My Take on Spider-Man

[Dave2112]

Sitting in an over-packed, sold-out theater this afternoon...kids yapping, people milling around to find seats, I remembered what we go to the movies for. To be entertained and forget about all the crap that permeats our lives from day to day. Spiderman succeeds on this level. The anticipation for this film was like that of only a few others, and with good reason. Spiderman is an icon to the down-trodden, the wanna-be hero and the Joe-Six-Pack in all of us.

For a superhero movie, a film based on a comic book, this two hour romp goes where others should have. Unlike the deep mythology of Superman, the film-noir style of Burton's Batman and the high-tech indie style of X-Men, Spiderman is presented like its origin...a comic book. The entire film is like watching a comic unfold on a thirty-foot screen. The pace is fast and uncluttered with a lot of background, which is good overall, but does give the film an excuse to smooth over some things that could have been explained a bit better.

Toby MacGuire is Peter Parker. No one else in Hollywood pulls off the "cool geek with a secret" better, and it reminded me of his previous roles in Wonder Boys and Cider House Rules. I hope that this franchise (and it will be a franchise, mark my words) doesn't follow the Batman mold and cast a new actor to fill the red and blue suit every time. I really believe that MacGuire is the only one who can bring the neccesary innocence, angst and off-beat humor to the role.

Kirten Dunst as Mary Jane did a much better job than I thought she would. However, she played the role with much more vulnerability and directionless confusion as the Mary Jane we've become familiar with in the comics. That Mary Jane wouldn't have taken half as much shit as this one did. I also thought that the fleshing out of her character as the child of an abusive father could have been played up more, if that's the direction Sam Raimi was going to take. That angle was dropped just when it might get interesting.

Willem Defoe was perfect as Norman Osbourne...but perhaps less suited to his alter-ego, the Green Goblin. My problem with the villian in this film was the green body-armor, which came across as a bit kitchy. Far better would have been to use prosthetics on the already goblinesque Defoe to transform him into the twisted nemesis, much like the superb transformation of Jack Nicholson into the Joker. Also, while the Goblin's glider was explained as a project that Osbourne's company was working on for the military, as was the strength-enhancing serum he was subjected to...the body-armor simply showed up. No explanation, no reason. The acting itself, however, was very good. My complaint about the villain was that, again like the Joker in Batman, the hero's most famous nemesis is killed off in the first film. Yes, the door is left open for Osbourne's son....but it's still the same all too early death as the Joker's.

The character of J. Jonah Jameson has thankfully little screen time. I don't know how much more I could take of his ranting like George Stienbrenner on Seinfeld. He was true to character, however, and did bring the colorful character to life.

Cliff Robertson actully gave some of the film's best acting, giving Peter his tag line ("With great power comes great responsibility"), and even though you know his fate, it would have been nice to see him have a little more interaction with Peter.

The action scenes were fantastic, and I was impressed to see Spidey faltering all over the place, trying to get used to his new abilities, during his first chase of a criminal.

What I did like about this fim was the accesability of the hero. He's not some alien Superbeing or a multi-billionaire playboy with a science lab and too much time on his hands...but a kid struggling like any of us. And what really makes Spiderman stand apart from the rest of the superhero films is that it takes place in a real location. While Metropolis and Gotham City have their heroes to defend them...Spidey belongs to New York. Especially at a time like this, it was a rush to see him swinging through the familiar streets and standing for something that we see every day. The final battle scene, which included New York citizens coming to Spiderman's rescue may have been a little hokey ("You mess with one of us, you mess with ALL of us"), it stired up a sense of pride that New York needs. Maybe another subliminal patritic boost? Perhaps, but in a film that tries to be nothing more than a live-action comic...that's a good thing.

My favorite scene was the wresling arena, where Peter takes on Bonesaw (played by a still-very-buff Randy Savage) for $3,000. In a cage, no less. The announcer inadvertantly gives him his nickname as the Amazing Spider Man, there's a huge build-up and you expect to see Spidey in all of his red and blue glory come charging down the aisle. Instead, we are treated to Peter's prototype costume, little more than a red ski-mask and sweater with a spider pained on it. Kind of a cute moment, and at least we get another glimpse into Parker's humanity.

So, all in all, this was a pretty damn good film. You can have your indestructible demi-gods, your high-tech detectives and your team of genetically altered misfits...

...I'll stick with the kid who has to foil a robbery and still finish his term paper by Monday.

He's more like me.

[Alex Warfield]

For what it's worth, I read that the director, MaGuire, and Dunst are all going to return for the sequel.

[Scooby112211]

I saw the movie too. In the very front row on the very far right. Heh, some view. I thought the same thing as Dave. . . where do all the cool costumes come from? How did Peter "create" his on his own? He went from sweatshirt to insanely cool Spiderman costume with no explanation.

Very very good movie though.

Heh. Kirsten Dunst. Heh. she is hot.

[Bagelfather]

FYI - Toby signed a three film deal for $26 million. So there will be sequels. The studio made the smart move and set a dollar amount for all three movies. Unlike the studio that did Charlie's Angels which did NOT include a sequel clause and so the actresses can ask for whatever they can get away with.

In the movie they elude to one major spidey villain in the film. There was a mention of Peter Parker working for Dr. Connor. As you may know Dr. Connor eventually becomes Lizardman.

The original plan was to have Spider-man fight both Dr. Octopus and The Green Goblin, but thankfully Sam the man ultimately decided ONE villain was enough! Gee maybe the Batman films will get a clue that you can't have an origin of a new character AND introduce three villains and still have screen time for a good plot!

Hopefully in the next film they'll give Spider-man more of his trade mark one liners to snipe with.

Although the Green Goblin was good the only problem was that the only expressive feature is his eyes. You can't really see the mouth or facial expressions. When you have The Green Goblin and Spider-man talking to each other both have their faces covered and a lot of expression is lost. The Green Goblin should have been given the freedom for that in a better costume design.

The man who stole the show though is still J. Jonah Jameson. He stole every scene he was in and had one of the strongest characters out there (they were all good though). Look for his action figure with "fist pounding desk action!"

Things to look for in the movie...

1) Stan Lee during the main crowd scene when chaos breaks out at the multi-cultural event, he is in frame for about 10 seconds.

2) The Car Uncle Ben drives is one of Sam's trademark vehicles. Yes that is the car Ash drove in the Evil Dead series!

So look out Spidey fans, two more movies will probably be out over the next few years...

This is one of the best comic book adaptations I have seen. Even with liberties taken in the origin it was great.

BTW: the decision not to have Peter Parker make his own web shooters was based on the believability that a high school kid could develop a stronger adhesive than anything 3M could.

and next summer

The Hulk!

[venray]

the decision not to have Peter Parker make his own web shooters was based on the believability that a high school kid could develop a stronger adhesive than anything 3M could.

But in the origin of Spiderman (DVD animated) Spidey explains that the spider sense he developed also gave him an inate knowledge of how to make webbing.....being the scientist that he is, web shooters would be easy.......

besides, we believe that a high scholl kid can be bitten by a spider one minute and be swinging through the big apple the next so why not
web shooters.......LOL

Ven

[Longbaugh]

I saw it yesterday and enjoyed it, Good film.

[JoBelle]

Good film. I really enjoyed it. It struck a chord of sorts with the romantic in me whilst hurling bad guys into brick walls.

How much did I dig Spidey's shutting Jameson up with a well placed web? hehe...and there were the couple blips mumbled sentences by Sam Raimi. I love how he cameos!

Joby

[BigJim]

Well after all this I will definatley be going to see this film when it comes out in England. I can still remember the films with Nicholas Hammond in them from yesteryear. I'd like to see how the Spiderman movie has evolved in the meantime. I'm looking forward to seeing The Hulk, but I've got a feling that's it's going to disappointment. After the series of the late 70's/early 80's with Bill Bixby it's going to be hard to create somethng that makes the Hulk so humane and believeable.

From what I've heard it's going to be closer to the comic version, rather than the old TV series. This means Bruce Banner instead of David, and all the old villain from the 1982 cartoon version as well as people like Betty and General Ross and that dickhead Major who's name eludes me. Ned something............

I have been something of a Hulk fan for a while and in fact.........(plug mode enabled) if anyone wants to see some particularly freaky photos go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hulkingout and in the photos section you'll find an album called "The Hulk From England." See what you think and then call the men with the large nets and the white coats to take me away..............

[BigJim]

My Yahoo handle is thegreenguyuk by the way.......So if you see that name as the authour of the photos, that's me.

[CitY of MicA]

I was definitely in the mood for an enjoyable romp, and I thought Spiderman lived up to that. I thought it was surprisingly well cast, and Cliff Robertson, whom I have always really liked, reminded me in turn of Glenn Ford as Superman's earthbound pop (incredibly inspired casting). The early scenes and development worked for me, and, like Dave2112, I thought the wrestling scene was particularly good. One of main problems with adaptation was something I knew going in; the Green Goblin outfit left something to be desired. Willem Dafoe was great, but that 'helmut' just looked terrible. The body armor was nearly as bad. The film should have gone low tech with the Goblin and just used make-up. Like many films today, it was too obsessed for my taste with computer-generated effects. If an editor had done away with maybe 50% of the more suspect ones, I think they would have had something. That and the god-awful score . Danny Elfman sounds like a hack Hollywood composer, now. All in all, this film would not compare favorably to Superman, but it was quite fun nonetheless. I'll give it 6 fire devils of a possible 10 1/2.

[drew70]

Originally posted by BigJim
From what I've heard it's going to be closer to the comic version, rather than the old TV series. This means Bruce Banner instead of David, and all the old villain from the 1982 cartoon version as well as people like Betty and General Ross and that dickhead Major who's name eludes me. Ned something............

If memory serves, I believe his name was Major Glenn Talbot. Oddly enough, I remember this from the mid-sixties cartoon rather than the comic book itself. Talbot had a woody for Betty, but she was gaga for Bruce, so of course he hated Bruce which is why he was such a dickhead. But if you ask me, General "Thunderbolt" Ross was no prize either.

[BigJim]

Originally posted by drew70
If memory serves, I believe his name was Major Glenn Talbot. Oddly enough, I remember this from the mid-sixties cartoon rather than the comic book itself. Talbot had a woody for Betty, but she was gaga for Bruce, so of course he hated Bruce which is why he was such a dickhead. But if you ask me, General "Thunderbolt" Ross was no prize either.

Talbot was his surname alright, I remember that now. But I'm sure his first name was Ned because the soldiers under his command used to nick-name him "noodle-head Ned."

I never saw the 60's cartoon which I hear was just the cartoon strip with some narration over-read, but the animated series from 1982 I loved. It came to Britain in 1984, so I was 6 years old at the time. It was one of my favourites......

Oh happy, carefree days.

[Alex Warfield]

Spider Man's opening weekend earned $114 million, absolutely annihilating the previous record holder, Harry Potter, which earned $36 million.

[Scooby112211]

You can see Kirsten Dunst's nipples in the rain. . .

[Dave2112]

The TMF Moderator...

...Hollywood's easiest-to-please demographic.