‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ – We’ve Seen This Movie Before, Right?
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ opens today, and like other superhero movies before it, it tries to cram in too many villains. This time Spidey’s fighting the Green Goblin, the Rhino and Electro. This, as well as the announcement that a ‘Justice League’ movie will definitely be following ‘Batman Vs. Superman,’ are all big tell-tale warning signs that the superhero genre will be in serious trouble down the road. So instead of watching the start of the derailment, why not check out these movies made by the 'Spider-Man 2' cast when things were more promising?
'Ray' (2004)
‘Ray’ featured a Jamie Foxx performance that's so remarkable, for much of the movie you’re convinced you’re actually watching Ray Charles himself. While Foxx made his name as a comedian on ‘In Living Color,’ ‘Ray’ showed that he had great dramatic chops as well. His performance made the movie, because without him, ‘Ray’ would have been little better than one of those VH1 biopics.
'Sideways' (2004)
Character actors can hump around for years in movies before they finally break through with a great role. Paul Giamatti had a great breakout role in ‘Private Parts,’ but we have to recommend ‘Sideways.’ There’s some ‘Spider-Man’ serendipity here too, because Thomas Hayden Church, who famously flees naked from a soiree in ‘Sideways,’ played Sandman in ‘Spider-Man 3.’
'Chronicle' (2012)
We’re big fans of John Landis' early movies -- who doesn’t love ‘Animal House,’ ‘The Blues Brothers,’ ‘An American Werewolf in London,’ etc.? His son Max Landis has established himself as a pretty big screenwriter in Hollywood. He wrote 'Chronicle,' a superhero movie with a twist, a found-footage story that isn’t based on any previous major franchise character. The new Green Goblin, Dane DeHaan, plays one of the kids with superpowers in 'Chronicle,' and he also played the roadie who went on the insane journey in Metallica’s ‘Through the Never’ movie.