Comparing a superhero film to a science fiction extravaganza isn’t necessarily something you might consider doing at first. One is set on Earth and one is set in space. One has space monsters and one has a gawky teenager who discovers he is more than just a skateboarding nerd. The list goes on.
However, there are several reasons why I have decided to compare The Amazing Spider-Man to Prometheus. The first being the obvious: they are both big summer blockbusters. The hype enveloping the films has been pumped to the max prior to the release of each of them, and, sadly, both have received somewhat mixed reviews.
Secondly, both films already have a hugely established fan base, so huge in fact, that alone should almost guarantee the success of the films. Then we have the fact that they are both IMAX 3D events, are laced with dazzling special effects, feature an ensemble cast of both new and veteran actors, and both are reboots of a franchise previously thought done and dusted (Spider-Man 3 and the AvP films arguably being the nail in the coffin for each respective franchise).
However, while Prometheus was the film I had been waiting for since Dallas, Kane and Lambert first discovered the Space Jockey in the chair (and, rather oddly, a character that no subsequent Alien sequel had returned to), The Amazing Spider-Man was the film I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing in a hurry. The Tobey Maguire trilogy is still quite fresh in my mind, and let’s face it, we didn’t really need to see his origin story again.
Nonetheless, surprisingly I enjoyed Spider-Man more than Prometheus, and considering Prometheus was hailed by critics has the film event of the year (erm, The Dark Knight Rises, anyone?), it also served, for me at least, the biggest disappointment of the year so far. This article isn’t to serve as yet another Prometheus-bashing piece, more so a constructive look at why the film we’ve waited 30 years for isn’t quite as great as the film people hailed as too soon.
Here are my thoughts on why Spidey and The Lizard are head and shoulders above Shaw and her Engineer Gods.
Click “next” below to start our journey…
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11 Comments
Wow… What a pointless article. Who cares…
Wrong. I know it’s your opinion but your opinion is wrong.
1. I agree, Prometheus didn’t answer the questions it promised it would, and we will have to pay for admission to the sequel if we ever want to know. Sound familiar? TASM abandons ‘The Untold Story’ after 10 minutes and we are none the wiser about his parents.
2. I understand why some people didn’t like the characters in Prometheus, personally I liked them for the most part, but some like Fifield and Milton were….just rubbish. But Peter Parker was a bully for 99 percent of this movie! Asshole to Flash, royal dickhead in carthief scene, turns up at his girlfriends house several times playing the ‘unsung hero’, self-pitying whininess etc. Martin Sheen fantastic, Sally Field had way to little screen time and barely seemed upset when her husband died.
3. 3D in TASM was as pointless as it was in Prometheus, and 3D is never ‘warranted’.
4. This is a big one. Rhys Ifans was good as Connors, but I wasn’t aware lizard DNA came with a built-in asshole gene. Possibly the weakest villain plot I have ever seen in a superhero movie. He is a good man, wants to create a ‘world without weakness’, but now wants to turn everyone into a giant lizard? Come on. Also, evil plan laid out nice and easy on computer for our science genius to understand. Also CGI poor. As for Prometheus, it remains to be seen whether Engineers are evil or what there intentions are.
5. Didn’t like music in either movie, neither memorable, but at least Prometheus’ had a bit of depth, incorporating it into the plot with the picolo, and it portrayed the sense of discovery the characters were feeling. I bet no-one can hum TASM theme.
6. Prometheus is not your everyday movie, I am confident Scott has a fully fledged idea for a trilogy in his mind and it is a story he really wants to tell. TASM: Coming of age love story? One phrase disproves both these. ‘But those are the best kind.’ I’m sorry, what?! He has learned his lessons, come of age, and now going to endanger Gwen’s life and break the promise he made to her dying father just because he hasn’t banged her yet? Lack of understanding of characters and themes from whoever wrote that.
7. Hmmm I respectfully disagree, I felt there were enough surprises in Prometheus to keep me guessing, and I could pretty much guess the entire plot of TASM before it started, it was so conventional. But even I couldn’t have predicted the giant evil lizard scheme.
An opinion can’t be wrong…
Paul Anthony Jonze, you are a complete tool; how easy is it to replicate every predictable critique of a film that has proved greatly divisive, whilst riding the wave of Spiderman’s supposed glory? Weak, weak, weak. None of our justifications hold any merit. I’m sure you’ve made yourself feel real good and glowy about lambasting a movie that has taken it from every corner. Group think sheep herding certainly does that.
Are you kidding me? Spider-man did NOT give audiences what they were promised. The trailers promised the untold story and that story remains untold. They teased it with lines like “Do you know what you really are?” and “if you want to secret to your parents come get it” and completely removed them in the final film.
Oh no. I read this. The Stupid, It Burns!!!
I completely agree with the score in Prometheus. I hate it when Hollywood films underbelly a score during every single scene. It takes me out of the movie. Thanks for bringing that up!
I don’t think the comparison between Spidey and Prometheus works. Maybe if you judged the films on their abilities as a reboot…
Saw it last night, am a 50 yr old who loves film and especially these kinds of films but they are rarley done well, Thor being a great example of one that was done WELL, but this, this had so much potential and sadly was just so AWEFULL, and that’s putting it mildly! The new actor is Great as Spidey and that’s IT ! The rest is total garbage except his love interest in the film is real cute too. Other than that way way too much focus on him sticking to things and Go No Where With This type of Vilian the entire film, just terrible CGI in parts and story that is so slow and boring it begs for any kind of action that never really comes at the right time nor does that story ever really amount to much…such a sad sad waste of the characters, the 2 hours, and with not nearly enough interesting stuff going on!
I’m going to read the rest of the article now, but just to say- I agree with this opinion. Amazing Spider-Man is a confident piece that lays a strong foundation for a franchise, whereas Prometheus is virtually the opposite, an overconfident, unnecessary prequel that all-but destroys any desire I could have to see a sequel made.
Ridiculous comparison as Prometheus is more ambitious, original and thought-provoking than Spiderman which had decades of comics to draw a storyline from. I enjoyed both films but this is a pointless article. If you like Spiderman, say so. Don’t drag Prometheus into it.