My Thoughts on the Spider
I liked the film... a lot. For me it took the spirit of the character and the important aspects and brought them to life in a story that not only long time fans but new viewers would enjoy.
Maguire was terrific as Parker/Spiderman... I thought he actually came across as a teenager with all the angst and B.S. that goes with it. In the comic he was WAY over the top nerdy and his relationship with Ben and May was too Ozzie and Harriet... but here he is a real teenager with loving guardians but it's not over the top sappy.
Dunst portrayed MJ with a subtlety that I think some of the critics against her missed. With only one or two scenes of her home life, you got to see her "flip the switch" when it was needed to be the party girl even after dealing with something painful. She was being herself and opening up to Peter after her parents were arguing but then Flash pulls up with his new car and she's the party girl again. Also, the last scene in the movie, without a word you can see in her face that she's made the connection and knows Peter is Spiderman... it's very subtle... but awesome.
Dafoe was psychotic. I actually liked his protrayal of the Goblin better then Nicholson's Joker. Not because I thought Nicholson did a bad job, but he was still Nicholson. Dafoe brought across a character that ran both ends of the spectrum. He showed a genuine concern and care for Peter, but a detachment to Harry. Also, something that I haven't heard anyone talk about... would Goblin continued to exist if it wasn't for Spiderman? The first time we see Goblin is when he takes out the Quest test site. Then he is gone until the board of directors threaten his company again. In a way, Goblin was merely Osbourne's anger and self-preservation side coming out. If Spider-Man had not confronted Goblin at the World Unit Fair... would Goblin have returned again? He only came out when Norman was threatened... Spider-Man became a threat so Goblin continued to exist... again, a subtlety that may have been lost.
Franco pulled off Harry for the most part. I think he was a good casting choice as Dafoe's son. My biggest question is does he have the acting chops to pull off the Goblin in a sequel?
Simmons as JJJ was cartoony to the right point. He yelled, screamed and hollared... but when Goblin wanted to know who took the Spidey pics, Johah protected his own. This could have been a throw away character, but instead they developed him in a very short time frame.
I thought the rest of the cast did a fine job as well... no complaints except the receptionist... if she is going to be Betty Brant, she seemed a little too old.
As for the directing. The only time I had a problem with the CGI was when they were doing some of the flips and jumps. They seemed to speed them up so they looked better, but to me that made them look fake. But the parts that looked great to me so out weighed the parts that looked bad...
As for the differences in the movie to the comic. First thing of course are the organic web shooters. I had no problem at all with these once I saw them. The fact that a high school kid was supposed to come up with a super sticky formula that just happened to come out looking like spider webs never worked for me. He could have sold the formula to 3M and pay off the house for Ben and May. Second thought on this... if he got EVERY other power a spider possess, why not web shooters?
Another change I liked. The car-jacking death of Ben. I always had a hard time accepting that a thief that robs a wrestling ticket office would then just happen to break into Parker's house just a little while after running past Parker on the other side of town. This was just too huge of a coincidence for me to accept. But the fact that the Wrestling Arena was around the corner from the library and the thief picks a car with someone sitting in it with the keys... a lot more believable.
One of the things missing from the movie is Spidey's witty diaglog while fighting. But I remember that didn't start right away in the comics... as he got more confident as a hero, his banter picked up. We got glimses of it with the scene with the wrestler and a few other places... but I think it would have been too soon for all the smart ass comments. But #2 better have them.
My biggest hope is that they don't follow the path of the Batman movies and start loading the films down with villains. Rumors are that #2 will have Doc Ock and the Lizard... hopefully they will only use one of them and take the time to develop the charaters as well as they did in this one (which I feel they did a good job of).
My favorite comic movie so far...
I liked the film... a lot. For me it took the spirit of the character and the important aspects and brought them to life in a story that not only long time fans but new viewers would enjoy.
Maguire was terrific as Parker/Spiderman... I thought he actually came across as a teenager with all the angst and B.S. that goes with it. In the comic he was WAY over the top nerdy and his relationship with Ben and May was too Ozzie and Harriet... but here he is a real teenager with loving guardians but it's not over the top sappy.
Dunst portrayed MJ with a subtlety that I think some of the critics against her missed. With only one or two scenes of her home life, you got to see her "flip the switch" when it was needed to be the party girl even after dealing with something painful. She was being herself and opening up to Peter after her parents were arguing but then Flash pulls up with his new car and she's the party girl again. Also, the last scene in the movie, without a word you can see in her face that she's made the connection and knows Peter is Spiderman... it's very subtle... but awesome.
Dafoe was psychotic. I actually liked his protrayal of the Goblin better then Nicholson's Joker. Not because I thought Nicholson did a bad job, but he was still Nicholson. Dafoe brought across a character that ran both ends of the spectrum. He showed a genuine concern and care for Peter, but a detachment to Harry. Also, something that I haven't heard anyone talk about... would Goblin continued to exist if it wasn't for Spiderman? The first time we see Goblin is when he takes out the Quest test site. Then he is gone until the board of directors threaten his company again. In a way, Goblin was merely Osbourne's anger and self-preservation side coming out. If Spider-Man had not confronted Goblin at the World Unit Fair... would Goblin have returned again? He only came out when Norman was threatened... Spider-Man became a threat so Goblin continued to exist... again, a subtlety that may have been lost.
Franco pulled off Harry for the most part. I think he was a good casting choice as Dafoe's son. My biggest question is does he have the acting chops to pull off the Goblin in a sequel?
Simmons as JJJ was cartoony to the right point. He yelled, screamed and hollared... but when Goblin wanted to know who took the Spidey pics, Johah protected his own. This could have been a throw away character, but instead they developed him in a very short time frame.
I thought the rest of the cast did a fine job as well... no complaints except the receptionist... if she is going to be Betty Brant, she seemed a little too old.
As for the directing. The only time I had a problem with the CGI was when they were doing some of the flips and jumps. They seemed to speed them up so they looked better, but to me that made them look fake. But the parts that looked great to me so out weighed the parts that looked bad...
As for the differences in the movie to the comic. First thing of course are the organic web shooters. I had no problem at all with these once I saw them. The fact that a high school kid was supposed to come up with a super sticky formula that just happened to come out looking like spider webs never worked for me. He could have sold the formula to 3M and pay off the house for Ben and May. Second thought on this... if he got EVERY other power a spider possess, why not web shooters?
Another change I liked. The car-jacking death of Ben. I always had a hard time accepting that a thief that robs a wrestling ticket office would then just happen to break into Parker's house just a little while after running past Parker on the other side of town. This was just too huge of a coincidence for me to accept. But the fact that the Wrestling Arena was around the corner from the library and the thief picks a car with someone sitting in it with the keys... a lot more believable.
One of the things missing from the movie is Spidey's witty diaglog while fighting. But I remember that didn't start right away in the comics... as he got more confident as a hero, his banter picked up. We got glimses of it with the scene with the wrestler and a few other places... but I think it would have been too soon for all the smart ass comments. But #2 better have them.
My biggest hope is that they don't follow the path of the Batman movies and start loading the films down with villains. Rumors are that #2 will have Doc Ock and the Lizard... hopefully they will only use one of them and take the time to develop the charaters as well as they did in this one (which I feel they did a good job of).
My favorite comic movie so far...
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