The Amazing Spider-Man 2: An inside look at bad guy technology
By now you've probably seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie and know who Electro is and how Harry becomes the Green Goblin. Story reboots can go in a variety of ways. I've seen really good ones (like The Amazing Spider-Man and Superman) and really bad ones (the earlier Batman one and Total Recall) and some that made me yawn (The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek, and Lost in Space).
You can't mess with childhood memories. You can't mess with history that's passed. You can add stories that have continuity but if you go too far with your artistic license, you'll lose your audience. I think that's what happened in the latest Star Trek reboot for me. I like the actors but changing stories that have happened just isn't cool. I don't care about space-time continua and warped universes. The stories are in our minds a certain way. Come up with something new and tell that story.
Marc Webb and company did just that with Spider-Man. Of course you have to retell the origin story. I like that it's updated with genetic engineering instead of the old stand-by radiation explanation. In the early days of comics, every mutant got that way by radiation. I guess what didn't kill them made them stronger.
Genetic modification is far more reasonable. Yes, it can be just as deadly as radiation but mutation rates are usually less dramatic and longer lasting. It's a better place to start a reboot. And the story told in Amazing Spider-Man (the first) hadn't been told in any earlier movie. I think a version of it had been told in one of the old Spidey animation series but I can't remember that well.
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Anyway, for the big screen, it's a new story. The Electro story is new for movie goers too. I remember the old Electro and to retell that story in an updated way took a lot of (How shall I put it?) moxie. Electro wasn't a very interesting character but Marc Webb and crew took Electro from being some obscure villain to being a formidable foe. I knew the story but I did have to wonder how Spider-Man was going to get himself out of this tangled web with Electro this time. You'll see what he was up against in the tech footage during their big battle. Electro, to me, seemed unstoppable.
During the roundtable interviews, Jamie Foxx told us what his daughter said when she found out that he was going to be a bad guy against Spider-Man: "Spider-Man's gonna kick your butt."
She was right.
But there's a cost.
There's always a cost.
"With great power comes great responsibility," Uncle Ben once told Peter.
My own corollary is "With great power comes great sacrifice." I think mine makes even more sense. If you're really into super hero stories, you'll find that this is a recurring theme. A hero works for the greater good but often at great personal sacrifice. It's no different for Peter Parker. In every bit of happiness, there always remains sadness.
If you've seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie, this clip will give you some cool insider information as to what it takes to create characters like Electro and Green Goblin. If you haven't seen it, don't worry, there are no real spoilers in it but it might enlighten you enough to look for these subtle details and additions to the movie. You can tell your friends and family that you know how they did it.
Write back and tell me what you think. Would you like to see more posts like this? What do you think of the technology?
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Marvel's latest tech marvel: Amazing Spider-Man 2
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