Columbia Pictures has released a featurette for its upcoming super hero adventure, The Amazing Spider-man.
If you’ve been following my coverage of The Amazing Spider-Man, you might recall that one of greatest worries for this film has been that they might have used a rubber mask for the close-up dialogue shots of Dr. Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard. Yes, rubber masks can be made to look very realistic, but they do significantly limit expressive performances. Better to use today’s advanced facial motion capture to do monstrous faces, allowing the actor to really make the monster’s face come alive.
I was getting especially worried because we haven’t seen any good facial shots of The Lizard in any of the previews or trailers or other promotional material – until now. Perhaps the studio was still working on the animation?
It’s quite clear that a facial mo-cap was used for the character, which is definitely great news. I can’t say I agree entirely with the facial design, but that’s just aesthetic. The fact that Rhys Iffans’ true facial expressions will be able to manifest itself on the creature’s face is truly critical. Plus, the modulation of Iffans’ voice also works well, giving it a very guttural and serpentine sound.
My final concern assuaged, I’m ready for this film. I’m looking forward to this one much more than Dark Knight Rises, which is starting to look like it’s going to be overly gritty and pretentious.
Here’s the theatrical trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man:
and the official synopsis:
The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.
The Amazing Spider-Man hits theaters July 3rd, 2012.
