Ben's Movie Reviews

Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Acceptable Spider-Man. The Adequate Spider-Man. Both of these would have been more apt titles for The Amazing Spider-Man, a film that for the most part works just fine, but ultimately shares too many plot points with Sam Raimi's original film to really stand out. There are a lot of aspects (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb gets right here, and a few that fall squarely into superhero movie mediocrity. Is it a good Spider-Man movie? Absolutely. But is it a truly great superhero film? Not quite.

The Amazing Spider-Man
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans

Ted

It's obvious from the first few minutes that Ted comes from the mind of "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane. This isn't only because he imbues the foul-mouthed titular teddy bear with the same voice as Peter Griffin, but also because MacFarlane's use of random references follows him from the animated series into the live-action world here. If you haven't seen Flash Gordon, much of the comedy will be lost on you, and there's even a "Family Guy" style flashback in which John (Mark Wahlberg) and Lori (Mila Kunis) each remember the way that they met, with Lori recalling a dance-challenged John bumping into her, but John remembering a full-on recreation of the disco scene from Airplane! MacFarlane isn't interested in doing an exhaustive pop culture parody, but he does take comedic inspiration from guys like Mel Brooks and David Zucker and applies those inspirations to a story all his own about a young boy who makes a magic wish for his teddy bear to come to life. The result is a summer comedy that falls prey to many traps of the genre, but does so in a pretty entertaining way.

Ted
Co-writer/Director: Seth MacFarlane
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane

People Like Us

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are some of the most influential people in Hollywood, having made names for themselves writing shows like "Alias" and "Fringe" and writing and producing big-budget blockbusters like Transformers, Star Trek, and Cowboys & Aliens. But People Like Us, Kurtzman's directorial debut, is a much more reserved film than those previous credits would indicate. It's a surprisingly dramatic film about sacrifice, humility, and family, and it provides an excellent alternative to the high concept plots of many of today's romantic comedies.

People Like Us
Co-writer/Director: Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Hall D'Addario, Olivia Wilde, Michelle Pfeiffer