Looking back at CBMs by SONY

        


Nicholas Cage is an outstanding actor, an award winning actor. So how, please tell me how they can make a movie with him that is this terrible. Sure those National Treasure films aren't great but they were average at the worst. Not even approachable to being as bad as Ghost Rider. In this movie I feel like Nic Cage is really out of place and was a really bad choice. Wes Bentley is another one, his character is poorly written and just lame. The movie also suffers from a lot of god-awful special effects on Blackheart particularly. But what really kills this movie, even more so than the shit story line and the piss poor acting, even more than the crappy CGI. Is the overall product. What I mean by that is, there is nothing about this movie that makes you remember it. I mean at least it's sequel had some fun scenes and was laughably bad but this movie has absolutely nothing to it. It's bad and it's also completely forgettable.
Overall, Ghost Rider is atrocious. Perhaps on a technical level it's sequel is even more atrocious. But the sequel had the grace to be memorably terrible, this movie is terrible and not memorable in any way. I can't watch this film, it's too boring and lame. I actually found it difficult to write this because there isn't a whole lot I remembered about it. And there's no way I'm going to watch it again. That's outta the question.

Rating: 2/10



        

         

But with that said, I suppose there was one thing good that came out of the decision to make a sequel. It's hard to be as bad as the original film, and this sequel although terrible is still not quite as bad as it's predecessor. The story still sucks though, it's not memorable either and it's really vague. It's like if I remember it correctly there's the kid who is supposed to be Danny Ketch and he's being hunted by the devil I think and so Ghost Rider is taking him into his protection whilst still dealing with his previous encounter with the devil. There's also a crap load of religious mumbo jumbo slipped in all over the place and it muddles up the plot because it takes it all way too seriously. The story is worse than the first one, but it is laughably bad in some parts. At least how much of the hocus pocus stuff is thrown around.





                   


Moving on, I still think that Tobey Maguire receives way too much hate for his role as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. I feel he actually did a really great job with everything he was given. But facts are facts, Spider-Man 3 is easily the weakest point of Tobey's Spider-Man and arguably the weakest point of his entire career. Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 3 pretty much proves what not to do in his career. You know some great actors are very versatile, they can play a whole range of roles, take Ben Kingsley for instance. But even though Tobey is a fantastic actor, I think it's safe to say that he isn't one of those guys. The dark, emo character he attempts to pull off is just laughably bad. I don't know if it was being to be funny, or trying to make you scared of the Venom symbiote. But I do know it was not necessary and without the inclusion of an emo Peter Parker this movie would have been a lot better and would have had an easier time trying to get across it's message.

Probably the greatest highlight of the movie is the action. While it ain't up to par with the likes of Transformers, Man of Steel or The Avengers. It was indeed the brightest point of the movie. As a whole the muddled, overcrowded plot combined with too many weird ass Tobey scenes especially with him crying and dancing and shit. All that bogs the movie down quite a bit. But the villains, the acting from most and most importantly the action brings this movie up a few notches. Takes it out of being bad and into being just average. A guilty pleasure to be sure...






                      
Third place on the list belongs to the 2012 reboot simply called The Amazing Spider-Man. Directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans and Martin Sheen. The Amazing Spider-Man was a reboot of the Spider-Man series helmed by Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire. The two series are completely unrelated. The Amazing Spider-Man I thought, was a decent retelling of Spider-Man's origin. But it's not really all that interesting, it really doesn't do anything original or creative just kinda mimics other comic book films and in the end comes out as nothing more than mediocrity.
Firstly, the story is generic and I feel like I've seen the same already. The basic origin story has always gotta be the same. But it's the villain that makes it feel even more like a repeat of the original Spider-Man. So Conners is a rich scientist who is a big figure in Peter's life. Peter who has lost his father and his uncle turns to him as a father figure. But Conners' has been working on a physical enhancement but human trials are long in the future. So he tests it on himself and the results are bad, I mean really bad. Conners starts to develop multiple personalities and he begins to hear voices arguing within his head. In the end Peter has to fight the man that he looked up to.  Sound familiar? How about EXACTLY like the original Spider-Man....just with different actors. That's the biggest problem with The Amazing Spider-Man, it was completely UNNECESSARY, it didn't need to be made. It feels like an inferior knock off of the original Spider-Man except it lacked the great storytelling but more importantly the heart.
That's another area where it fails, it had no heart. Spider-Man is unlikable, he's a jerk in this movie. In the end he still hasn't learned from his mistakes even though two people he loves have already died because of him. The movie just lacked heart and passion. Also it tries so much to be dark and credible that it forgets the goofiness of the whole thing. The conflicting tones don't work for me. I mean it's trying to be dark, serious and grounded in reality but you can't take that seriously when you have a guy dressed in spandex chasing a life size dinosaur through a library while an old man stands by unaware of the whole thing, it's just impossible for it to be grounded in any kind of reality. 

There are positives to this movie though. I really like Andrew Garfield's performance as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The cinematography and score were nothing short of excellent. I also enjoyed the action sequences and the romance. As a whole the movie lacks a lot of things like heart and good storytelling. But the acting is pretty great, I like the soundtrack a lot and the score is great. It's an OKAY retelling of Spider-Man's origin,  it's still mediocre at best. If you want to see the REAL version, watch the 2002 movie.





           

Second place on the list is the 2002 origin film entitled Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, J.K. Simmons, James Franco and Rosemary Harris. Spider-Man was the third comic book movie that helped the genre to really relaunch itself after the many failures and shortcomings of the 90's comic book films. It was Blade that proved that Marvel characters could actually work on film and actually be good. It was X-Men that proved that Marvel movies could actually be taken seriously by studios and critics. But it was Spider-Man that proved that studios could score BIG with Marvel's characters and that audiences all over the world would pay through the nose to see these films. Since then it's been a Marvel movie craze, one after another. Some succeed, some fail, but all owe their existence to Blade, X-Men and Spider-Man. 
Spider-Man's influence on the genre is huge. But even when you look past that, there's a lot to love about Sam Raimi's first stab at a Spider-Man film. For one thing, the movie is all heart from start to finish. It's not like a soap opera at all, but it's an emotional character piece that covers most of the bases and gets what makes for a great superhero film. The story is probably the only weak spot, it's not bad by any means it's actually pretty good but the actual plot in and of itself is pretty underwhelming. But it's the characters that make this movie move. The first and most important of which is the character of Peter Parker/Spider-Man played by Tobey Maguire. I really don't care what's popular nowadays. But regardless Tobey is still the best Spider-Man. He has the heart, the character and the heroism that Mr. Garfield has lacked so far.
Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin is excellent casting, and despite what some might say about him he remains as one of my all time favorite comic book movie villains. There is nothing wrong with the suit, it looked completely badass except for the face which even then doesn't look bad. The glider, the armor, the razors, the bombs, the character, the insanity and most importantly Dafoe's acting is all perfection. Green Goblin in Spider-Man 1 is my favorite Marvel movie villain so far. Take that for whatever it's worth. Kirsten Dunst kinda sucks in the next two, but in this movie she wasn't so bad. I still love the iconic kiss in the rain and I actually thought she was hot in that scene.

Rating: 8.5/10

      

First place goes out to the best Spider-Man movie so far, the best Sony Pictures produced film, the best Marvel based movie so far and second best superhero film of all time...Spider-Man 2! Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 superhero sequel directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons. After director Sam Raimi hit it big time with studios and audiences with his hit movie Spider-Man. It was obvious that a sequel was in order. While not nearly as influential to the genre, or as close to the source material as Raimi's first film. It still a vast improvement from a film making perspective. Let's dive into the many joys of Spider-Man 2.

First off, I think all of the casting from the first film did a great job again with the exception of Kirsten Dunst. I liked her in the first movie, but after that she kinda goes down hill. But it's the new addition that brings a ton of gravitas and pathos to this movie which helps it along in every way. Alfred Molina is an excellent actor, and he is fantastic in his role as Doctor Octopus. While he is nothing like his evil, sadistic comic book counterpart he is still an interesting take on a great villain. I really liked his story, and how in the end he is forced to listen to his own words as he is becoming what he despises. Aunt May's words about there being a true hero in all of us that finally allows us to die holding on to our pride ring true in the moment when Ock is forced to realize what he's created and sacrifices himself to stop it and save the city.

Spider-Man's own character arc is nothing short of excellent. It is all about selfishness, and choosing not to be selfish. Choosing to put what we know to be right and true before what we personally desire. Peter had to learn that through out the course of the film and it took losing his powers to do so. It also took taking on New York's most dangerous villain to date on many occasions. Many action scenes take place in this movie and they are all great. The train sequence is still my favorite superhero action scene of all time. The bank robbery scene before that is amazing as well. Another great one is when Doc Ock awakes in the operating room and goes all terminator on the doctors.

Overall, Spider-Man 2 is a stroke of cinematic genius. The story is great, it's one of learning to put others, along with truth and goodness above yourself and your selfish desires. The villain was amazing, one of the all time greatest. The action scenes are exhilarating and still among the best even today. Add to that Elfman's down right beautiful score and we've got a masterpiece on our hands.

Rating: 10/10

 

 

So basically, it's just Spider-Man 1 & 2 for me. Those are the only ones that can actually stand out as great films outside the series. TASM is the epitome of mediocrity, and Spider-Man 3 has moments of greatness but as a whole isn't great or even close. And the Ghost Riders just flat out sucked donkey balls. Even with my disdain of TASM, I am excited for the upcoming sequel. I think going through the origin AGAIN was unnecessary and pretty rough for the character to be honest. And Webb seems to have learned from his mistake of trying to make it dark and grounded. (something Spider-Man can never be) There's really nothing not to love or to not be excited about in the new movie. I hope 3 & 4 do great as well, I see the potential for the villains based films they've been talking about and I'm really dying to see a Venom solo. Anyhow, thanks for reading folks! Tell me what you think, and please be civil about it!