Though Sony promised an ambitious, connected universe built around Andrew Garfield and the Amazing Spider-Man franchise — all of that crumbled with the diminishing box-office returns. So, what does Garfield make of his tenure as Peter Parker, now that it’s officially over? With Tom Holland’s new, younger Spider-Man set to finally join the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, Garfield opened up in an interview with Zaki’s Corner and reflected on what it was like to play one of the most famous comic-book characters ever created. Garfield took a brutally honest approach to his time in the suit and likened his efforts to Peter Parker’s own worldview — he essentially felt he could never do enough in the role to truly make it work. Here’s an excerpt from his comments: “[I] was never Spider-Man. Because Spider-Man's a fictional character. You know what's funny, to give you the vulnerable answer, I thought I was going to be Spider-Man, you know? I went into it going... ego sh-t came in.
It's like, "Okay, here it is. I f---ing made it." I didn't actually make it. I was never Spider-Man. I was the actor that I am. The person that I am. Struggling with trying to match up with something that I'd elevated so high in my mind. Elevated beyond what I could attain, what I could achieve. The great thing is, that's what Peter Parker was doing as well. Peter Parker created this symbol that he couldn't live up to. It was never enough. He never felt enough, and I never felt enough. I never felt like I was able to do enough. And I couldn't rescue those films... even though I didn't sleep. And I wanted to... not to say that I needed to rescue those films, but I couldn't make them as deep and soulful and... life-giving as I could ever dream. And I'm never gonna be able to do that, with any film. It was especially difficult in that situation because... well, just because. And it was especially important because that character has always meant so much to me, and you saw that if you saw the Comic Con thing, which, thank you for reminding me about that.”
Though some fans weren’t excited about Garfield’s take on Peter Parker, his version of Spider-Man was never the problem with Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man franchise. The movies were uneven, and though Webb could deftly handle the small personal moments, he never got a grasp of connecting the bombastic comic-book-y-ness of it all in a way that was actually impactful. Instead, Garfield’s version of the character will almost certainly go down as an interesting distraction, falling between Sam Raimi’s seminal take on the franchise and the new version moving forward in the MCU. What’s your take on Garfield’s Spider-Man? Do you think he was the right Peter Parker, just in the wrong movie? The Lego Batman Movie just might be the one to show us the limits of corporate synergy and superhero movies. It feels like a resounding full stop. It’s hard to imagine there will ever be a more cynical film made by a studio with a licensing deal; a movie designed to sell a toy product while simultaneously trying to make brand ambassadors of the parents and kids in attendance.
The breeders are reminded of old Warners’ properties like Gremlins, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings; the kids are introduced and reintroduced to them. One can imagine millions of tiny playmates looking to recreate the minifigured cast of this flick. The ads that precede it tell the tadpoles that the Lego story packs are already available. If you’re the incubator or ejaculator brave enough to tell their cherubs that they won’t be recreating the film at home because you object to the strong-arming and conspicuous manipulation of families in a film ostensibly about the importance of family, and not standing alone, then you have my respect. And don’t bother telling little Myrtle or Hans that you were particularly aggrieved at brand values being integrated into the narrative, like the importance of building and assembly, both metaphorically and literally, because they won’t know what you’re talking about. If they knew they were being programmed a whole business model would collapse.
Are you going to be the one to kill the movies? Are you ready to bare that burden? I hope you’ve got some great books on the shelf. But what of the methodology employed to facilitate all this branded brainwashing? What of the story? Well, here we find Chris McKay’s film dangerously trying to have it both ways. On one hand, to appeal to savvy adults thought to be conscious of film conventions and corporate reality, the movie pokes fun at superhero film tropes. Look, it says, I’m self-aware, I’m sending myself up as the latest in a seemingly neverending attempt at making new money from old rope. But McKay also wants to convey the impression that the film has heart. So it’s about Batman/Bruce Wayne understanding his id and embracing others, having pushed them away for so long. It flatters the audience with one hand while imposing on them all the mawkish guff that’s bedeviled Hollywood product for years; messages so safe and so familiar that they’ve become thought terminating clichés.
Friends are what matter, family is everything. The family that stays together, plays together. No room for smug postmodernism there. When a film makes genre conventions naked in this way, it’s inviting young fans to see the inherent silliness in such movies. And that, arguably, is a tacit acknowledgement that we’ve reached peak superhero. Once you reach saturation point every story’s been told, every complication tried. All that’s left then, is to spoof and acknowledge it’s all about ancillary tie-ins, at which point it’s surely over. Fear the Lego Star Wars movie. Directed by: Chris McKay Running Time: 104 mins Certificate: U for Tom Cruise, thinking that references to other things are a substitute for jokes, and almost microwaving a Lobster for 20 minutes. Tags: Batman, Chris McKay, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, The Lego Batman Movie, Warner Bros., Will Arnett Posted in Film, Film Reviews |Follow/FavThe Lego Movie 2: The Amazing Orb Rated: Fiction K+ - English - Humor/Adventure - Emmet B., Wyldstyle, Unikitty, Batman - Words: 1,457 - Reviews: 10 - Favs: 8 - Follows: 9 - Published: - id: 10129858
Hello, this is SBproductions12, and I'm writing a purtty story! Ha, just kidding, I'm writing a story about the Lego Movie, basically the events after the first movie, so a sequel people would say. Now, there are some spoilers in this of the movie, so if you don't want the movie spoiled, go watch it. It's a good movie. Seriously, I been wanting to write this ever since I saw it, it was amazing! It's sad to say my favorite character was UniKitty even though I am a boy...but anyway, Spoilers, blah blah blah, go see the movie, blah blah, lets begin :)It was dark. Emmet thought to himself. A light sparked ahead of him, making the Construction Worker jump back in shock. Emmet got back on his feet, "Ok, that's one uncomfortable light, but it so tempting..." He started walking closer to it as if he was in a trance, like a zombie attracted to a brain. Emmet shook his head and got back to reality, "This is stupid" Emmet thought, "It got to be a tra-" as The Lego talked to himself, a toaster came out of the ground right under the untrusted light.
It dinged as two Poptarts popped out. Emmet yelled in Joy. He ran up to the toaster and grabbed the roasted toaster strooduls."I knew you would fall for Poptarts!" a voice was heard somewhere near Emmet. The treat fell out of his claw hands."I know that voice" Emmet spoke to himself. The voice sounded like a little girl, "Oh no, it can't be!" Emmet yelled as the lights came on. IT'S MISSES DOCTOR MEGA DOUPLO MEGA ALIEN DOCTOR JENKINS!" The leader of the Douploblocks Aliens appeared before him."That's Misses Doctor Mega Douplo Mega Alien ULTRA Doctor Jenkins to you!" The giant block corrected the Lego.Emmets terrified face suddenly became confused, "Really? I don't remember an Ultra...""Yep. There is an Ultra after the Alien-""I don't think so-""I would know my name, thank you very much-""Obviously you don't 'cause you just added a word to it. Is that why your name is so long? Everytime to you introduce yourself you add a Mega or Ultra or a fancy word like tha-""SILENCE!" Jenkins yelled, "you are in my domain now son!"
Emmet looked around a realized that the walls were Douplo, the ceiling was Douplo, even the floor was Douplo. The Lego began to scream in Terror. Jenkins started laughing at Emmet's screams and so did the walls. Emmet covered his nonexistent ears to block out the giggles of the Douplo. "Help me, Help me!" Emmet yelled, "HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME!" all of the sudden, it went black.Emmet jumped up from his bed and started screaming. As he looked around his room, he started to calm down. "It was only a dream" Emmet thought, "The Douplo Wars ended long ago" Emmet didn't know why, but he was afraid of Douploblocks. "Must have had a Nightmare" he looked at his shelf beside the bed, which held a framed picture of him and Wyldstyle, or now known as Lucy. She decided to keep her name normally after her and Emmet started dating after stopping business and making him good. Emmet smiled, but then he remembered something as a Lightbulb appeared above him. Emmet covered his eyes, "Why do I have a Lightbulb right above my bed?!"
Emmet took the Lightbulb out of its holder. It burned his hands, making him juggle it until he through it on the ground accidentally.The Construction Worker got up from the bed and walked to the door, "Good morning apartment, good morning doorway, morning wall, morning ceiling, good morning floor, ready to start the day!" Emmet said as he walked out of his apartment to his shelves of books, "Doo-da-da-doo-doo, ah here it is!" Emmet pulled out a book labeled, "Instructions" on the side. "Instructions to fit in, have everybody like you, and always be happy...those were the days!" Emmet said as he opened his book, remembering his life before he met Lucy or found the piece of resistance.Soon after they blowed up the Douploblocks spaceship with Vitruvius' staff (That's not important) Emmet returned the piece of resistance to where he found it and locked it up inside with chains, and he is the only one with the key. He uses the key as his bookmark in the instructions manual he held. Under the key was an invitation.
This invitation was covered with rainbows and clouds, obviously sent by UniKitty. She added so much glitter you could barely read the card. Turns out Lucy got the same note and Emmet asked her what in the world did it say. Turns out that UniKitty was finally rebuilding Cloud Cuckoo Land, and was going to throw a party. "What a wild party that will be" Emmet thought, "Especially with the queen being a mental Pony cat"Emmet had finally learned something about Unikitty. She can be ticked off at any second, but decides to try to be always happy and fun and good times. Emmet is not sure if she is even happy. "I'm sure she is happy today" Emmet thought, "Because today is the partah! Emmet ran to the bathroom and got dressed.The Lego ran out of the house as a citizen stopped him, "Where are your pants?""I thought that got cancelled..." Emmet asked the Lego."No, Where are YOUR pants!"Emmet looked down and realized he had no pants on, "Oops-" Emmet ran back in the house and came out as fast as he came in with his pants on, "Thanks!"
He ran past the citizen, spinning him into a manhole.Emmet ran through the streets, running on foot to the faraway land. Emmet ran to a corner where he smacked right into Surfer dude."Hey Dude, watch where you are stepping- Oh wait, your that Yellow dude that saved us in stuff! The Surfer dude said."Thanks, but I really need to go-""Dude, Dude, Dude. Can you sign my board?" The Surfer held out his Surfboard. Emmet shrugged and pulled out a marker out of his back pocket. Ever since he became the "special" he has been a celebrity. Emmet thought it would be fun, but he soon got annoyed by it. "Ok dude, sign my chest now" Emmet grunted and signed his chest, "Now sign my hair!" The Surfer popped his hair off his head and handed it to Emmet, who signed it. Now you should probably run"Emmet looked behind him to find a mob of girls holding signs saying, "WE LOVE YOU EMMET!" and, "LOVE ME EMMET" and most ironic of all, "EMMET IS AWESOME"The Construction Worker popped to his feet and started to run.
The girls chased after him. He ran through his former Construction sight. He jumped on Workers heads and grabbed a hook and swinged over some cement. The girls trampled over the Workers and fell straight into the cement. One girl grabbed the hook though: Abby. "Why her?" thought Emmet. Abby is Emmet's number one fan. She had ponytail and glasses, and a pink shirt with Emmets face on it.Emmet cut through the ally, but Abby followed. She ran onto the walls and jumped in front of The Celebrity. Emmet stopped himself and ran the other way. He got a good head start on her, but it wasn't good enough. Emmet ran for the dump. He jumped into the trash pile as Abby stopped herself from doing the same. She looked around, trying to find Emmet in the trash. She heard something moving in the trash. It was building noises. Just then, Emmet jumped out from the top of the dump with springs and started to bounce away. The springs were made up of all sorts of trash. Abby struggled to follow, but Emmet was long gone, bouncing away across Bricksburg."