I actually LIKED the movie. Didn't love it, but didn't hate it. But, that is meaningless in the long run. Judging public perception based of your friends doesn't work. As I said before, people normally agree with their friends on most things. We are creatures of habit and like to be right.
As for age, dude, I am 26 and in film school.
I don't think that the part where he mentions his friends was the crux of the argument..
Also, I usually disagree with my friends. :P
So you were nineteen when you watched Batman Begins for the first time, while I was 25. And while I agree with you that judging public perception based of our friends reception isn't the way to go, but like Jexx pointed out, this wasn't my point.
My point is that looking to everything that The Amazing Spider-Man faced and still been able to perform the way it's doing it's an incredible feat, one that should be acknowledge regardless if you enjoy the film or not. I'm a forensic photographer, but I've been a box office enthusiast from the BOM days, and I do remember a lot of Burton's Batman fans trying to put down Batman Begins success back then as well. It's just how fandom has always been, this kind of thing is cyclical.
And if you didn't LOVE The Amazing Spider-Man, I think you're able to see that a lot of people did. If we take in consideration that most of the "not satisfied" with the movie on boards like this are overwhelmingly Batman fans, you'll be able to see that most of the online "dislike" for this film comes from flame wars between comic book fandoms, something that exists from long before both of us are alive. It's just something that happens when these characters are involved, from comics to films. I love The Amazing Spider-Man more than I could ever love Raimi's Spider-Man, and while I love Nolan's Batman, I feel that he dropped the ball with The Dark Knight Rises. Both Batman Begins and The Amazing Spider-Man rank among my favorite superhero films, and I believe that you are able to perceive that a lot of people feel in the same way if you take a look around specialized websites.
I'm not writing them off, but I am also not making them the sole reason for the film's performance like many people are. People only perceived I am not acknowledging these points because I am not proclaiming Spidey's sequel has this super bright future others think it does.
There were a lot of factors at play to make The Dark Knight a bigger success box office wise than Batman Begins, but while I still perceive Batman Begins the better film from Nolan's trilogy and best Batman film yet, I'm not saying that The Amazing Spider-Man's future sequels look super bright. What I'm saying is that comparing it with Batman Begins, it has indeed a brighter future ahead than that movie did, similar to what people expect of Star Trek sequel now.
But in order to achieve that, it won't be an easy task. Marc Webb needs to come back and him and his cast need to be able to outdone themselves and give everything they can to make the best sequel possible, even if Andrew Garfield was able to deliver the most driven and passionate performance that I've seen since Heath Ledger's Joker. They need to step up their game so the future of this trilogy achieves his true potential. And I believe that if Sony is smart enough, they will realize that what makes so many people passionated about this film is that Marc Webb, a newcomer just like Christopher Nolan once was, was able to deliver what a lot of us see as the best Spider-Man film yet. What they need for the sequel is been able to keep the flame alive and transform all the heat that this movie got unfairly and turn into something positive. I trust Sony was right in the money in bringing this director and cast of actors to tell this new take on Spider-Man mythos, and I hope that they are able to see past the flame wars in order to keep Marc Webb, just like Warner did back then with Chris Nolan and Marvel is doing now with Joss Whedon.
Imo, BB is the better film, but that's not the point really. I'm only talking about how TAS-M should have done better. Don't see why you can't understand that. It's not saying which movie is better or what have you, just saying that TAS-M should have made more and you get defensive.
So...Fantastic Four is better than TAS-M too?
IMHO, Batman Begins is the most brilliant Batman film of all time. It shows so much promise and for the first time Batman is the main lead of his own film. It ranks as 3rd in my favorite super-hero films, really close to The Amazing Spider-Man, which I consider as the second best, losing only to The Avengers, which is the epitome of what this genre is able to achieve.
I think it's fair to compare these films when you're able to respect each other's opinions and don't treat your opinions as facts, because they aren't. There are a reason why they are called opinions and not facts, which is that while facts are objective, opinions are subjective.
And I disagree with you when you say that TASM should have done better. As a reboot, it's clear that it's doing way more than what could possibly be expected, taking in consideration what kind of competition it would face two weeks later than it's release weekend. Also, it's enjoying some incredible legs for a film that is facing a direct opponent (in the sense that both TDKR and TASM aim to the same group of people) at the box office.
As for Fantastic Four, I think it's clear that both The Amazing Spider-Man and Batman Begins are far more successful films.
Obviously you would say this so you won't have to admit the truth...
Batman Begins took inspiration from Superman: The Movie. Admitting that would be a flat out lie as we've been told what inspires BB as well as what's inspired TAS-M. Don't be so ridiculous.
The Amazing Spider-Man clearly draws inspiration of both Batman Begins and the Marvel films, especially Iron Man. And it's very successful in that regard in my opinion. I don't believe that having the same kind of origin structure makes Superman: The Movie a huge inspiration of Batman Begins, especially because while I loved Donner's Superman as I grew up, I feel that very much like Raimi's Spider-Man (this one actually clearly inspired by Superman: The Movie), the campiness of these both films made them not age as well as Batman Begins, Iron Man and possibly The Amazing Spider-Man will. The Amazing Spider-Man is a healthy mix between a more grounded World that Nolan introduced brilliantly with Batman Begins and more fantastical elements of something that we are able to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I've lost so much respect with the Newsarama staff when they made those comments...
Why? Their rank seems very fair to me:
1. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy
2. Joss Whedon's The Avengers
3. Jon Favreau's Iron Man 1
4. Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man
5. Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie
My rank would actually go differently, but to each his own, I'd give the top to The Avengers, while The Amazing Spider-Man and Batman Begins get the second place and third place respectively.
I corrected your typo... Mr. Grammar...
Of course not, but as far as a comic book/movie journalism site, you'd expect a little "both sides" of any story, and that guy's review sounded like it came out of Sony's butt crack...
And I go to that site daily to get caught up on my comic book news, so while I disagree many times over some of their "choices" in regards to their Top Ten picks, it's ok... but I had a hard time with that one in particular... I just didn't see it... even when people try to explain it to me...
Maybe I should rephrase my comment... I lost a lot of scredibilty for the guy that wrote that fluff piece... it's ok for him to "love" the movie like he did... but I'm going to approach anything he writes in the near future with certain apprehension...
What "two sides of the argument"? Do you mean that they should appeal to your view of the film since you "don't get it" why it's reviewed with praise? Are you aware that a lot of people don't like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises as well? Why aren't you expecting their "second opinion" for those films as well?
It has normal legs, on par with other movies. Ted is showing these "incredible late legs" which leads to much better numbers than TASM.
Everyone loves Ted. Literally. What's there not to love? It's a comedy flick that doesn't suffer from been a Marvel or DC character, with fanboys trying to take down each other films. I think that Ted's box office is deserving, it's a really good comedy, and that doesn't make the box office of The Amazing Spider-Man not looking literally amazing. It's a reboot that does more than any other reboot overseas while enjoying some real good late legs after a release of a direct opponent. I think it's hard to act like The Amazing Spider-Man's run is nothing short of fantastic. I had The Amazing Spider-Man making $260m domestically and $450m tops overseas. For a reboot they are insane numbers, and if Sony believes in the project, the sequel is bound to be the first time that the Spider-Man's breaks the $1B. Not seeing this happening with Ted's sequel.
