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www.groovekorea.com / April 2014 72 Preview by Dean Crawford If I were forced to name my favorite comic book movie of all time, I think it would be a close call between “X-Men 2” (2003) and Sam Raimi’s original “Spider-Man” (2002), with “Spider-Man” slightly edging it. Sure, it was cheesy at times, but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw Spider-Man swinging through the streets of New York. Fast-forward five years, and the sight of an emo Peter Parker disco dancing his way through the streets of New York pretty much killed the franchise. Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire tried to make “Spider-Man 4,” but creative differences led to Raimi’s departure and Marc Webb rebooting the series as “The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012), which was es- sentially the same film as Raimi’s original, but this time Peter Parker rode a skateboard. However, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” will see Spider-Man face off against some of his most formidable foes yet, in the shape of Elec- tro (Jamie Foxx) and The Rhino (Paul Giamatti), who both seem to be connected in some way to the Oscorp organization. Andrew Garfield returns as Spider-Man and Emma Stone returns as Gwen Stacy. Dane DeHaan of “Chronicle” (2012) fame com- pletes the cast as Harry Osborn. One of the biggest problems with “Spi- der-Man 3” (2007) was that it tried to include too many characters. So the alarm bells start- ed ringing when the new trailer included not only Electro and The Rhino, but also Harry Osborn, who is the Green Goblin. There were also hints at the inclusion of the Sinister Six, which may well be nods to future films, but it’s still a risky decision to include all these char- acters, considering how this strategy backfired spectacularly in “Spider-Man 3.” I’m guessing Fox is feeling pretty confident, as “The Amaz- ing Spider-Man” 3 and 4 have already been announced. So, as long as the film is a box office success, we’ll be seeing a lot more of the web slinger in the near future. At the time of this writing, only two Eng- lish-language films were scheduled for release in April. One was “Spider-Man” and the sec- ond was a film called “Divergent.” Now, in a busy month, I wouldn’t have given “Divergent” a second look. The poster tells us it’s “based on the world- wide bestseller” and features two gorgeous but mean-looking teenagers (one strapped with a bow and arrow) looking off into the distance dressed in what appears to be PVC. An edu- cated guess could tell you that this is the next attempt by a studio to cash in on the young adult fiction boom and find themselves the next “Twilight” (2008) or “Hunger Games” (2012). Despite my initial hesitation, I noticed that the film stars Shailene Woodley, who was excel- lent in one of my favorite films of last year, “The Spectacular Now,” so I thought I would give it a try. Well, that and the fact that there literally was no other choice. Based on the novel of the same name by Ve- ronica Roth, “Divergent” is set in a world where, once you turn 16, you must take a test telling you to which of the five factions of a futuris- tic Chicago you are best suited. Beatrice Prior (Woodley) qualifies for three factions, which is unheard of, and is labeled a divergent — a person with a special mind who is an enemy of the government. Kate Winslet plays Jeanine Matthews, a leader who tries to exterminate these people and take control of the divided society. With a split nation, attempts to over- throw a government and rubber jumpsuits, the film has the look and feel of a not-so-edgy “Hunger Games.” Roth has two more novels in the series, “In- surgent” and “Allegiant,” which I’m sure are waiting to get made into films. However, the filmmakers need to be careful. For every “Twi- light” or “Hunger Games,” there are several others that have tried to cash in on the young adult fiction craze and failed. Remember “The Mortal Instruments” or “Beautiful Creatures”? Exactly. Me neither. 24 17 Action / Adventure / Fantasy 142 minutes Sci-f / Fantasy / Action 139 minutes April April Divergent The Amazing spider-Man 2 Directed by Neil Burger Directed by Marc Webb at the BoX oFFice the Big Screen edited by Jenny Na (jenny@groovekorea.com) MUsIC & ARTs GrooveCast GrooveCast host Chance Dorland and columnist Dean Crawford talk movies. Check out the pod- cast at groovekorea.com.
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