Spider-Man's Most Amazing Movie Moments

The Amazing Spider-Man swings into cinemas this week, taking a classic superhero franchise back to basics and consigning the Sam Raimi canon to the cinematic archive. While it's not a revolutionary reboot by any means, it's the perfect excuse to take in all four Spider-Men and do what we internet people so love to do: rank the most memorable scenes in ascending order of merit. Just beware of spoilers ahead, especially if you haven't yet caught Spidey's latest adventure...

25. Spider-sense (As seen in: Spider-Man)

Spider-man's pre-cognitive ability isn't easy to translate to film, but Sam Raimi nails it early on in his first movie. As jock Flash Thompson (True Blood's Joe Manganiello) prepares to mash Peter Parker into his locker, Pete clocks the incoming attack and time slows down – a paper plane swoops gently overhead, a spitball glides gracefully towards its target and a fly leisurely flaps its wings. Sadly, Flash gets his ass handed to him on a plate in real-time.

24. Peter vs New Goblin (Spider-Man 3)

It's the most effects-heavy action sequence in the entire trilogy and one that starts Spider-Man 3 at a breathless pace it couldn't hope to keep up. Parker is sucker-punched by an enraged Harry Osborn, now airborne as New Goblin and determined to get revenge for his father's death. Together, Peter and Harry clatter through New York's narrows, exchanging blows and defying gravity, and all the while Peter does his best Frodo impression, desperately clinging to his precious ring throughout the rough and tumble.

23. Previously, on Spider-Man... (Spider-Man 2)

The illustrated opening credits of Spider-Man 2 are the perfect way to bring newcomers up to speed with the Spidey saga without having to crowbar awkward expository dialogue into the opening scene ("Hey Harry, I'm sure sorry your father died!" etc). Drawn by esteemed comic-book artist Alex Ross, the artwork – together with Danny Elfman's stirring score – is the perfect way to kick off one of the best superhero movies ever: fact.

22. Norman Osborn's mirror scene (Spider-Man)

Late in 2002, a CG character called Gollum would mesmerise audiences by having an extremely heated argument with himself. In Spider-Man some months earlier, Willem Dafoe did largely the same thing and was arguably more animated. Norman Osborn, suffering from an attack of the Jekyll & Hydes, succumbs to his dark side when his Green Goblin alter-ego addresses him from his mirror, whispering devilish promises in his own ear. Dafoe, hamminess turned up to 'thickly sliced', utterly convinces as a total screwjob.

21. J. Jonah Jameson IS Spider-Man (Spider-Man 2.1)

A scene cut from the theatrical edit of Spider-Man turned out to be one of its funniest, and most revealing. Anyone who watched the extended Spider-Man 2.1 version on DVD would have seen a short sequence of The Daily Bugle's editor J. Jonah Jameson dressed in Spider-Man's discarded costume, thwipping about his own office making web noises while his own staff peek through a window. It certainly explains Jameson's obsession with the webbed wonder – who knew jealousy was the cause?

20. The Lizard's arm grows back (The Amazing Spider-Man)

Though Rhys Ifans' scaly villain may have been one of the few remaining well-known bad guys still left to be picked on the playground, alter-ego Dr Curt Connors does get a great character beat before he's reduced to a raging reptile. The one-armed doc uses himself as a guinea pig to test a potentially life-altering serum that replicates regenerative lizard DNA in humans, waking up in a funk to find he's not as arm-less as he once was. Ifans is marvellous in the scene: a literal fleshing out of a villain before it all goes a bit CG.

19. Going down (Spider-Man 2)

A great example of Sam Raimi's dry sense of humour, the lift scene in Spider-Man 2 gets perhaps the biggest laugh of the movie, as a web-less wallcrawler is forced to share a lift with a member of the public. "Cool Spidey outfit, where'd you get it?" says the citizen, before enquiring on its comfort. "Yeah, it's kind of itchy," Spidey replies in a moment of candour. "Rides up in the crotch a little bit, too." Well, at least now you know.

18. The birth of Venom (Spider-Man 3)

Driven to despair by the depths the alien symbiote has plunged him into, Spider-Man finally manages to part with the black suit by clanging the church bells and causing it to flee. Meanwhile, down below, a distraught, jobless, hopeless Eddie Brock prays to God for just one thing: "Please kill Peter Parker!" The symbiote catches Brock at his darkest moment and, latching on to his physical form, creates one of Spidey's most vicious foes. Venom gets shortchanged on the whole, but at least he gets his money shot in first.

17. Green Goblin vs Aunt May (Spider-Man)

One accusation levelled at Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin was that, with his plastic action figure helmet and all, he just wasn't scary enough. Tell that to Aunt May, who had the entire wall of her bedroom ripped off by a cackling masked madman while she was praying to a God that had no intention of answering. "D-d-deliver us..." whimpers May. "FINISH IT!" yells Gobby. "From... EVILLL!" she cries, staring into the laughing yellow eyes of the devil. You tell us that's not completely bloody terrifying.

16. The Twin Towers trailer (Spider-Man)

It's cheating really, as the scene never appeared in any cuts of the movie, but the first teaser for Spider-Man, released in 2001, showed criminals fleeing via helicopter from a bank heist, only to find themselves trapped in a giant web spun between the Twin Towers. Naturally, the events of 9/11 forced Raimi to remove the scene, but it remains on YouTube as a clever example of Spider-Man's symbiotic relationship with the city of New York.

15. Flaming car sequence (The Amazing Spider-Man)

Curiously, this action set-piece takes place around halfway through the movie but is probably the high point of The Amazing Spider-Man in terms of excitement. As The Lizard tosses cars off a bridge with wreckless abandon, Spidey can only hang them from webs like wet laundry out a window. When one of the cars catches fire – and worse, there's still a kid inside – we see the human side of our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man; comforting the distraught kiddywink in the flaming vehicle by removing his mask and telling him "Look... I'm just a guy!" before rescuing him with seconds to spare. Phew.

14. Crane accident (Spider-Man 3)

There's little at stake in this Spider-Man 3 set-piece, but it's certainly indicative of the kind of budget Sam Raimi had to play with – lesser movies would save spectacular sequences like this for the final reel. As an out-of-control crane swings a giant girder into a skyscraper, decimating two whole floors, Spidey is on hand to rescue damsel in distress Gwen Stacy via some vertical heroics. At this point, Spider-Man is barely breaking a sweat, but the sheer scale of the scene takes some beating.

13. The death of Otto Octavius (Spider-Man 2)

As his cold fusion reactor threatens to engulf the city, the scientist formerly known as Otto Octavius finally understands the chaos he's caused and lays his life on the line to put things right. Training his mechanical tentacles on the machine's giant metal struts, Doc Ock's last act is one of martyrdom, pulling the reactor into the water, exclaiming "I will not die a monster!" With the doomsday machine extinguished, the last glimpse we see of Octavius is a silent, ghostly shot of his lifeless body underwater, with redemption perhaps waiting in the afterlife. Although if you believe the Daily Bugle, he's not quite dead...

12. Harry unmasks Spider-Man (Spider-Man 2)

Credit to James Franco: he had to wait for two whole movies for his proper dramatic pay-off – the moment he pulls off a prone Spider-Man's mask to find the face of his best friend, Peter Parker, staring back at him. Knife in hand and ready for vengeance, Harry Osborn is physically taken aback at the revelation and Franco plays it perfectly, conveying a mixture of emotions – anger, confusion, betrayal – and setting up his eventual transformation into his father's son: Green Goblin Jr.

11. Death of Green Goblin (Spider-Man)

Spidey doesn't kill bad guys – bad guys kill bad guys. So it is in the finale of Spider-Man, as Green Goblin dies at the razor-sharp tip of his own pointy glider, our web-slinger athletically jumping out of the way at the last moment. The death isn't particularly gruesome or loaded with deeper meaning, but Osborn's touching last words reveal there was still a man behind the monster: "Don't tell Harry." Those three little words echo throughout the entire trilogy.

10. Meet J. Jonah Jameson (Spider-Man)

Perhaps the character who retains the most of his comic-book sensibilities, Daily Bugle editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson is pure motor-mouthed comic-relief – a hate-slinging hack who loathes Spider-Man almost as much as he loves himself. The first time we meet him, Jameson is dismissing Peter Parker's stellar photos of Spidey as "crap... crap... mega-crap" before paying him a paltry sum and promising to tip him well: "Meat. I'll buy you a nice box of Christmas meat." To be honest, we could have filled this entire list with J. Jonah Jameson quotes if we wanted.

9. Stan Lee's best cameo (The Amazing Spider-Man)

Comic-book legend Stan Lee shows his face in almost every Marvel movie, but his cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man is his best yet. As Spider-Man and The Lizard demolish the school library in the background, an oblivious Lee stands in the foreground with huge headphones on, listening to music and completely unaware of the giant mutant reptile fighting the costumed man-spider just a few feet away. One of many neat comic touches in Marc Webb's movie, it's a welcome laugh during some heightened tension.

8. "Go get 'em, tiger!" (Spider-Man 2)

Ah, sweet Mary Jane – the cause of, and solution to all of Spider-Man's problems. Peter's relationship with MJ finally comes to a head at the end of Spider-Man 2, when the ginger minx discovers Spidey's true identity is the man she always knew she loved. Fully aware that going steady with Peter will put her in harm's way, MJ turns the tables: "Isn't it about time someone saved your life?" (We prefer this declaration to the slightly stalkerish: "I've always been standing in your doorway"). Inevitably, Spidey is called into action, but MJ gives him her blessing with a note-perfect "Go get 'em tiger!" and a bittersweet stare out of his window. Just perfect.

7. A real swinger (Spider-Man)

Capturing the sheer vertiginous nature of Spider-Man was crucial to making the character work on film, but Raimi – and his effects team – were more than up to the task of making Spidey swing like a winner. The movie's heart-stopping final shot sees ol' webhead flinging himself around New York like a champ, swooping through the city streets like a bird who's just taught himself how to fly. He ends up perched on a flagpole, with the Stars and Stripes billowing behind him: fitting, as American cinema had just found a new hero.

6.
Bruce Campbell's collective snootiness (Spider-Man I-III)

Again, another cheat as we've amassed three scenes in one entry, but who among you could choose from Bruce Campbell's three superb cameos? Whether he's a snooty wrestling announcer (who calls The Human Spider by the wrong name), a snooty usher (who denies Peter Parker access to MJ's play) or a snooty restaurant captain (who frequently fumbles Parker's engagement announcement), Bruce Campbell is the perennial thorn in Spider-Man's side – perhaps more so than any supervillain.

5. Octopus comes alive (Spider-Man 2)

With the Spider-Man movies being relatively bright and breezy, it was easy to forget that director Sam Raimi got his start in horror – or at least, it would have been until Doctor Octopus unleashed hell from his hospital bed. As Otto Octavius lays face down and unconscious, the robotic tentacles fused to his spine become malicious and systematically take down every last doctor in the room in a vicious manner befitting very few family-friendly films. Among the screams and the madness, you'll catch a glimpse of a few nods towards The Evil Dead, most notably the 'tentacle cam' racing across the floor towards its victim.

4. Enter Sandman (Spider-Man 3)

Never before has one scene so effectively summed up a villain's raison d'etre – the birth of the Sandman is so stunningly animated it makes the character's subsequent narrative journey pale in comparison. Escaped convict Flint Marko picked the wrong hole to fall into and finds himself de-atomised by a particle accelerator, only to be reborn as a human sandcastle. The heartbreaking shot of Sandman trying and failing to pick up his sick daughter's locket is just about reason enough to include the character in the film – he can't add a whole lot more that compares to this fantastic formative scene.

3. The Death of Uncle Ben (Spider-Man)

Nothing less than the emotional core of the character and subsequently the entire Spider-Man trilogy. Mere minutes before, Peter's Uncle Ben utters the words that would go on to define a hero: "With great power comes great responsibility." Tragically, a carjacker puts a bullet in him, leaving Peter to pick up the shattered pieces of his life. Cliff Robertson gives good dead – there's no time for further moralising, just some gasping for air and a desperate call to his beloved nephew to be with him as he passes. Truly heartbreaking and the crux for everything that Spider-Man represents.

2. Upside-down kiss (Spider-Man)

Every superhero needs an iconic scene – Spider-Man's just happened to be a bit sexier than most. It should have been cheesy as hell: having just saved MJ's life, an upside-down Spider-Man spins down to check up on her, only to have the bottom half of his mask removed and his face snogged off for his troubles. It's a shot that caters for both sexes and probably went a long way to selling Spider-Man to audiences other than teenage boys i.e. girls who wanted a bit of storybook romance in their lives. The fact that the scene took place in the rain and Kirsten Dunst was wearing a flimsy vest is neither here nor there.

1. The train sequence (Spider-Man 2)

The train sequence is everything action cinema should be: fast, fluid, thrilling, inventive and pulsing with a very real sense of danger. Spider-Man and Doc Ock find themselves fighting above, beneath, in and on an overground New York subway train in an extended set-piece that whitens the knuckles. The cherry on top is Spidey's ultimate sacrifice: his identity. As Ock puts the passengers in harm's way by knocking out the brakes, Spider-Man is forced to web up and slow the speeding train to a halt, almost killing himself in the process. Drained but still alive, the grateful commuters carry Spidey's unmasked body aloft, before placing him down and remarking: "He's... just a kid!" He sure is, New Yorkers – and that's the essence of Spider-Man distilled in one remarkable, unforgettable scene.

Source : ign[dot]com

The A-Z of The Dark Knight Saga

Spider-man? Nearly. X-Men? Nope. Superman? Fail. No superhero series has ever delivered the perfect movie trilogy – the third movie often proving the fatal stumbling block. Still, you’d fancy Christopher Nolan’s chances of delivering his Bat-finale with the sort of epic, IMAX-sized storytelling and action that made The Dark Knight, Inception and Memento into essential cinematic experiences. In anticipation of The Dark Knight Rises July 20 release, here’s our A-Z of Nolan’s Bat-verse…

A is for Applied Sciences

The Siberia of Wayne Enterprises: it’s where good gadgets go to die. The ideal place then for nocturnal spelunking base-jumping enthusiasts to cherry-pick rejected military grade tech such as the Tumbler, The Batpod and a certain Bat-like flying contraption. And as a bonus, it all comes in black. Having said that, given that Coleman Reece rumbled Bruce through trawling the archives, and modded Tumblers have been spotted in Bane’s arsenal, maybe the AS Division's next project should focus on internal security.

B is for Bane

“Let the games begin.” From the pits of hell, this scarred scourge has come to finish what the League Of Shadows started, and turn Gotham and its delusions of civilization into an expensive landfill. Team Nolan have refined Bane from his gimmicky comic book origins – a drug-fuelled monster of brains and brawn specifically dreamt up (a la Doomsday) to break the Bat – to a credible cinematic nemesis: a ruthless general, a relentless warrior. Although surely that mask – feeding him life-saving (and battle-enhancing) painkillers rather than Venom – couldn’t prove to be a fatal flaw?

C is for Commissioner Jim Gordon

“Commmm-ishion-errrr” Gordon is the lone good cop on an utterly-corrupt force who became a 'wartime' hero, and now finds himself about to be cut adrift in the Harvey Dent-inspired peacetime. The role of the world-weary Gordon also marked a sea change for Gary Oldman, who’d started to OD on OTT villain roles – although Gordon’s gleeful delight about piloting the Tumbler looks about as genuine as can be.

D is for Rachel Dawes

Or, to give Dawes her full and correct name, RAAAAACHEEEELLLL! Bruce Wayne’s sole friend and soul mate also turns out to be catnip to a series of doomed DAs, before undergoing an unexpected cremation care of Joker’s cruel ol’ switcheroo trick. Maggie Gyllenhaal was gifted the role in the sequel when Katie Holmes declined to reprise it in favour of starring opposite Queen Latifah in crime-caper Mad Money. Which kind of writes its own punchline.

E is for Escalation

Batman: cure or curse? One of Team Nolan’s deftest touches is to ask pertinent questions about the wisdom in having a semi-licensed vigilante in Gotham’s battle against the mob – especially when he seems to bring all the crazies out to play while justifying every angry jackass with a sporting goods discount card who wants to get padded up and get some time on that particular pitch themselves.

F is for Fox, Lucius

He’s risen from his basement exile to the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, but the cunning silver Fox still keeps a special side-interest in the Applied Sciences division. Morgan Freeman dishes up the tech porn with a mischievous twinkle in his eyebrows, but Fox is also a vital point on Bruce’s moral compass, throwing his expensive toys out of the pram when he feels his boss has tripped over the ethical line. Well, if you’ve got sage advice to offer, Morgan Freeman’s got the voice to deliver it.

G is for Gotham

Having stepped back from the brink of social collapse, the world’s greatest city – with London, Chicago, LA, and a huge Shepperton set doing sterling double-duty – is once again a thriving, bustling centre of civilization… for those on the right side of the economic divide anyway. The Bat reboot has created a real sense of Gotham’s geography – especially if you got sucked into The Dark Knight’s innovative virals – tracing routes from the Narrows to the waterfront, and from Arkham to Wayne Tower. Expect to see property prices crash come July 20. Actually, just expect properties to crash.

H is for Harvey Dent

“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” In the end, the internal affairs agent turned dashing DA turned semi-charbroiled murderer didn’t get much say in the matter. With Batsy and Gordon covering up Dent’s coin-flipping murder boner, the tragic Two-Face has been cast as Gotham’s White Knight – a Kennedy-esque inspiration for Gotham’s citizen’s to sweep away the last of the mob and usher in the good times. Gotham City believes in Harvey Dent. For now.

I is for IMAX

Treating the rule book like Bane treats spinal columns, Nolan was the first feature director to shoot action sequences in proper IMAX – including TDK’s bank heist opening and truck-flipping pursuit – with Rises now expected to have over an hour of 15/70 footage. After The Dark Knight’s success, studio heads stopped treating IMAX as a naff gimmick and proceeded to leap aboard the bandwagon like it contained free Facebook shares. Yeah, of course Wrath Of The Titans needed to be seen in IMAX…

J is for Joker

Having teased us at the end of Begins, Team Nolan delivered the goods for The Dark Knight – conjuring up a shifting, complex take on the gasoline-fuelled fiend, with the match being struck by the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance. Inspired by the psychologically-slippery tracks laid down in Arkham Asylum and The Killing Joke – with a dash of Clockwork Orange punk thrown in for good measure – they created the perfect psychopathic foil to the ‘incorruptible’ Bat.

K is for Kyle, Selina

The purrfect princess of petty pilfering, Kyle is the feline femme fatale for whom robbing the rich is merely righteous repossession, while ethics is where David Beckham comes from. Nolan, Goyer and actress Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is a tough-headed, tough-kicking survivor – especially with her blade-heeled boots – whose allegiances are as slippery as her outfit. But will the pretty kitty grow a conscience before her claws are clipped?

L is for League of Shadows

“We restore the balance,” insists the LOS’s chief recruiting officer and *ahem* dual-passport holder Henri Ducard, whose brutal-if-theatrical methods of combat spark a few ideas in unsuitable applicant Bruce Wayne. Dating back thousands of years, the LOS have been there to help yank the chain whenever a civilisation required a courtesy flush – Rome, medieval London and now, finally, Gotham. We respectfully suggest Mr Ra’s Al Ghul points his ’tashe in the direction of Jersey Shore.

M is for Masks

“Your real face is the one that criminals now fear,” Rachel explains to Bruce at the end of Begins, as he faces up to a lifetime of having to pretend to be a feckless billionaire (oh, the misery…). Masks and appearances have been central to Nolan’s Batman: Bruce, Scarecrow and Bane all need them for practical reasons; Two-Face’s twisted psyche is scarred into his face for all to see while the mysteriously scarred Joker wears a clown mask only to reveal that underneath lies… another clown mask. Freud would have a field day, once he’d finished with the latent daddy issues.

N is for Nolans, The

Epic emotional drama? Complex narrative trickery? A knack for an astonishing visual? The ambition to pull it all off? As Memento, The Prestige and Inception demonstrate, the Bat-flicks aren’t flukes. Even if the Dark Knight Rises is half as good as its predecessor, Chris and his writer-brother Jonathan – together with indispensable co-screenwriter David Goyer - will have pulled off a unique cinematic first: the great superhero trilogy. It’s no coincidence that the triple-headed Bat-beast is overseeing The Man Of Steel reboot.

O is for Occupy Wall Street

Of all the people making a stand at Wall Street late last year, perhaps Batman and the Gotham Police Department were the strangest: Nolan shot the climactic dust up between Bane’s army and the countering cops – featuring over 1,000 extras – on the steps of the world’s financial centre. The coincidental timing couldn’t have been more ironic given that economic injustice is one of Rises’ underlying themes – with the 99% coming for their due.

P is for Pennyworth, Alfred

A cockney butler? That’s just not good form, old chap. But if Lucius is Bruce’s brain and Rachel his conscience, then Alfred is his heart. As played by Chris Nolan’s good-luck charm Michael Caine, he’s the ex-soldier who understands what it means to make tough decisions – fresh from burning down Burmese forests hunting for a thief – but knows his ward even better: his secret burning of Rachel’s Dear John being the only tender salve for a heartbroken Bruce.

Q is for Q&A

“You... complete me.” The Dark Knight’s real centerpiece is the interrogation room, with the two opposing ideologies finally colliding in a dramatic face-off to rival Heat – a masterpiece of boiling tension and dramatic switches as Batman and the newly promoted Gordon soon discover that Joker holds all the aces, despite his captivity. As they lose control of the situation, the Commissioner’s faith in his vigilante buddy comes crashing down around him, alongside his one-sided mirror.

R is for Ra’s al Ghul

This false father figure offers Bruce an alternative path, one that offers brutal justice of a more homicidal sort. The Demon’s Head’s mass-murderous musings look to have had more of an impact on one of his other errant apprentices: Bane. But is Ra's al Ghul really immortal? Rumours of the Lazarus Pit making an appearance in some form – and the return of Liam Neeson – have been circling ever since Rises began production. Birth of the Demon anyone?

S is for Scarecrow

There’s nothing to fear but fear himself. With Bruce's personal terrors – and plans to creating some pant-streaking new ones for his enemies – at the heart of Begins, it made perfect sense for Nolan and Goyer to book an appointment with Dr Crane; the maggot-masked physician’s hallucinogens providing Begins with its most unsettling moments. Cillian Murphy’s brief cameo in The Dark Knight further helped give Gotham the feel of a cohesive universe; could he be making more unprofessional diagnosis in Rises?

T is for Tumbler

“It’s a black… tank.” Avoiding the subtle flashing neon-wang designs favoured by Burton and Schumacher, the mainstay motor of the Nolan Bat-flicks reflects the practical nature of rebooted Dark Knight: a rejected military bridging vehicle able to perform ramp-free jumps. Petrol-heads will be delighted to know that working models of the vehicle were created, capable of reaching 0-60 in 5.6 seconds – that is if you’ve got a spare $250,000. “I’ve got to get me one of those,” Gordon marvels. Not on those wages, mate.

U is for Underground

Effectively born in the bat-filled caves and secret caverns under Wayne Manor, Batman makes them his home, overseeing some rather specific interior decoration in the rebuilt Wayne Manor. Rises however sees him meet his equal in underground décor: Bane is using the Gotham tunnel networks as a discreet base from which to transport his terror, before rising to introduce himself to his new neighbours in truly explosive fashion. A bottle of wine would have been fine.

V is for Voice

One of the most divisive aspects of the Nolan reboot is Christian Bale’s Bat-rasp – a throat-shredding 120-a-day growl that screamed ‘virus’ but went viral instead. To compound the vocal vagueness, cinemagoers watching the first Rises trailer came out complaining that Tom Hardy’s sub-Caribbean bur – or blur? – was inaudible thanks to Bane’s mask. We’re eagerly awaiting the pair’s on-screen dialogue. Maybe it’ll be subtitled.

W is for Wayne, Bruce

Team Nolan’s masterstroke has been to put the focus heavily on Wayne rather than his pointy eared, sore-throated alter ego: Christian Bale is credited as playing only Bruce Wayne – the Batman is merely an extension of the billionaire philanthropist’s battle against injustice. The role finally put Christian Bale on the A-list, after years of poking around the lower reaches of the alphabet, and gave him the perfect outlet for his complex, angst-filled charisma and occasional OTT tendencies. And if Nolan really wanted to get him riled up for a scene, he could just have someone walk through his eyeline.

X is for X-Rated

The only guarantee in Hollywood is that with great success comes a not-so-great porno parody. Axel Braun’s ‘mega-budget’ parodies are one of the few ways that old-guard grot-flicks can distinguish themselves from their amateur on-line cousins (which none of us writing or reading this have ever seen, obviously). His Dark Knight XXX – following on from the cunningly titled Avengers XXX – not only features Bane, Joker and Catwoman, but chucks in John Constantine and Zatanna for good measure. Actually, that Bat costume’s pretty good.

Y is for Year One

Following the neon-nippled nightmare that was Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin, Warner Bros spent five years trying to get the franchise back off the ground before hiring Chris Nolan and David Goyer in 2003. Other proposals included a straight fifth sequel revolving around the Scarecrow and Man-Bat, a live-action Batman Beyond and a Batman Vs Superman flick to relaunch both. The most interesting possibility though was Requiem For A Dream’s Darren Aronofsky directing a doubtlessly intense and blood-splattered adaptation of Batman: Year One starring… Christian Bale.

Z is for Zimmer, Hans

The German synth maestro – along side composer James Newton Howard – created a masterpiece in restrained heroics to perfectly match the subdued complexity of Nolan’s hero, later creating a jarringly atonal suite for the Joker by scraping a razorblade along the instruments’ strings to conjure those unsettling sounds. It’s up there with his other personal highlights, the theme tune for Going For Gold.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Avengers: Battle For Earth first impressions

2012 definitely stands as the year of Marvel’s The Avengers, what with Joss Whedon’s big-screen take on the superhero squad cleaning up at the box office with $1.4 billion in ticket sales.  And with the home release already dated for September 25, the fun looks to continue on for months to come.  With that, Ubisoft has finally stepped forward with an Avengers licensed video game, Battle For Earth, which will be knocking heads later this year for Xbox 360 Kinect and Wii U.  The company recently invited us to a behind-closed-doors demo to see how it works.

The concept is pretty similar to Power-Up Heroes, Ubi’s previously released superhero endeavor, but obviously tailor made with the Avengers in mind.  Instead of tying in with events from the film, you’ll be following chapters from the Secret Invasion saga, which means you’ll not only be tangling with the Skrulls, but also super villains like Loki and Magneto.  For that matter, additional characters will be included with the original Avengers team, such as Spider-Man and Wolverine.  (Over 20 will be in the game in all.)

The game works like a one-on-one battle game, where you fight against a specific opponent until one of you falls.  Think of it like a fighting game, but set up with an over-the-shoulder view – and with motion controls.  With your chosen character, you’ll execute attacks by swinging your arms and feet around in the desired motion.

Movement of your character is handled simply by swaying left and right, or pushing forward if you feel like going in for an attack.  You can swing your fists for basic attacks and also initiate an air launch move, leaving them vulnerable for a strike.  But it’s when you introduce special moves into the fray that things really get interesting with Battle For Earth.

Here, you can raise your arm in the air using Thor to initiate a lightning charge, then point at your opponent to hit them with the required voltage.  Or you can play as Hulk, slapping your hands together for a Thunder Clap and watching the sonic waves knock them around like crazy.  (A ground smash is available as well, so don’t be concerned.)  Ubisoft is fine-tuning each character so that their attacks feel natural to the player executing them, and so far, those controls look quite responsive, though there are times small executions aren’t properly received.  It’s still in the works though.

On top of a single player campaign, Battle For Earth will also support two-player co-op, so you can battle with a friend in split-screen fashion, swinging away and using special techniques.  The game will also be online compatible through Xbox Live, so you can battle others.

We noted that Battle For Earth was also headed for Wii U, and while Ubisoft didn’t specifically elaborate on the features for that version, it’s bound to use the touch-screen to some effect, and possibly even the device’s gyrosensors.  Once we know more, we’ll let you know what unfolds…

For now, you can rest easy with The Avengers: Battle For Earth.  This isn’t just some rushed Kinect effort that’s taking advantage of the super-hot film franchise, but rather a fighting game that lets you acts out your ultimate superhero desires with 20+ various characters.  Who doesn’t want to perform a shield throw with Captain America or a plasma blast with Iron Man?  We’re game for that.

Look for later this year.

Source : gamezone[dot]com

Young Justice: "Bloodlines" Review

Full superhero sidekick spoilers follow.

It's good news/bad news with the latest Young Justice episode, "Bloodlines." The good news: Impulse has joined the show. The bad news: Impulse has joined the show.

It's an ongoing issue with Young Justice and one that clearly isn't going away. The show's creators insist on continuously adding new characters to the roster, which inevitably means that main players get short shrift (cough, Wally, Artemis, cough) that the newly inducted players are never fleshed out (hack, Rocket, Zatanna, hack).

Having said that, it is undeniably fun to see a character like Impulse in animated form. And the writers and producers more often than not handle these new faces with humor, faithfulness to their comics inspiration (even when reinterpreting them to fit into the YJ timeline, as with Impulse/Bart), and a general kick-ass-ness.

Anyway, "Bloodlines" is a fun Flash Family adventure, and how can it not be when it features not just Impulse -- arriving from the future allegedly to visit his eventual-granddad Barry Allen -- but also Barry himself, Wally's return to the Kid-Flash costume Jay Garrick -- who must be pushing 90 here -- donning the old metal skullcap again, all in a bid to save good old Central City!

Aside from the banter and geek thrills that come from a Flash grouping like this, there are several other nicely handled bits. Among them: Barry's slow-motion (from our perspective) quasi-POV, complete with heartbeat thumping, as he chugs along at "near lightspeed" to stop Neutron; Wally's inability to keep up with Barry and Impulse, including his admission that he can only make out "every fifth word" of their super-fast conversation; and Flash's costume ring, complete with a kinda-musical-callout to the live-action 1990s TV show.

Of course, this is all in service of an ever-deepening puzzle surrounding the Season 2 "Invasion," which it now seems clear is going to take some time to actually get to the real invadin'. Metagene experimentation is taking place, we learn here, supporting several of you alert readers out there who speculated last week that Tye Longshadow and the rest of those kidnapped kids were actually going to be modified to become super-beings. But still, it's all with the mystery and shadowy figures when it comes to who is masterminding this plot. We viewers continue to know more than our heroes, but still not much at all. Ho-hum.

Elsewhere, Red Arrow has cleaned up his act -- being a husband and father will do that to you -- and, together with his nuclear family, actually tracks down the original Roy. Though this is the B storyline of this episode, it definitely has some well-played moments, as when Cheshire tells her husband, "I need you be real. Our daughter needs you to be real." Damn straight! I also love how Cheshire brings their baby with them on a covert op -- and still manages to outfight the bad guys with the kid in a Bjorn the whole time. Mainly, though, it's great that the real Roy has finally been found so that this storyline can move forward now. But wait… that means another new character on the team, doesn't it?

The episode finale is pretty creepy too, as we realize that Impulse actually knew he was on a one-way trip to the past, all in an attempt to save the devastated future world he's from. Perhaps his glib attitude is more of a front than it at first seems. And seeing Neutron in that future, actually working with Impulse to alter the past, is also a nice touch -- though I'm not sure I get why he would remember that Impulse had to alter the past once the past was altered so that, from his perspective, said past never happened in the way that would've Impulse to alter it in the first place. Time travel!

Some notes: Can anyone explain to me what "crash the mode" means? "Such a Dick Grayson thing to do." Very cool how Neutron kind of pulls a Doctor Manhattan when he reconstitutes his body (and who said Watchmen wouldn't show up in this show?). "Your name's Tim? And yours is… Dick?!" Comic-Con is full of people from the future. It all makes sense now!

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/04/young-justice-bloodlines-review

Iron Man 3: The Extremis Guide

The Avengers may have just opened in theaters, but already superhero fans are looking towards the next wave of Marvel Studios films. That new wave kicks off next summer with Iron Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. and the gang will return once more to save the world and deliver some snark.







What makes this latest sequel interesting is that, more so than the previous Marvel Studios films, Iron Man 3 looks to be drawing inspiration directly from the comics. Recent reports suggest that the film will be based on Iron Man: Extremis by writer Warren Ellis and artist Adi Granov.

But just what is Extremis, and how does it fit into the world we've seen develop over the course of three movies so far? That's what we explore in this guide as we hypothesize what direction the story will take in Iron Man 3.

The Story

Extremis debuted in 2005, shortly after the various Avengers titles were relaunched in the wake of the Avengers Disassembled storyline. As the tale opens, Tony Stark is dealing with the collapse of the Avengers and the end of his short-lived stint as Secretary of Defense. The day-to-day pressures of running his company are conflicting with his desire to hide from the world and tinker with the Iron Man armor.

Tony has an unexpected reunion with an old colleague named Maya Hansen. Hansen is a scientist responsible for the creation of the Extremis process, essentially a computerized version of the super-soldier serum that created captain America. When Extremis is stolen by a terrorist group, Hansen calls in Iron Man to help stop a new super-powered foe from unleashing the power of Extremis on Washington D.C.

The core struggle Tony faces in Extremis is the need to evolve. His past as a weapons manufacturer still haunts him. He questions whether the Iron Man armor has actually helped the world or just brought more death and destruction. And when faced with the perfect fusion of biology and technology in the form of his new foe, Mallen, Tony comes to the realization that Iron Man is behind the curve. So what comes next?

The Characters

Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man (it may also be his final performance depending how contract re-negotiations with Marvel Studios go). Despite recent victories over Iron Monger, Whiplash, and Loki, Tony still faces newer and greater threats and will need an even more advanced version of the Iron Man armor to keep up.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle will also reprise their roles as Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, respectively. What role these two will play is unclear given that neither character appears in the original Extremis storyline. However, it's a safe bet that Rhodey will suit up as War Machine again, which may invite more conflict between Stark Enterprises and the military. Meanwhile, we're crossing our fingers that Pepper will be given her own suit of armor and that Rescue can make her live-action debut.

Jessica Chastain was slated to co-star in a role believed to be Maya Hansen, the co-creator of Extremis. Hansen is both Tony's intellectual rival and a potential love interest. However, as an alcoholic and a person who places her work over her morality, Hansen also represents what Tony could become without a conscience. Though Chastain has now dropped out, Diane Kruger, Gemma Arterton, and Isla Fischer were all rumored to be in the running as well and may once again be contenders.

The character Sal Kennedy serves as a mentor figure to both Tony and Maya in the comic. Sal is a futurist who pushes both characters to move their industries forward. He's also a bit of a hippie and a recreational drug enthusiast who spends his free time sampling various mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs. The character would be perfect for Jeff Bridges if Bridges hadn't already played Obadiah Stane in the first film. So far there's no word if Sal will actually appear in Iron Man 3.

 

Guy Pearce has been cast as Aldrich Killian, Maya's colleague and co-creator of the Extremis process. Killian commits suicide early in the first issue of Extremis, but we have to assume that Marvel Studios wouldn't hire Pearce if the character was going to bow out of the film so quickly. One possibility is that Killian will be combined with the Mallen character and that he will be the first Extremis-enhanced villain Iron Man is forced to battle.

Finally, Ben Kingsley has been cast as a mystery villain, while Andy Lau will reportedly play an unknown character. And despite early reports to the contrary, Scarlett Johansson will not reprise her role as Black Widow here.

The New Armor

 

The most significant outcome of Extremis was a new suit of armor and a new slate of abilities for Tony. Initially, he proved no match for Mallen's Extremis powers because his armor was too clunky and slow. Now matter how advanced the weaponry in his armor, Tony couldn't move at the speed of thought like Mallen did.

That all changes when Tony injects himself with the Extremis process. It rebuilds his body from the ground up to the point where Tony can now directly interface with computer systems and satellites. The crucial circuitry for the Iron Man armor is now stored inside the hollows of his bones. Like Darth Vader, Tony is now more machine than man, except he actually gets to keep his good looks.







With the new powers comes a new suit of armor. The "Extremis Armor" is a streamlined version of his previous suit. It features a smoother, more organic look and can now move and operate as fast as Tony can think.

We expect to see a similar sort of transformation for Tony in the film along with a new, streamlined Iron Man armor. Interestingly, Adi Granov illustrated the Extremis storyline and worked on the armor designs for the previous Iron Man movies, so the look of Iron Man is already heavily inspired by his art. Will the movie version of the Extremis armor still resemble Granov's art? Or will it take cues from the current "Bleeding Edge" armor in the comics, which is constructed of liquid metal and stored entirely inside Tony's body? That could be a cool sight to witness on the big screen.

The Mandarin?

 

If Iron Man has a primary nemesis in the same way that the X-Men have Magneto and Superman has Lex Luthor, it would probably be the Mandarin. This villain, besides being a formidable martial artist and warrior, gains power trough the ten rings he harvested from an alien spacecraft. Mandarin's rings lend credence to the old saying "any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic." His rivalry with Iron Man is one of science vs. mysticism and West vs. East.

Fans have been waiting for a Mandarin appearance for years now, and we suspect that their wish may finally come true in Iron Man 3. For one thing, the previous two movies have been teasing his eventual rise. The terrorist group that kidnapped Tony was called The Ten Rings, and their leader Raza can be seen handling his master's Flame Blast ring. The Ten Rings appeared again in Iron Man 2, providing Whiplash with information and helping Justin Hammer break the villain out of prison.

 

There's also the fact that the new sequel is being partly filmed and produced in China. Coincidence? We know that Ben Kingsley has been cast as a villain in the film. And despite reports that he isn't playing the Mandarin, we're still not convinced. Kingsley's character apparently weaves a plot that "revolves around the spread of a virus through nanobots." That sounds like Extremis to us, and using Extremis as a terrorist weapon is something Mandarin has done in the past.

Expanding Extremis

 

Even if Iron Man 3 does end up borrowing heavily from the Extremis storyline, significant additions and changes will have to be made along the way. Though the comic is presented in very cinematic fashion, it simply isn't long enough to form the basis of a two-hour movie. The problem is even more pronounced because one issue focuses largely on providing a modernized take on Iron man's origins, something viewers already saw in the original film.

Perhaps the most sensible idea is to use Extremis as a foundation for the first act of the movie. After gaining his Extremis powers and defeating Mallen (or his equivalent), Tony should go on to face a larger threat. The movie could easily work as an adaptation of two comic storylines. The Iron Man series was temporarily relaunched as Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. During this time, the overarching conflict involved The Mandarin returning from exile, disguising himself as a scientist named Tem Borjigin and working on a plot to unleash Extremis as a worldwide pandemic. He knew that Extremis would be lethal to 97.5% of the world's population, but that the survivors would emerge as a new, highly advanced race.

 

That sounds like the sort of conflict that could carry the remaining two acts of the film, whereas a one-on-one battle between Iron Man and Mallen would seem dull in comparison to the previous final showdowns. It fits with director Shane Black's desire to craft a movie that is as much a techno thriller as it is a superhero adventure. A more global conflict also allows characters like Rhodey and Pepper to do more, whereas the original Extremis storyline leaves no place for anyone outside of the limited main cast. And the conflict still works even if it turns out that Kingsley won't be portraying Mandarin.

In a more general sense, we'd like to see the sequel explore how the creation of the Iron Man armor has affected the modern battlefield. Tony may have built the suit in order to end war, but the longer it exists, the more opportunities there are for less philanthropic men to abuse the technology. This has been a focus of many Iron Man stories over the years. We're picturing stories like Matt Fraction's "The Five Nightmares of Tony Stark," where 21st Century suicide bombers use arc reactors instead of dynamite to cause death and destruction. Or maybe "Armor Wars," where Tony embarked on an unsanctioned, one-man war against all the foreign powers who sought to corrupt his invention.

Extremis is a good foundation, but there's plenty more potential in the Iron Man universe.


Source : http://movies.ign.com

Young Justice: "Earthlings" Review

Full superhero sidekick spoilers follow.

O.K. then, everyone who was worried that all the questions raised by last week's five-year time jump would go unanswered can rest easy. For the most part. If "Earthlings," this week's episode of Young Justice, is any indication, the show hasn't completely abandoned these matters.

With the bigger plot business of this season set up last week -- the whole Justice League as galactic outlaws and alien invasion is imminent thing -- we can pause to catch our breath, if only slightly, with a fleshing out of what exactly went wrong between Miss Martian and Superboy during the previous five years.

- Warner Bros./Cartoon Network

The answer: Well, technically we still don't know! But Conner does fill Adam Strange's girlfriend Alanna in -- and by extension, us -- with some vague details. It seems that Superboy was designed to not physically age past his current appearance, and as Alanna notes, a shapeshifter could be the perfect partner for such a person. But Megan apparently left Conner "no choice" but to break up with her at some point… Is it because she likes to mind-wipe folks nowadays, as she did to that poor Krolotean sucker at the end of "Earthlings"? Alien drool for the win… I guess.

Meanwhile, it's pretty cool seeing
Adam Strange come into his own as a superhero type this episode. When we met him last week, he was just a lab coat, but give a guy a jetpack and a sweet wardrobe and it'll do wonders. I'm no Adam Strange expert, but I liked what I saw here, including a typical Young Justice redesign of his costume. It actually makes sense that the guy would wear such a thing.

- Warner Bros./Cartoon Network

And then there's
Beast Boy, a fan favorite character of course who I really took to this week. Not only is he kinda funny, but it turns out he can really kick some ass when need be. The climactic action scene when he (in gorilla form) and Superboy (in Superboy form) were tearing that alien ship apart from the inside was pretty great. Also, we got a better sense of his origin and connection to the team this time out as a quick psionic flashback revealed that his mom (last seen in "Image") is no longer with us, the result of some nasty business orchestrated by Queen Bee. But before that happened, Megan was adopted into their family (either legally or in spirit; in either case, Garfield calls her "sis" and the two have obviously forged a strong bond in the intervening years since they first met).

(Though by the way, is that a violation of Garfield's privacy when she probes his mind to see what's upsetting him at the lake? Just saying…)

Ultimately, it's a relief that we got semblance of character and back story in this episode, but it all still feels outweighed by the heavy action and plotting. And we're left with a few of question marks as well -- what did Megan do to that Krolotean, and has this become a common trick for her these days? Is her darker White Martian side coming out? And what did she learn this week about the Justice League's missing 16 hours?

- Warner Bros./Cartoon Network

Some notes: Does the team's setting out to bomb the Krolotean facility's Zeta tubes equate with the planned murder of said Kroloteans? That's what bombs do, right? Kill people? Looks like Beast Boy has picked up where Wally left off, and is now in charge of collecting the team's souvenirs. Makes sense. And speaking of which, no sign (or mention) of Kid Flash, Aqualad, Roy or Artemis again. Give it time, I think. Oh, and are we getting a Bat Family episode next week?!


Source : http://tv.ign.com/articles/122/1224447p1.html

Super Lame: How to Fix Superhero Games Ads By Google » Blog Tags Today's Most Popular Videos »

Why is it so hard to find good superhero games? Why is it that for every bright spot like 2003’s Hulk or the more recent Batman outings, we get about seven mediocre movie tie-ins and a few truly abysmal titles, like the infamous Superman 64 and that atrocious Catwoman game.

Superheroes seem like the perfect subject matter for videogames. Think about it – the entire genre focuses on larger than life characters with special powers, suited to sci-fi or other “genre” fiction, the bread and butter of about 80% of AAA titles. Why, that sounds like a game designer’s dream. Not to mention the fact that there’s a huge crossover audience between folks who like to watch superhero flicks and read comics and people who like to get their game on (read: the ever-so-fickle male 18-35 demographic).

We’ve done a bit of sleuthing to find the biggest constants in strained superhero game-making relations – as well as ways developers can overpower them.

Slave to the license

Licensed games aren’t quite the slow motion car wreck that they used to be, in the movie tie-in schlock “heyday”, but a license can still be a mixed bag. The biggest problem with superhero games is that they tend to be tied in to another media release – typically a big summer movie, and quality doesn’t always flow from the rushed production schedules associated with those kinds of deadlines.

Often, these games are treated like forgettable marketing material, and not given the kind of respect publishers have for other IP.

The solution: better planning, good communication, and inspiration from those who have done it right.

A movie tie-in game doesn’t need to be crappy, and several studios have proven that. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (specifically the Uncaged Edition) actually fared way better (critically speaking) than the film it was based on, and Spider-Man 2 still stands as perhaps the best example of a superhero tie-in done right, even if it was way back on the “last-gen” consoles.

Judging from these two examples, it seems the winning formula consists of smart mechanics and solid development track records. Here we have gameplay built around the titular heroes’ specific powers, instead of two mediocre action games with licensed likenesses pasted in. We also have two solid developers at work: Treyarch on Spider-Man and Raven on Wolverine, who knew what they were doing.

This is certainly not to say that only well-established houses should be given the chance to do justice by supernatural justice-seekers. Just that publishers shouldn’t simply farm out a sexy license to devs with poor track records.

Stupid powered

This is a problem that pops up in nearly every game with a supernatural hero: you are playing as a total badass, yet the obstacles that befall mere mortals stop you in your tracks. Bullets or other weapons flying around the scene that would never hurt, say, Superman, can bring you to your golden knees. On the other hand, being crazily overpowered without interesting challenges that are worthy of your god-like time make for a boring experience.

The solution: build your game around your hero, and present challenges that make sense.

When the hero at the core of the game has super powers, the game surrounding him/her still needs to be interesting and challenging. Yes, you should feel like a total badass, but not at the expense of good gameplay and good game “flow”.

The 2003 surprise hit Hulk is a good example of intelligently designing around a core idea: Hulk gets mad, and he destroys things. The entire game is intelligently built around that idea – and the obstacles that you face are appropriate for Bruce Banner’s alter ego.

Using this sort of logic, imagine how cool a good Catwoman game could be, with a mix of appropriate stealth elements and perhaps some interesting mechanics tied to a loot system. Think about how a Daredevil game could right the wrongs of the awful flick with some sort of echolation-based fighting. Build a game specifically around your spandex-clad badass, and you won’t go wrong.

Generic

Far too many superhero games are lame, boring, or otherwise mediocre takes on over-used gameplay conceits. How many third person action games do we need with a brawny badass traversing the same palette-swapped corridors for hours? How many brawlers and shameless God of War clones does the caped-crusader landscape really need?

The solution: branch out with genres and mechanics that are consistent with your fiction.

I’m not necessarily calling for more superhero powered kart racing games (actually, scratch that, it would be a great idea!), but branching into new gameplay styles that make sense for your hero will bring some much-needed spice.

The Arkham series did this beautifully. Arkham Asylum presented aspects of all of Batman’s skills – detective work, gadget wielding, powers of observation, and of course, brawling – and worked them into a satisfying mix. Arkham City did it all over again, adding the richness of an open world to the equation.

As we did with the above issue, it’s easy to imagine how genre bending (and blending) could lend itself to great gameplay based on specific heroes’ skills. Hey – maybe someone will make an awesome kart racing game with the X-Men one day. The possibilities are endless when you are dealing with comics and larger-than-life characters – so lets see some of that magic happen!

Danielle Riendeau is a freelance writer, digital media professor, and nonprofit web ninja from Boston.


Source : http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/723469/super-lame-how-to-fix-superhero-games/