Source: hypebeast.com

By Jonathan Audric M. Matias

I’m going to just flat out say that I am no expert at examining the artistry of a movie.  I have some training in literary analysis, but with film being a visual medium, reading a transcript is a far cry from actually sitting in the audience and absorbing the scenes projected before me.  So instead, I’m going to talk about how the movie felt as a movie goer who knows how to appreciate the finer aspects of film but ultimately just wants to enjoy a movie he paid upwards of 400 pesos to watch.

The Philippines shares its movie release schedule with the United States.  So even though it technically is not summer anymore over here, it is still summer over there and it means that the concept of the “Summer Blockbuster” still applies.

What is a summer movie, you may ask?  The concept is simple: people work throughout the year and take a break during the summer—and vacations demand exciting, fun action movies.  So I will be evaluating The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises using three categories: action, special effects, and over-all emotional content.

Round 1: Action Scenes

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The Amazing Spider-Man is a curious beast.  Sometimes the action scenes totally ROCK—when he takes on a crowd of police officers half-way through the movie, takes on the Lizard in close quarters, or when he traps the Scaled One in a web.  These were the scenes that reminded me why Spider-man was cool in the first place.  Spider-man’s fighting style is characterized by rapid, organic responses to the threats around him.  The camera work is excellent here as it frames Spidey well without sacrificing choreography, keeping you well aware of who is fighting who in every single frame.  The battles are fast and they are frenetic.  The best part is, Peter Parker actually begins to act more and more like a spider as the movie progresses—and as a science geek, I approve of Marc Webb’s attention to detail.  Where it falls apart is when the carefully choreographed action sequences gives way to the sweeping battle of the finale.  The sense of excitement is slowly whittled away and the last extended fight scene leaves you wanting more.

Source: screenrant.com

On the other hand, The Dark Knight Rises excels at portraying large-scale conflicts but lacks impact in close-quarters mayhem.  I blame the Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City video games for establishing the idea of a lightning-fast Caped Crusader, but the Dark Knight punches too slowly in the movie.  Whenever he goes toe to toe with Bane, it’s like watching two ents from Lord of the Rings duke it out.  I remember The Dark Knight’s fight scenes to have been a lot faster and more engaging—but that was because each fight scene utilized quick cuts to speed up the action.  In contrast, Chris Nolan prefers long, extended brawls in TDKR—to the detriment of the movie.  (Catwoman is the only exception since her fighting style demands speed and fluidity.)  He makes up for it, though, with grandiose heist-like scenes that require absolute precision.  The first scene in the movie will leave you breathless—I guarantee it—and there are more to follow.  TDKR (and Chris Nolan’s directing style) excels when there are multiple moving parts; it’s a shame that he wasn’t able to make a significant cog in this magnificent machine to look just as good as the whole.

Round 2: Special Effects

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This is where Spider-Man definitely loses to TDKR.  The Lizard, although decent, does not wow with his special effects.  He does not look menacing at all.  I did fall in love with Peter’s various devices—a remote-triggered door lock and his self-built web-slingers reveal Parker to be more of a gear head, and bring him closer to the comic books (which is a good thing, in this case)—but they are not enough to lift the movie to a higher level.  Although Spider-Man has a few eye-catching set-pieces scattered all over New York, even fewer resonated significantly with me.  The small scale destruction of each locale is believable enough, but the bigger spectacles lack the energetic direction of Sam Raimi in Spider-Man 2. Remember the train fight scene between Doc Ock and our titular hero?  Goose bumps.  Here?  Not so much.  And the biggest use of special effects in the film, the climax, fails to create a sense of suspense.  (I know I’m not the only one who thought that significant structural damage should have occurred.)

Source: hitfix.com

On the flip side of the coin whether the scene consists of an airplane under attack or a city in flames, Nolan sells the scene with proper use of special effects and careful direction.  Each scene drives your pulse higher and holds it steady long enough for you to become genuinely affected by the proceedings on screen.  Excellently scripted explosions and gunfights never get boring in TDKR.  There are many chase scenes in the movie, but one near the climax of the film has Nolan pulling out all of the stops—he throws in copious amounts of explosives, brilliant sound design, and brilliant camera work to great effect.  On the gadget front, The Bat (you’ll know what it is when you watch the movie) is the best looking Batman vehicle to date, and the Bat Cave computer is sweet.  To summarize, you see, hear, and feel Gotham under attack—and you will fret.

Round 3: Emotional Content

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Emotions are hard to handle in a summer movie, but the director of The Amazing Spider-Man is THE Marc Webb.  (500 Days of Summer, anyone?)  This man needs to receive a pat on the back because this movie is one of the best examples of how to build romance, ladies and gentlemen.  Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone absolutely sell the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy—they flirt, they banter, they cry, and they win our hearts.  Individually, each actor also manages to fully realize the depth of the characters they are portraying.  Peter’s inner conflict and pain make sense to the viewer, and Gwen’s motivations and inclinations are appreciated and understood.  In short, you care for each character, and you come to understand their flaws and weaknesses.

Source: article.wn.com

With The Dark Knight Rises, it was slightly more difficult for me.  The actors impressed me, but there was nothing that stood out.  Bruce Wayne’s inner conflict did not jive with me.  Marion Cotillard’s character felt… flat.  I do have to say that Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of the flippant, deceptive, and manipulative Selina Kyle is the best portrayal of Catwoman I have ever seen, but that’s not saying much given that the only benchmarks I have are Catwoman with Halle Berry and Batman Returns with Michelle Pfeiffer.  Make no mistake, I liked the playful dialogue between Batman/Bruce and Catwoman/Selina, but it never approached the emotional levels of Spider-Man.  My biggest emotional investment in this movie was the desire for Batman to overcome all challenges and kick some tail—and that is the biggest weakness of the movie.  I was rooting for a symbol, not a man or woman.  I watched the revitalization of a set of ideals personified, not the growth of a character.

Conclusion:

The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man are both great movies and are definitely worth the trip to the theatre.  TDKR excels at set pieces and Spider-Man’s choreography is stellar, and the former has characters that are more human while the latter has brilliantly directed special effects that maintain tension throughout the movie.  Clearly, this is a Win-Win scenario.

Since both have flaws and stand-out moments, and since I ended up liking both movies equally, I will have to say that the TRUE winner here is the possible FRIENDSHIP between our two popular heroes.  Therefore, I gladly award the prize for this month’s “Let’s Settle IT” to Baman and Piderman, a web series that realizes the amazing potential when you dispel the boundaries between DC Comics and Marvel.  Enjoy!

Baman and Piderman by MondoMedia
URL: http://www.youtube.com/show/bamanpiderman