in the original Spider-Man trilogy was earnest, Garfield's Spider-Man is whip-smart and likably cheeky, with an undercurrent of teenage angst." She also called the film "as much a coming-of-age story as a crime-fighting action saga."[63] Christy Lemire of the Associated Press described Garfield's Spider-Man as an arrogant and misunderstood outsider, giving the film a "restless, reckless energy and a welcome sense of danger." She also concluded that Webb was a different sort of director, saying that while Webb's big set pieces lacked Raimi's imagination, they conveyed "emotional truth" and "a pervasive sense of humanity".[232] However, Ty Burr of The Boston Globe felt that the film lacked the original's pop grace and the pulpy joy, saying the film was "dumbed down, tarted up" and "almost shockingly uninspired". Burr evaluated it as "the worst superhero film since Green Lantern".[233] Colin Covert of the Star Tribune also felt that The Amazing Spider-Man is weaker than its predecessor and described it as "The Notebook in spandex".[234] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times felt that the reboot provided better reasons for why Peter Parker adopts his superhero role, even if the origin story didn't need to be told once again. He also remarked that it was "probably the second best" of the four Spider-Man films after Spider-Man 2, explaining that Lizard was lackluster compared to that film's villain, Doctor Octopus, and had the dramatic range of Godzilla.[75]

Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal, pointed out that "the truly amazing thing is that most of what happens to Peter Parker in the first half of the film has already happened in previous chapters of the Spidey saga", that "what's old is old again."[235] However, Randy Myers from the San Jose Mercury News found it "the best Spidey yet", describing it as "strong, bold and well-acted." He felt that a viewer couldn't help but feel déjà vu, but that the work shows greater "dimension".[236] Dana Stevens at Slate magazine believed that the film was an "absolutely unnecessary" retelling of the origin story, although it avoided "the common comic-book adaptation trap of gloomy self-seriousness".[66] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone also opined that the "unnecessary" reboot pulled stellar performances from Garfield and Stone and touches the heart.[237]

Andrew Garfield received good notices for his performance. Bob Mondello of NPR said, "Here comes another Spider-dude: This Andrew Garfield guy. So he'd better be really something, right? Well, as it happens, he is."[238] Tom Charity of CNN found Garfield's "combination of fresh-faced innocence, nervous agitation and wry humor ... immediately appealing."[239] Stephanie Zacharek of Movieline said she "had no specific desire to see the series resuscitated. But watching Garfield and Stone made me think doing so wasn't such a bad idea".[240] Mary F. Pols of Time said that even though the story was familiar Garfield and Webb made it feel "convincingly fresh and exciting."[241]

Box office

The Amazing Spider-Man earned $262,030,663 in North America and $495,900,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $757,930,663.[3] As of December 2013, the film is the 51st highest grossing film,[242] the seventh-highest-grossing 2012 film,[243] the ninth highest-grossing superhero film,[244] the fourth-grossing Spider-Man film, the sixth-highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia[245][246] and the highest-grossing reboot of all time worldwide.[3]

In North America, the film earned an estimated $7.5 million during its midnight run at 3,150 locations, including $1.2 million from 300 IMAX venues.[247] On its opening day, a pre-holiday Tuesday, it set a Tuesday-gross record with $35 million (previously held by Transformers).[248] The next day, the film dropped 33.4 percent to $23.3 million—the second-highest non-opening Wednesday.[249] Over the three-day weekend, it grossed $62.0 million. This pushed the film's six-day gross to $137.0 million, which was smaller than those of Transformers ($155.41 million) and Spider-Man 2 ($180.07 million) among past Fourth of July releases.[250] Although the film did not match its predecessors, Sony Pictures stated, "In the world of relaunched franchises, this is a spectacular success by any measure".[251] For example, both Batman Begins ($79.5 million) and X-Men: First Class ($69.9 million) (both were non 3D-movies) opened significantly below The Amazing Spider-Man.[252] It remained at the number 1 spot for ten consecutive days, until the opening day of Ice Age: Continental Drift.[253]

Outside North America, The Amazing Spider-Man grossed $51.1 million on its five-day opening weekend (June 27 – July 1, 2012) from 13 markets, with strong openings in many Asian countries.[254] In India, it earned $6.0 million, a record opening for a Hollywood film.[255] Kercy Daruwala of Sony Pictures in India felt very confident that the presence of famed Indian actor Irrfan Khan would enhance attendance.[216][256][257] Opening in an additional 61 markets, the film made $127.5 million over its second weekend. The movie ranked number one in over 30 countries. In Indonesia, it broke the opening-weekend record with $4.5 million while, in the UK, it opened to £11.1 million ($18.1 million) which is about equal with Spider-Man 3 (£11.8 million).[258][259] In its last market, China, The Amazing Spider-Man grossed $33.3 million over its seven-day debut, which is more than Spider-Man 3’s lifetime box office in China.[260] As of August 27, 2012, the movie's highest-grossing territory is the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta, where it has grossed $40.4 million.[261]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Award Category Recipients and nominees Result
Annie Awards[262] Best Animated Effects in a Live Action Production Stephen Marshall, Joseph Pepper, Dustin Wicke Nominated
Best Character Animation in a Live Action Production Mike Beaulieu, Roger Vizard, Atushi Sato, Jackie Koehler, Derek Esparza, Richard Smith, Max Tyrie Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards[263] Best Motion/Title Graphics "Domestic Trailer 2" Nominated
Teen Choice Awards[264] Choice Summer Movie: Action
Nominated
Choice Movie Villain Rhys Ifans Nominated
Choice Summer Movie Star: Male Andrew Garfield Nominated
Choice Summer Movie Star: Female Emma Stone Nominated
People's Choice Awards[265] Favorite Movie
Nominated
Favorite Action Movie
Nominated
Favorite Movie Franchise
Nominated
Favorite Movie Actress Emma Stone Nominated
Favorite Movie Superhero Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man Nominated
Favorite On-Screen Chemistry Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone Nominated
Favorite Face of Heroism Emma Stone Nominated
Saturn Awards[266] Best Fantasy Film
Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards[267] Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Nominated

Home media

The Amazing Spider-Man was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and digital download on November 9, 2012 in North America.[268] These releases contain a ninety-minute behind-the-scenes documentary for the film along with UltraViolet download. Other special features include "Rite of Passage: The Amazing Spider-Man reborn" and "The Oscorp Archives - Production Art Gallery". The discs also contain audio commentary from Marc Webb, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach.[269][270] The deleted scenes included relationship-building between Peter and Connors which Joey Esposito of IGN thought gives the Lizard a sense of sympathy that is lacking in the final film.[271] The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack contains three disks and also contains a second screen app for the iPad.[272] Sony also included a limited edition gift set on November 9, 2012 containing four disks with all of the special editions along with figurines of Spider-Man and the Lizard from the film.[270]

While released, the film was reported as dominating the sales chart on its first release until the end of November 11, 2012 while its rental chart had The Amazing Spider-Man at number two behind Prometheus.[273] It then became number one in rental and dropped to number two in sales chart after its second week.[274] FX has acquired the TV commercial rights to the film to air in late 2014.[275]

Other media

A video game of the same name developed by Beenox was announced at the 2011 New York Comic Con. They were the development team behind the previous two Spider-Man games, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time. The game was released on June 26, 2012, in Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, personal computer, Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS.[276][277][278][279] Dee Brown of Beenox noted, "The fact that our game is based on the movie, and the movie is re-approaching the universe in a completely different way — a more grounded, more realistic approach — gives us an incredible setting to play with".[280] The game takes place after the events of the film.[276] Sony and Gameloft teamed up again to create an official mobile game for the film.[281] Sky Betting and Gaming's online casino website Sky Vegas created a related casino game.[282]

The comic was released in June, named "Amazing Spider-Man: The Movie" #1–2", written by Tom Cohen and illustrated by Neil Edwards.[283] A trade paperback was published collecting the two-parter a week before the film's release, entitled Amazing Spider-Man: The Movie Prelude, which also included The Amazing Spider-Man issues #75–77.[284]

The soundtrack album of the film was released the same day as the film, under the Sony Classical banner.[285]

Legacy

The comic-book website Newsarama placed The Amazing Spider-Man on its top 10 list of comic-book movies.[286] Mark Hughes of Forbes ranked the film as the seventh greatest comic book superhero film being the highest Spider-Man film in the list while Jacob Hall of ScreenCrush ranked the film as 13th greatest modern Marvel movie being the lowest Spider-Man film in the list.[287][288]

A scientist from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center referenced the film to news organizations in explaining how scientists from the medical center are working on a long-term project involving spider silks and potential human regeneration along with deciphering fact and fiction from the film.[289][290]

Sequels and spin-offs

The Amazing Spider-Man was originally reported as being the first of at least three planned films.[291] The movie's first sequel was released on May 2, 2014.[292] On June 17, 2013 Sony announced two more sequels to follow The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which will be released on June 10, 2016 and May 4, 2018 respectively.[293]

In November 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment chief Michael Lynton told analysts, "We do very much have the ambition about creating a bigger universe around Spider-Man. There are a number of scripts in the works".[294] There was talks about Venom as the titular character since 2008 before the series was rebooted.[295] Although the producer Matt Tolmach, speaking of his and fellow producer Avi Arad's next project, a Venom movie, suggested it could follow the shared-universe model of the film The Avengers with The Amazing Spider-Man: "What I'm trying to say to you without giving anything away is hopefully all these worlds will live together in peace someday."[296] In December 2013, Sony officially announced plans for Sinister Six and Venom.[297]