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Review: Spiderman
First off lets talk about the cast. Toby Maguire was great in The Cider House Rules. He's just a solid actor. But I was seriously wary of him in the role of the webbed one. He seemed like a flimsy choice. He needed to pull off the one liners, but still convince us of his love for Mary Jane. But he pulls it off admirably. From the goofy glasses wearing scenes in the beginning to his badass battle scenes towards the end, its a solid showing. The best scenes in the whole movie are the ones where we see Peter Parker coming to grips with his new spider powers.
Now I'm gonna skip in a bit with a statement about staying true to comic books. Yes- some of the details have been changed from the books. Like most noticably, the nature of Spiderman's webbing. But whatever- this is story telling and it works for me.
Kirsten Dunst does a good job in what could have been a bland role in the hands of an actress who was just a pretty face. Mary Jane is convincing, and since she is in many ways the thing that grounds spiderman, its a tough burden. And the other biggie is of course the head of Oscorp, Mr. Norman Osborn, Willem Defoe. he does allright, but most of his maniacal scenes are covered by a mask that leaves him little room for any actual facial expressions.
So the plot: Boy loves girl. Boy gets bit by radioactive spider and develops super powers. Boys friend's dad inhales nano gas that makes him super powerful, and super crazy. Boy explores powers and eventually must save city from the attack of the newly crazed buddy's dad, all while dealing with the loss of his family. It's spiderman in a nutshell, and it's just damn solid.
The special effects are smooth. From the ads I was a little concerned since spiderman looked a little fake leaping around. But within the context of the movie it usually worked for me. They looked unnatural, but frankly seeing spiderman leap off inflatable balloon floats and swinging around flagpoles suspended by spiderwebs is already pretty unnatural so I let the suspension of disbelief win out on this one.
Danny Elfman hasn't sounded this good since Batman. I loved the score. It doesn't really feel original, but it sure fits like a glove.
In short, its a great movie. I won't comic-book-guy the details that were missed in the transition from paper to film, but I think they did a great job of making an entertaining movie, and staying extremely true to what I think Spiderman is all about. And goddamn it, the raw sense of excitement as he discovers his abilities is enough to make every guy wish he had those powers- swinging from building to building and howling like a mad freak. God I loved it. Congratulations to everyone involved- you win.
All that, and I even scored tickets to the 12:01 showing of star wars on opening day ;)
It is great to see that such a big fan enjoyed the movie so much. I can't wait to see it. I am heading to the theatre for the 7:45 pm show. I wonder...if Spiderman is really good will it give Attack of the Clones a challenge this month? Star Wars is unquestionably huge but there are also a lot of Spiderman fans and a lot people that feel burned by Phantom Menace.
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Finally a review from someone who as actually "seen" the movie rather than a lot of the speculation going around. I think Taco is right on the money, this appeals to the guys that loved the comics . . . it is a dream come true.
so anyone familiar with the comic book will like it, but how about someone like me, who simply never read them? sure, flame me, but you could say i am from a different generation. still, is the movie good?
I was thinking of how to intentionally fail my drug test... It would make a good memoir story someday.
i just got back from it myself, and i thought it was outstanding. my biggest fear was the it would suck like so many other super-hero movies, but it really came through in a big way.
even better, one of the opening teasers was for the incredible hulk next summer, which looks damn cool as well.
definitly go see this movie, you wont be disappointed!
And I'll try not to lone-gunman-are-dead the review
That's got to be the phrase of the day somewhere! People on the boards were quite unhappy that Slashdot posted that (and as soon as it happened on the east coast, no less!)!
To use it as a description for how much or how little will be given away in the review is truly, truly amazing! Caused me to laugh, anyway!
Or would you just go so far as to say he is a Web Master? Gives all those poor lonely cube monkies more hope eh?
Ha Ha Green Goblin, I'll PHP your ass!!!
#include sig.h
Click here or here.
As long as we're nitpicking...
I'm gonna be pretty ticked if the theme song doesn't go something like...
Spider-man, Spider-man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size
Catches thieves, just like flies
Look out! Here comes the Spider-man!
Is he strong? Listen, Bud!
He's got radioactive blood.
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead.
Hey there, there goes the Spider-man!
In the chill of night,
At the scene of the crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time
Spider-man, Spider-man
Friendly neighborhood Spider-man
Wealth and fame, he's ignored
Action is his reward
To him, life is a great big bang-up
Wherever there's a hang-up
You'll find the Spider-man!
My 4 year old really wants to see this movie, and I'm wondering why a movie with a potential audience going way down in age, would they aim for a teenage rating? I wonder if I should heed that "Parents Strongly Cautioned"? I'll probably take him, but it'll probably scar him for life :)
Or at least give him a few good nightmares.
Stan Lee has an editorial in today's New York Times (free reg required blah blah blah), wherein he talks about Spidey's long-lasting appeal. Short on depth but fulla Stan Lee goodness, it's worth a read.
1. Mary Jane as white trash... huh?
2. Very slow on the ground. You can tell this when all the kids at the matinee start talking... nothing to keep their attention.
3. no web cartridges? damn. How many plots rely on him running out of web fluid?
4. Stan Lee cameo... give me a break. Wasn't Jack Kirby involved with Spiderman? Where's his credit?
Other than that, I couldn't keep the smile from my face. Will see it at least 2 more times I'm sure.
Isn't it odd how good comics are always billed as "comics for people who don't read comic books"? Maus, Sandman, Strangers in Paradise---all found an audience outside the pale geeky norm (well, maybe not Sandman) because they were good.
This trend is a little dubious---do you think of The Godfather as a "movie for people who don't watch movies", or The Lord of the Rings as a "book for people who don't read books"?
Bah. I'm going to go in my corner and complain some more about the stigmatization of comics,
--grendel drago
BEWARE: Possible spoilers
At the end of this film, as Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) stands face-to-face with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and realizes that he can finally have his dream woman, he instead decides to walk away and leave her with nothing more than the infamous "let's be friends" line, a line that no real man has every uttered to a woman in his entire life. Finally, we understand what's been bothering Parker throughout the whole film: He's gay.
While it takes Parker a long time to admit this to himself, the clues are ever-present. First of all, what heterosexual guy pines to put on a skintight leotard and run around the city in it? You can only be gayer by dressing up as a large, pink triangle. Despite his claims about being deeply attracted to Mary Jane, the lack of a visible erection in his form-fitting suit during their encounters is testament to his gayness. And, of course, Spider-Man just loves to get other men sticky. In fact, the web that emerges from his wrist after a spider bite is simply a metaphor for the uncaring society that keeps his gayness in check.
Certainly, residents of San Francisco's Castro district will tell you about their famed Green Goblin festival, so the fact that Spider-Man is battling the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) suggests a sexual complexity to his inner conflict. Even Parker's roommate, Harry (James Franco), who is dating Mary Jane, says to Parker: "You never made your move." Well, of course he didn't. Parker lives with Harry and it's obvious from Parker's every move who he really wants.
Throughout history, spiders' use in art has always been seen as representative of a need for the phallic extension to dominate. Peter Parker's oft-closeted alter ego is the cinematic representation of the penis given full power. While one might interpret this phallic power as being directed outward, toward the female, the very interpretation of a "spider" "man" thwarts such an interpretation. "To spider" literally means to extend, while the "man" is quite obviously the object to which the spider is applied. Clearly, if Peter Parker could have come to grips with his need for the hot, sweaty man-love, his exploration into the culture of the superhero would have been redundant and thus entirely unnecessary.
very very happy. I thought tobey was great. but then I like tobey maguire in any role. As far as the way the movie was put together it just seemed better than batman. Batman was great but it was always so super comical, the sets were unreal, the costumes were jsut abstract. thats it batman was abstract and impressionistic and I think Spider-Man is more realistic (I'm talking the look, the fact that there's a guy swinging from skyscrapers is not what I'm talking about) as for the CG. well there is one spot that looks a little funny but only for a sec. Also what right do we ahve to complain? Stan Lee exec produced it. He's even in it if you look real close.
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Oops, posted my review over on the other slashdot article about Spidey today before seeing this story, where it is more appropriate. Here it is again, slightly modified.
I got my first Spidey comic when I was about 6 (27 years ago), and have been a fan my whole life. Spidey (and Fantastic Four and Superman) were part of what fueled my interest in science as a kid, since they were always inventing all sorts of cool stuff.
Going into the Spider-Man movie, I was sure there was no way it could live up to my hopes/expectations. Whenever I have this high hopes about a movie I'm always disappointed. I was even kinda bummed about the whole organic webshooters versus mechanical.
I watched the movie this afternoon. I had some little nits to pick here and there, but overall as a whole, the movie was way better than I expected.
They did so many things right. The bit with "the burglar that changed his life" was done perfectly, and that's what I most expected them to do poorly. That whole section of the movie, as he was figuring out who he was and what he could do, was very well done. There were some scenes you could tell were computer-generated, but the for the most part, the excitement of the movie made it easier to tolerate. And the movie would have been worse without those scenes, or if they had tried to do them physically with stuntmen.
The main characterization I felt was missing was that it would have been nice to have seen more background of the relation between Spidey and his Uncle Ben. Although I guess even in the original comics, we never really got that (although we heard about it plenty over the years).
Anyway, I loved it. I can't wait for the DVD. I'll probably bring my dad to watch it this weekend, since he used to be a bit of a Spidey fan too.
This movie was really great. Really. I think Star Wars is going to have great competition this year in the form of Spider-Man. The only mistake of the Spider-Man flick is the same error that the Batman movies have done : *** SPOILER ALERT, WELL, NOT MUCH OF A ONE, BUT STILL... ****** They kill off the Green Goblin in the end. If they do 2 or 3 other movies, they will probably run out of vilains, like Batman did. Sure, Spider Man has a lot of foes, but do we really want to see Spider-Man vs. Sand Man?
**** SPOILER END *****
This sounds great. I think I'll rush out to see this right away!
Uhh,... the MPAA boycott has been cancelled, right?
Ideology is for ideots.
I loved it, too, except at the very end where Mary Jane inexplicably expresses her undying love for Peter. Where the hell did that come from?
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