Reboot? Re-imagining? Rip-off? How you feel about the idea of “The Amazing Spider-Man,” this summer’s super hero action-adventure film starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, may depend on your feelings about the Marvel Comics characters and comics the movie is based upon.

A new trailer for the July release will be in theaters Feb. 10. It is already making the rounds online, though, and it does offer the first glimpses of the Lizard, the main villain in the film, some customary Spidey wisecracking, full views of the new movie costume, and some hints that this may be a darker, edgier version than director Sam Raimi offered us.

Big Shiny Robot! got its two biggest Spider-Man fans … Jerk-bot, a self-proclaimed “traditionalist,” and Kill-tacular-tron … to get their views on the spot. While the two may agree about their love for the Web-slinger, their opinions of the trailer couldn’t be more different. In fact, a debate ensued.

Presenting the case against is Jerk-bot, better known as local movie/geek columnist and reviewer Jeff Michael Vice.

OPENING STATEMENT
First off, let me just say that you cannot and must not judge a movie by its trailer. As a longtime fan of the characters and the comics, I am hoping that “The Amazing Spider-Man” will be if not a good movie, then a fun one.

Let me confess, however, as a longtime fan, I am especially harsh when it comes to adaptations, be they animated or live-action. And I am somewhat of a traditionalist. While I do enjoy Brian Michael Bendis’s Ultimate version, I still prefer the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko/John Romita ASM comics … and even the current, Dan Slott/Humberto Ramos ones.

Say what you will about Sam Raimi’s trilogy of films, they showed love and appreciation for the classics. “Spider-Man 2” is about as perfect a printed-four-color-page-to-the-big-screen movie adaptation as there is. Watch it again, after reading those earlier comics, if you don’t believe me. (And skip over “Spider-Man 3” … )

And let me also confess that I am not an Andrew Garfield fan. Thus far, he has conveyed more general cockiness and sheer doucheyness than a likable personality in his performances. Peter Parker? I think not. (Though I will admit that I was wrong about my initial casting misgivings in regards to Chris “Captain America” Evans and Chris “Capt. Kirk” Pine.)

THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE TRAILER
I’ll take these, point by point …

IT’S DARK … TOO DARK.
Having read Spider-Man comics for more than two-thirds of my life, I realize that they are filled with tragedy, drama, pathos, bathos, what have you. It’s part of what makes Peter Parker and his wall-crawling, web-slinging alter ego
so relatable. He rises above the challenges in his life, and never gives up.

However, this new trailer not only looks dark … in term of its nearly constant nighttime and indoors settings … it also looks more brooding than Christopher Nolan’s Batman films. Since this was shot in the 3D format, it’s going to give people eye strain if nothing else.

THERE’S NOTHING NEW (OR NU) IN IT.
Sam Raimi and company already did all this before. And better. Don’t believe me?

Peter Parker being bullied by Flash Thompson and standing up to him? Check.

Spidey being physically beaten and unmasked? Check.

Our hero being hounded by the police? Check.

A would-be father figure who turns into a green arch-villain? Check.

A tentative first web-swing into action? Check.

And so on …

AMALGAMATION, INC.
We were promised new, “fresh” interpretations of the characters, but …

Capt. George Stacy (Denis Leary) taking the place of J. Jonah Jameson as Spidey’s harshest critic. That role was also Aunt May Parker. Speaking of whom, where is SHE in the trailer? (The character is being played by Sally Field, who is at least as big a name as Leary.)

Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) taking the place of Norman Osborn and Uncle Ben Parker as that aforementioned father figure. (Uncle Ben is being played by Martin Sheen, who, again, is nowhere to be seen.)

CLONE SAGA ALL OVER AGAIN?
Again, appearances are deceiving, but those black-and-white flashback bits horrify me. Angst-y, I-miss-my-dead-parents bull pucky is all the rage in films directed at teen/tween audiences, but unfortunately, it also brings to mind criticisms of George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels, which were explored in a lengthy stand-up comedy routine by Patton Oswalt.

Plus, while the dead parents angle was done in Bendis’s Ultimate title, it was first brought up during the dreaded Clone Saga in various Spidey titles. We longtime fans are still recovering from that awfulness.

WOKKA-WOKKA.
Tobey Maguire may have failed to convince as the wisecracking Peter, but at least his attempts at humor were funnier than the stupid taxi bit in the trailer. If that’s the best “funny” moment in the movie, we’re in trouble, folks.

IN CONCLUSION
All along, I have had the feeling Sony Pictures rushed this film into production simply to hold onto the characters and property, and that we might get a bad or at least mediocre movie. This trailer has done absolutely nothing to allay those fears for me.

That being said, I will be among the first … if not the first … to eat my words. I have done it before (again, see the Star Trek and Captain America movies for evidence of that).

However, I have two words for you if you’re being a Pollyanna about this trailer: “Green Lantern.” I was right all along about THAT one, wasn’t I?

P.S. If this is as bad as I now fear, I will welcome the inevitable cinematic rebooting as “Ultimate Spider-Man” that we’ll get. Hopefully with Miles Morales under the mask. Which is what they should be doing in the first place.

And now for the counterpoint, provided by Kill-tacular-tron.

OPENING STATEMENT
I would also like to remind everyone of what Jeff said in his opening statement, judging a movie based off of a trailer is bad form. I am going to try and share my hopes for the film, and what things excite me about the trailer. I will do my best to counterpoint Jeff, but really it is going to be difficult to make any solid arguments based off a trailer.

Spider-Man is my all-time favorite superhero. I probably have a lot more invested in these movies than John Q. Public. “Spider-Man 2” is still one of my favorite films, and probably the all-time-best superhero movie. At least, in my humble opinion. I grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The early 2000s is when I first ventured into the comic’s world with (Joe) Straczynski’s Amazing Spider-Man run. I probably became a fanatic while reading the Ultimate Spider-Man series.

My love for the character is what I bring to this argument. Although I’m a cinephile, I am by no means a professional movie critic. I will be approaching my side of this argument from a Spider-Man fanatic’s point of view.

REGARDING THE TONE
Last week I received my Comic-Con preregistration packet. The cover story for the included magazine was “The Amazing Spider-Man.” It contained interviews with (director Marc) Webb and (actress Emma) Stone. I was particularly interested in hearing what Webb was hoping to achieve with his rendition of Peter Parker. In the interview he explains that he wants to avoid the same world that Sam Raimi created. Webb felt that, since Raimi did such an amazing job, there was no reason to try and break new ground with the Golden Age Peter Parker.

This is where the seemingly hybrid version of the character comes into play. There are a lot of things I can pick up on from the Ultimate Universe. For instance, Gwen Stacy definitely seems to know Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Mary Jane is privy to this same information in the Ultimate Universe. It has made for some excellent stories. Peter isn’t carrying this burden by himself and often needs a helping hand. Or occasionally a pep talk.

Another similarity to the Ultimate Universe, a great deal of Peter’s life revolves around Oscorp. Norman creates the spider that gives Peter his super powers. He also employees characters that turn into villains, Otto Octavius being one of them. I don’t think Curt Connors working at Oscrop is a bad thing. In fact, I think it tidies up the premise a bit. This brings me to the next point.

THERE ARE NO NEW IDEAS. THERE ARE ONLY NEW WAYS OF MAKING THEM FELT
To say that this Spider-Man movie is treading on similar ground as Sam Raimi’s is kind of a no-brainer. Unfortunately, Sony decided to do another origin story. I, like most fans, would have rather seen another version of Spider-Man without repeating the introduction. That being said, I think with any movie involving Spider-Man you are going to see:

Peter being unmasked at some point.

The police hunting him. Being the “public menace” is a pretty large theme for the character.

His first web-slinging excursion. This is an origin story, full of many firsts.

I see the point Jeff is trying to make, although it’s hard for either of us to make a definitive stand without seeing the film.

SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN
A lot of the ideas shown in this trailer feel very fresh to me. Although Captain Stacy is taking on a similar role as Jameson, he is now taking on the more logical position for his character. Would a police captain be happy that a masked vigilante is running around town making him look bad and possibly putting a lot of lives in danger? I wouldn’t think so. This also creates a more interesting dynamic between Gwen and Peter (knowing he’s Spider-Man) if her Dad hates him.

I would much rather Webb stay true to the characters he is creating on film, rather than the continuity from the comics. How many movies have been ruined by the addition of one-dimensional characters to appease the fan boys. “X-Men 3,” anyone? Hell, even “Spider-Man 3” suffered from that very same problem. Remember Venom?

SMART-ASS
Honestly, any wisecracking from Spider-Man is going to make me happy. There was a serious lack of it in Raimi’s trilogy. I’ve always imagined Peter’s delivery as very dry. Only the Web-slinger finds himself amusing. But, I do agree with Jeff. I hope what we see in the trailer isn’t the “best-of” stuff.

IN CONCLUSION
Being a fan of Spider-Man, I am super-stoked to see this film. I had my reservations earlier on when I first saw the costume. Even the first trailer left me wondering what to expect. It’s probably not the best approach, but I now have high hopes. The darker tone is kind of exciting for me. It almost hints at the overall story involving the Stacys, and the tragedy that falls on their family because of Spider-Man.

I, like Jeff, will be the first to admit it if this movie turns out to be a big stinker. I guess the one thing we can agree on: We both hope this movie turns out better than “Spider-Man 3.”

This Month’s Podcast Features:

Zombietron (Tom), Arse-Bot (Tyson), Vagatron (Kiley), Mexicus Prime (Jimmy), Kill-tacular-tron (Lucas), and guest, Proletariatron (Nick)

This month we bring back former BSPC regular, Proletariatron, and he quickly remembers why he stopped being a part of these.

We kick of this ‘cast with chatting about some of the more recent geek movie news including our thoughts on the next X-Men First Class film and the idiocy of 10-second commercial “teasers”. In comics this month we continue to gush about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and discuss the news of the recently announced Watchmen prequel comics.

Arse-bot showed up with a bunch of blind packs of Marvel Squinkies and it’s only about 10-minutes until Mexicus Prime starts putting them in sexual positions with each other. Also, new TMNT toys! We wrap everything up with a bunch of video game talk, including Resident Evil 6, Pushmo, the Wii U release date, and Kill-tacular-tron and Arse-bot get in an argument about the PS Vita . . . until they realize they aren’t even arguing about the same thing.

Thanks for listening and watch for a new episode every month! Also be sure to check out the Big Shiny Girlcast, chock full of geeky girl goodness!

Listen:

iTunes

MP3

The organizers of SaltCON have graciously given us two tickets for their convention to give to our readers.

All you need to do is comment below that you want them and let us know what your favorite board game is. We’ll pick a winner on Tuesday, February 17th.

What is SaltCON you ask? SaltCON is Salt Lake City’s very own boardgaming convention. From their website:

We are pleased to announce that the annual SaltCON Board Game Convention will be held at the Royal Garden Inn (154 W 600 S) in downtown Salt Lake City over President’s Day weekend on February 17th and 18th, 2012. We are now taking registrations online at www.saltcon.com, including reduced rates and incentives for registering early.

What is a board game convention? It is a gathering of people, consisting of families and singles of all ages and genders coming together for two days to play all types of board games. We believe playing board games to be a great activity, teaching all players important lessons about life while having fun, too! We have old standby games, such as Scrabble, Monopoly, and the Game of Life, along with new classics like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Dominion. The newest games are also available in our game library, which contains hundreds of games. We have concierges to teach games to those wanting to learn, and we even have a game design competition for budding game designers! And to top it all off, we have lots of giveaways and tournaments during the convention where you have the opportunity to win games. It is two days of pure fun! So come join us!

I’ll be there as much as I can (I have book signings on the 18th I’d love you to come to with LE Modessit, Dave Farland, and Paul Genesse. Here’s more details.)

So, to win, just leave a comment below and let us know what your favorite board game is.

The Amazing Spider-Man Facebook page unveiled the newest trailer for the Marc Webb directed film in the wee hours of the morning this morning! You can check it out below!

I’ll be honest, I’ve been pretty on board with this reboot from the beginning. I like the cast, I like the director, and now after seeing this latest trailer I like the direction it looks like they are taking it. Spider-Man being a smart-ass? Check. Spider-Man kicking ass? Check. Drama? Check. Humor? Check. Beautiful Gwen Stacy? Check.

I know a lot of you out there have pretty strong feelings about this reboot, thinking it’s too early, or you haven’t like what you’ve seen of Webb’s Spidey thus far, but after seeing this trailer this robot really thinks he’s got something great going here. As always, sound off with your comments and opinions in the comments section below!

The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters on July 3rd, is directed by Marc Webb, and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, and Denis Leary.

For many of us, The Phantom Menace holds a lot of fond memories and this week’s 3D release of the film is a welcome one.

I, for one, am grateful for the chance to show the entire saga to my kids on the big screen. They were only barely old enough to catch Revenge of the Sith on the big screen (at about the same age I was when I saw Return of the Jedi the first time) and this will give me opportunity to let them experience Star Wars as it’s meant to be: on the big screen. I’m sure I’ll catch as many 2D screenings as 3D during this release.

My City Weekly column this week delves into more detail about Phantom Menace and my continued love for it.

For those of you who are in the Salt Lake area, we’re are, in part, hosting a kick off event for Thursday night’s midnight screening that you won’t want to miss.

Starting at 10pm on Thursday, February 9th, we will be packing the theatre for the midnight showing of The Phantom Menace at Jordan Commons. (9400 South State Street, Sandy, UT)

The local 501st and the Mandalorian Mercs will be on hand to take pictures with the crowd. There will be a costume contest hosted by Jeff and Jimmy from The Big Movie Mouth-Off and then I will be hosting a trivia contest afterward. Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection and Megaplex will be giving away prizes.

This is the place to be for the midnight showing in Utah, packed with those who love these movies the most. I would recommend getting tickets now.

If you’re not in Utah, what are you doing for the midnight event?

I know every one is saying that The Avengers is the big breakout trailer from the Super Bowl, and it probably is. Maybe it’s just because John Carter is closer to release that I’m that much more excited for it.

This movie looks incredible.

Seriously, you all have Kindle apps, read the first few books. These stories are amazing and I’m so glad to see them getting the big screen treatment they deserve.

This was amazing. I’m going to watch it again now.

I think this tells us quite a lot, though. The threat the Avengers are facing seems to be extra terrestrial. Skrulls? We can only hope.

Big Shiny Girlcast’s February 3rd, 2012 episode is now live via iTunes! The latest episode of the podcast, “Issue #3: Shazam!,” discusses Game of Thrones, Terra Nova, Being Human, Walking Dead, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Princess Bride wine, X Men First Class sequel, Hunger Games and more! This week’s “Ask the Geek Girls” segment talks about the first thing we ever really loved as geeks.

On this week’s podcast: Jessie – Miss Mecha from Big Shiny Robot!, Carly – Wonderbot from Big Shiny Robot!, Kelly – Scarlett Robotica from Big Shiny Robot! and Darcy from geekgirlsftw.blogspot.com

You can find it here on the site or download it over on our Big Shiny Robot iTunes feed.

To comment on this week’s episode, send us a question, or answer on of our burning questions, just leave a comment here at the bottom of the post or email the podcast at jessie@bigshinyrobot.com.

Hey everyone! Vagatron here with another convention sketch!

This week’s comes from a local artist signing at Night-Flight Comics in good old Salt Lake City, Utah back in 2004. Ryan Ottley was kind enough to give us his version of The Joker as a vampire! Check out his amazing work every month on Image comics’ Invincible!

And as always, if you have a sketch you think others may be interested in seeing, let us know by dropping us a line at editor@bigshinyrobot.com!

The box is part three in Obi-wan’s undercover infiltration of Count Dooku’s plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine on Naboo. Count Dooku, wanting to test the mettle of the bounty hunters he’s handpicked, he contrives for them to be tested in a virtual environment that will kill those unfit for the mission and whittle his team down to the 5 best men for the job.

Meanwhile, Anakin is given orders to just sort of back off and leave Obi-wan to his devices, reminding us for the only time that Obi-wan is really the bounty hunter Rako Hardeen in disguise.

I’m going to be honest, this episode was fifty-fifty for me. The visuals were great, with the exception of a couple of weird quirks in Dooku’s animation. Seriously, there was about a shot and a half where he looked a little silly, but that’s forgivable and no big deal. Watching Obi-wan’s struggle to choke back his instincts as a Jedi to act like a bounty hunter is certainly a fascinating struggle to watch which more than makes up for any minor glitches in the animation.

What I really loved the lighting schemes that hearken directly to Revenge of the Sith in Yoda’s meditation room. Visual touchstones to the actual films are always very welcome and the theme is very much the same to match the lighting: Anakin is instructed to do nothing to save those he loves and it kills him, bringing him that much closer to the brink of the dark side.

I also loved all the flourishes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind leading up to the box and I loved the Enter the Dragon sort of showdown at the end of the trial, with a crazed Dooku watching from the safety of his control room. All it needed was mirrors. The choral music in that sequence stood out in the scene, as well as the moment with Cad Bane’s intervention, easily the best moment in the episode.

But what I don’t understand about this episode is the story. Why did Dooku need to test the bounty hunters this way? Why didn’t he hire the five best bounty hunters to begin with? Why did the 11 bounty hunters agree to the test in the first place, knowing how lethal it was? Wouldn’t it be easier to get a bounty hunter to accept a job where he’d be assigned to kill other bounty hunters? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to hire them all and have them fight to the death down to the last five men,? Is making these bounty hunters perform in a series of lethal video game puzzles really the best way to test their skills?

And wouldn’t the cost of operating a death trap as elaborate as The Box just be ridiculous and cost prohibitive? I mean, think about the cost of such an immense box, the size and scale of it, the amount of workers it would require to build, the cost of gas to burn for the fires… The supply of credits for the Separatists must be inexhaustible…

Something about the test and the box itself just didn’t add up for me. It seemed like a very silly video game and maybe that’s what they were going for. It didn’t work for me as well as it will probably work for others, but it certainly entertained Dooku.

I guess this seems very much like Dooku’s modus operandi. Remember how he found Asajj Ventress in the micro-series? Perhaps Dooku would have been right at home as a Roman noble, watching over the gladiatorial battles for their entertainment and brutality.

For visuals, lighting, and effects, I give this episode high marks. It looked beautiful and had some very cool flourishes. For the story, I just don’t understand why we couldn’t have cut to the chase and made this a three part arc, skipping this episode completely.

But my feelings on the story didn’t diminish my enjoyment at all, which is I guess why it was worth airing the episode rather than skipping it. For all its faults, I had a good time watching it, even if I did find myself scratching my head at some of the where’s and why’s.

Next week I’m hoping for a payoff to these last three episodes that will really knock my socks off, and something tells me I’m going to get it.