*Sigh* You guys…sometimes I don’t have the energy for this. Well, just because I personally cannot muster up any excitement whatsoever for the newest releases this weekend doesn’t mean I can neglect my duty to you, dear readers. Without further ado…
Look, I’m not naïve. I understand that moviemaking is a business, and with risky passion projects must also come those aimed to make a profit. I have no problem with companies exercising their power over franchise installments and popcorn flicks for commercial purposes. It’s business…it’s life. But dammit, a line has to be drawn somewhere, and the debate over whether or not a reboot of Spider-Man so soon after the previous trilogy ended was “necessary” sidesteps why it exists in the first place. Because the truth of the matter is that The Amazing Spider-Man – retelling the iconic superhero’s origin story with Andrew Garfield web-slinging through New York City – was made for the sole purpose of fulfilling a fine-print contractual obligation regarding licensing rights. There was no personal ambition in the creation of this film, either artistically or financially. Even the popular canard that Columbia and Sony Pictures are trying to redeem the franchise à la Batman Begins doesn’t fly; the only reason they didn’t move forward with a Spider-Man 4 was because Sam Raimi was frustrated with their strong-arming of the third film and called it quits when they were planning to do it again. Read more on Weekend Openings (July 6-8)…
Tags: Andrew Garfield, Benicio Del Toro, Blake Lively, comics and superheroes, demian bichir, emma stone, Jay and Mark Duplass, John Travolta, katy perry, Marc Webb, Oliver Stone, popcorn movies, Rhys Ifans, Salma Hayek, Savages, Taylor Kitsch, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, Weekend Openings













