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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 ;)
The Lone Gunmen are DEAD? Man, why did you have to give that away?!? Crap, I won't have to watch my TIVOed X-Files now...!
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.,
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.
How about as Mary Jane? :)
:)
I grew up with Spiderman. He is the reason I learned to read, because a) the Electric Company featured him every day, b) my Mom wouldn't read comics to me, and c) my dad was always too busy to read them to me.
Spidey also seemed to cross racial lines, IME. We all thought he was cool, no matter if we were asian, black, hispanic, or white. Spidey just rocked.
AFAIK, he's also one of the few superheros to come close to killing Wolverine. How to actually kill Wolverine was the topic of many a cafeteria discussion when I was in college.
AMCGLTD.COM. Where cats, science fictio
No mention of Bruce Campbell's cameo roll? Thats the entire reason I've been excited about this movie for the past year..!
It's spiderman in a nutshell, and it's just damn solid.
I haven't seen this flick yet, but it sounds like it lives up to the book.
Oh, wait...
daed si luap
Foxtrot beat you to it.
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
I liked Jon Stewart's (of The Daily Show) description a couple of years ago when the movie was up to be greenlighted by the major studios... something along the lines of:
:)
"Just remember, spidey; when you're up in front of all those Hollywood mogul-types, it's not "Spider-Man," it's (pronounced): Spidermn, Eli Spidermn."
Nobody tells better "jew jokes" than Mr. Stewart.
SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a
It seems like, for the first time in a long while, somebody Gets the Comic Book Idea.
Which usually means "tight, interesting story, complex characters in the ordinary world with extraordinary circumstances, and spandex".
Now, if we can just get someone to perform a videogames2movie conversion that doesn't suck. (Well, except for Street Fighter II the Animated Movie, but that was an anime, so it doesn't count.)
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Click here or here.
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
Nah, he was right the first time - all movies are best viewed with a little Mary Jane.
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
All that, and I even scored tickets to the 12:01 showing of star wars on opening day ;)
May You ROT IN HELLL!!!!!
Rapid Nirvana
How to actually kill Wolverine was the topic of many a cafeteria discussion when I was in college.
Take me. Take me now. You're a woman's dream.
i find it humorous that spider-man loves 'mary jane'...maybe all those superpowers are just a mild hallucination. :)
R.I.P.
Spiderman very underhyped
;)
Spider-Man has been very underhyphened as well.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
I'm a long time Spider-Man fan, so I was looking forward to/dreading seeing it made into a film. The best praise I can give it is that it was very accurate. The story of the original Green Goblin was told just as I remember it from the comic books, with a few exceptions which aren't really worth getting into.
The greatest thing about it isn't so much that the plot is accurate, but that the characters are. The first scene with J. Jonah Jameson captured the man's essence perfectly. Does he really think Spider-Man is a menace or does he just want to sell more papers? Norman Osborne is very well done, which is good since he gets the majority of screen time, after Parker. His personality-changing rage is reminiscent of the Incredible Hulk, but more devious. His interactions with Harry are are nice as well. You can already see the personality flaws and fatherly abuses that will eventually lead Harry to his own fate.
Despite the film's strong characterization and fantastic special effects, I didn't leave the film completely awed as I did with other films. It was all excellent, and polished, but it was missing a sense of wonder. Most of the film has been done before, just not all at the same time. Regardless, I think the film was successful. Hardcore Spidey fans won't be shocked by any heresy, action fans will be impressed by the web-swinging, and even those who prefer love stories won't be disappointed.
Shockwave Flash movies are the greatest thing to happen to non-sequitur humor since Japan.
Actually I think it was Pick-El originally, but has gradually lost the hyphen and the spelling over time. ;)
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
(BTW, I always wanted to see a jewish Superman whose dad could be Emanu-El)
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WWJD...For a Klondike Bar?
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!
It isn't GC (Geekily Correct) of me to know this, but Phoebe and Chandler did a nice job with this very joke a few years ago on Friends.
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WWJD...For a Klondike Bar?
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.
But didn't you want to know how Spider-Man effects the globalist wired society and unseatd the digrati by smashing the digital divide?
As x approaches total apathy I couldn't care less.
So with Sony being a part of the MPAA and RIAA, it is ok to still see this Movie? After all you did realize this was a Sony movie.
:-P
Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
Hmm...I'll take Kirsten Dunst. You can swing from building to building howling like a mad freak all you want.
No, Thursday's out. How about never - is never good for you?
So, we should just rush out and put money in the pockets of the MPAA?
Find a theater showing Spider-man and an Indie flick at about the same time. Buy a ticket for the Indie and sit down in the Spider-man theater "by mistake." Just don't do it when Spider-man is sold out.
For bonus points, buy another ticket for the Indie flick and see that too.
Some people have a way with words, and some people, um, thingy.
I was bitten by a radioactive punchcard. Now I have the superhuman ability to write code for IBM704s.
should "anal retentive" be hyphenated?
Only if used as an adjectival phrase in front of a noun: 'anal-retentive post' as opposed to 'the post was anal retentive.'
ROFL
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
The link is broken.. try this link, to the main page of the event, insted.
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.
Nope, at least not originally. Spidey was just sticky. It was explained in one of the Spiderman annuals with the hologram covers from years back (I'm sure in other places before and since, but that was during the period I actually read comics). The whole issue was Peter explaining his powers to Mary Jane (kinda a rip-off of an issue, but ah well). He said he could make any part of his body stick to anything (which sparked a query from Mary as to whether he could do it with any part, which rather surprised me considering how much less risque comics were back then) and that he made the gloves and boots of the suit extremely thin so he could stick through them. That, in turn, prompted Mrs. Parker to fret about him catching cold through the material.
Yes, I know, I have an inordinately detailed memory for absolutely useless facts. Now if only I could do the same with actually useful facts...
"If a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live" -- MLK, Jr.
If you want to hear those lyrics, stick around through the credits.
/%?%$!!"/$$??!/ How come people rate this crap as insightfull, or anything!!! Stop f**king around always complaining about companies do this, and companies do that, they don't want me to pirate their stuff, I can't illegally get the stuff they own for free. Get a life. They have the right because they OWN the product. If you can't get that across you narrow minded stealing anti-everything little brain, then you're going to find like to be VERY LONG and very boring, because you DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO STEAL! You said it yourself : unauthorized DVD playback software. It's UNAUTHORIZED. You don't have the right to do it because it infringes copyrights. Whether or not cpopyrights and IP is a good thing is another debate. For the time being, go see the movie, because it's funny, a hell of a good ride and stop whining.
There's very little bullet time in the movie. Bullet time was a specific way of doing things that let you see all angles around the target. It takes a lot of cameras, a lot of time, and a lot of fancy work.
What you saw was just good old slow motion. They slowed everything down a bunch, and that was good enough. It wasn't anything special, but conveyed the fact that Spidey was moving faster than you'd normally be able to see. It was perfect.