A word on the new Spider-Man

I like Andrew Garfield. He was one of the best things about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and was excellent in the Red Riding trilogy. Now he's nabbed one of the biggest parts available for a young actor, and its interesting casting to say the least.

I have to admit, I'm not exactly going to be at the front of the queue when the new film comes out. As far as I'm concerned, the franchise went stale with the best talent available in Sam Raimi and I don't exactly see how refreshing a reboot will be. I'd love to be proved wrong however, and with the casting of Andrew Garfield and with Marc Webb on board as director, things certainly seem to be heading in the right director.

The thing that surprised me about the casting was that all the talk about the film has been that it was aiming to return to a young, teen aged Peter Parker, which seemed like a perfectly fine idea. Garfield is nearly 27, and though youthful in appearance, could be well into his mid 30's if the film gets a couple of sequels. It seems to be going against a lot of the things the producers were talking up, especially when much of the casting rumours were going with someone much younger like Aaron Johnson (20) or Logan Lerman (18). We'll have to see how long Garfield can convince as a teenager for, but this doesn't seem to be much of a concern for Hollywood; they haven't exactly been too concerned about actors being the same age as their characters in the past.

As for Webb, we'll have to see if he can pull this off. He'll certainly bring the heart back to the franchise that was so missing from Spider-Man 3. (500) Days of Summer was an excellent achievement in having just the right amount of emotion and strong characterisation without getting too cheesy. My only concern is that he could "do a Marc Forster." Forster is a director who has made great films and is much respected but when it came to making a big budget summer tentpole in Quantum of Solace, he just didn't have the action directing chops. In the end we had baffling action sequences that looked like a poor man's Bourne. I have no doubt Webb will get the angst of a teenage Peter Parker right, but the action's got to be impressive too. It is Spider-Man after all.

Worst. Criticism. Ever.

I'm quite looking forward to the new movie year. I always do because no matter how pessimistic I get there's always something that has the potential to be amazing. One film coming out next year that's really jumping off the page at me at the moment is Green Zone, the film that sees Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon teaming up again to tackle the Iraq war.


The trailer hit a few weeks back and looked very impressive but there was a disgruntled murmur going around that it looked just like Bourne in Iraq. Corrupt government employees, rogue Matt Damon, mysterious MacGuffins, shaky cams and brutal fistfights; they're all there, just in a desert setting. I see where people are coming from, but my question is so what?

Of course it is going to look familiar. Bourne is the roll Matt Damon has become synonymous with (Team America aside) and Paul Greengrass has a very distinct, documentary style of directing that he's made his own and used to great effect in The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. He's one of the few directors that can use shaky cam well (see Mark Forster's Quantum of Solace for an example of how not to do it) and it could well be a perfect match for an Iraq war thriller.

Damon and Greengrass have proven to make a good team in the past and it's clear from the trailer that the film is going for the suspenseful, claustrophobic and action-packed feel that they've captured so well before. This doesn't mean they aren't taking risks; Iraq war films have so far proved very difficult to get right. Linger too long on the sobering politics and you lose your audience, skim too lightly over the issues that matter and you lack substance and depth. Most difficult of all, it's proven extremely difficult to make a film about such a controversial war that just happens to be entertaining. If Greengrass can get the balance right it will be some achievement, but he is the man for the job.

If you had any more doubts, just look at the cast. Damon aside, we've got the incredibly underrated Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs and Amy Ryan. If that wasn't enough, it's got Greg Kinnear(!)

Don't get me wrong, I don't want this to be Bourne in Iraq but if some of the style and expert handling of a thriller is translated to the Iraq setting then it is only going to be a good thing. My only hope is Greengrass, Damon et al. don't prove me wrong.