Review: Spiderman 534
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 ;)
Big fan (Score:3, Interesting)
Finally (Score:2, Interesting)
how about for non-comic viewers? (Score:3, Interesting)
i thought it was great to (Score:1, Interesting)
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!
A Truly Beautiful Description... (Score:2, Interesting)
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!
Webslinger.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Ha Ha Green Goblin, I'll PHP your ass!!!
Free Comic Book Day (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It's Spider-Man. (Score:4, Interesting)
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!
Re:how about for non-comic viewers? (Score:2, Interesting)
Ironically, my wife is dying to see this movie, and she usually hates these movies. Even she's clued into the fact that the nature of this character is just a little bit different.
Certainly casting Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in this was smart -- geekheads may feel a little apprehensive, but if it can bring my wife into the theater it's going to bring a lot of other people who wouldn't ordinarily see a movie like this.
Why PG-13? (Score:4, Interesting)
Or at least give him a few good nightmares.
Stan Lee editorial in NYT (Score:5, Interesting)
Nitpicks. (spoilage) (Score:2, Interesting)
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.
Non-Comic Comics. (Score:1, Interesting)
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
Re:how about for non-comic viewers? (Score:2, Interesting)
If you're NOT familiar with the character by reading the comic books, you'll probably like the movie.
I'm not sure how anyone who has read the comic books can call this movie a good Spider-man movie. Maybe "Pete Parker, Spiderman", but it's definetely not the same character Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created back in the day.
Re:Why PG-13? (Score:3, Interesting)
I remember hearing Spielberg say they put certain things into E.T. for just this reason, to avoid the dreaded "G" rating. Of course, that may have just been his excuse for taking them out of th newly-released version.
Mr Cranky Review (Score:1, Interesting)
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.
just got back from the theatre. (Score:3, Interesting)
This lifetime Spidey fan loved it (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Boycott cancelled? (Score:5, Interesting)
Uhh,... the MPAA boycott has been cancelled, right?
Spoilage Warning (Score:2, Interesting)