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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - A few tidbits, thoughts and an image
Posted by Labels: Amazing Spider-Man 2, Ratings, Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 [TASM2] was released last weekend and while the movie got mixed reviews there are some things all the critics agree on.
TASM2 was rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of Sci-Fi Action. There has been a lot of talk that the movie was simplified or targeted for a younger audience than the other gritty marvel films. I totally under stand that concept, but I get caught up on the PG-13 rating. Here's my rub, the movie has no sexual overtones, I thought there was a couple of fleeting expletives, and a couple of action sequences, if this movie was really aimed at little Johnny than it needed to be PG rather PG-13.
The real reason it now "targeted" towards younger audience is because it was originally a more complex movie that didn't work. To get the PG rating it wouldn't have been difficult to rework the three action sequences in question to remove the one or two little pesky quirks that move the film up. For example instead of Gwen getting clunked on the head and the sound of the neck snapping, happens off screen and we focus on Peter's face, that fight is now PG fight.
There are multiple scenes from the previews that aren't in the movie, the end credit mini trailer was ripped from the movie, and replaced by a shazam thing, and well ...
One of the most interesting scenes in the Trailers the one where Harry informs Peter, Oscorp had him under surveillance isn't in the movie. At first I thought I must have zoned out but everyone agrees it is not there.
I also don't remember the joke about "web design" being in the movie. Nor do I remember the rescue scene or....
There is even a petition on change.org requesting that a Directors get released.
So what's going on.
According to several sources that previewed some of the early footage (around Dec 6th) the movie had too many characters and too many story lines. Clearly we are past the point of reshoots at that point and the decision was made to cut. However this is well after the Mary Jane scenes were cut in June of 2013. So who else got the boot or cut?
Another scene we know for sure that was cut, and cut late was a mid-credit trailer in which a shadowy figure goes into the special projects room at Oscorp. The rumor goes we see a shadowy figure (Gustav Fliers) enter the fault and walk into room 3 and speak to the cryogenically frozen head of Norman Osborne "It's time to wake up my old friend."
All jokes about Walt Disney and the where abouts of his head aside....
Such a late cut however explains the need for Shazam BS.
There is also that weird Gwen voice mail message for Peter scene, for many reasons I believe this is a late reshoot scene and it replaces a series of scenes with Gwen and Peter. Marc Webb has acknowledged there were several such scenes just not where they were planned for in the film.
We have several untold story lines, the deal with the air traffic controllers and planes, Aunt May going back to school to be a nurse story line, Felicia Hardy - aka Black Cat, who gets introduced and than makes a comment about special projects and a scene with J.K. Simmons cameo as J. Jonah Jameson.
From the actors we know there scene between Max Dillon and his Mother, Green Goblin attacking Oscorp, a secret research facility scene under Ravencroft, and an Oscorp storyline about corporate espionage.
It's possible the special projects room and the research facility are one and the same.
Finally in the preview cut of the film and the released film had a difference, in the preview copy people are noting that Aleksei Sytsevich stole the Rhino Armor rather than was recruited. Again a late change.
clearly when we start talking about the amount of footage on the cutting room floor we are talking 20 to 40 minutes, for a movie that was released at 2 hours and 20 minutes....
Why so much footage?
I have a thought, but what are your thoughts.