Well I figured someone might as well start a thread for the Spider Man movie. I just got back from watching it and all I can say is AWESOME!!!
It was “AMAZING”. However there were issues. BUT, I begin with those. Many things worked. Willem Dafoe has become THE best villain - yes, he has risen above Zog from Superman II. That Green Goblin suit worked due to his performance. Willem Dafoe is one reason people should see this movie. No overacting ala Jack Nicholson/The Joker. Nope - he was just a utter schizoid heap and he chewed up the screen time he had. Beautiful and ghastly at the same time. Another reason: Toby Mcguire. Goddamn, he IS Peter Parker. He was the awkward teen - that intro scene to Peter was painful to watch, only because of the apathy I felt. Why do so many people LOVE Spiderman comics? Due to Parker’s geeky beginnings. Lot’s of us have been there. Toby captured that feeling perfectly. And when he was transforming, we were right alongside him with equal glee - his boyish joy of jumping from roof top to roof top was hard for even the audience (and myself) to contain, I was grinning and laughing out loud with him. Wow. JK Simmons as Jonah Jameson: Perfect, just freakin’ perfect casting here. Jonah as a living breathing human would be exactly THIS. Some of the best lines were uttered by this character. Perfect. Dunst: she didn’t have much to do except to be the “window dressing” here. BUT she did well with the material she had. James Franco: As Harry Osborn (Dafoe/Osborn’s son), he is also up there with “perfect” casting. Those of us that know the Spiderman comics, know of Harry’s legacy. I think Franco can pull it off.
Raimi's got a winner here. HE'S FREAKIN" DONE IT. AND, folks, NO - I say, NO Black Leather. The red and blue Spiderman suit looks swankin' cool on the big screen. And NO wire-fu!!!! Just mano a mano fighting. That last fight sequence between the Green Goblin and Spidey was BRUTAL. Good stuff.
The "issues"? The theme music. What was Danny Elfman thinking? AND the pacing. David Koep (wrote the screenplay) has always had a problem with pacing. As in there are a few "boring" moments. Raimi handled it better than the other directors who have dealt with a Koep screenplay. Raimi had a HUGE task here, much like Peter Jackson and LoTR. 'Cept this was based on 40-year old comic book hero. But he pulled it off. He done good. Folks, the sequel begins production in January. Oh, the opening montage that leads into a big MARVEL logo - is pretty cool too. I had fun. My intelligence was not insulted. Hey, it was a good movie and worth the full ticket price!!!!!! Ain't that a rarity these days? ;-)
Thanks for starting this thread, Tenyearsgone…
Patricia
I just saw it last night. That movie was really freakin good!!
Spiderman sux. VENOM is the man
great flick. i love kirsten dunst!
Just saw the movie an hour ago. It was awesome! I hope they make a sequel. I think the last words Spidy said shoud be “Booty Call”
Hey Nude Dude…wouldn’t it be cool if they had Venom as the villain in the next movie? That would such a great special effects oppurtonity.
Damn right it would be cool. I can already picture a mid air battle between the two. Wouldn’t the Rock make a great Venom. Carnage would be cool too.
The organic web shooters threw me off for a bit, but worked well.
Wonder why the change though?
The Goblin being a mask rather than the guy’s actual face. That
threw me off too, but it also worked pretty well.
Wonder how Peter got the cool suit? Never explained that. One second he had a homemade suit, the next this cool looking suit.
Overall, good show. Toby M. was perfect, almost too geeky. Kirsten
was well, put it this way, I really really want to kiss her upside down in
the rain. Defoe could have done better, sorry. But he certainly looked
the part as did the guy who played his son.
Does the son come up again in the comics? Does he become a bad guy? Calling all comic book geeks!!! :-)
TEK: Did you read in my previous post “Harry’s legacy”? I would hate to spoil any possible plot-line of the sequel. But let me say that yes, there is another Green Goblin.
got a question for ya. I remember another goblin called the Hobgoblin. do you remember him? I think he was connected with Osbourne somehow. From what I rememeber I think he was basically a thug who got some toys from Norman Osbourne. am I right? all this goblin talk has got me curious.
I never know what Danny Elfman’s thinking, but it never concerns me because he’s a musical god, ever since Oingo Boingo. His work is fine with me.
Oh, and loved the movie.
Hey, what’s up with Roger Ebert? I thought you said he was a good critic. He carved spiderman. He said he liked the characters, but thought the action sequences weren’t very realistic or believable.He came down pretty hard on the movie. It’s a comic book story, it’s not supposed to be realistic. I don’t think he gets it. Anyway, I haven’t seen it yet as I’ve been working all weekend, but we are going to try and see it tonight.
SPIDERMAN was a great flick… What issues did u have with it patricia I thought it was the best comic movie ever… Had everthing in it humor, acrion, and romance even a little drama… And they really didn’t mess with the charecters to much… The sticked with the original story line of Spiderman…
Patricia head on over to Marvel.com and go to Spiderman’s bio once you get there it lists all his enemies and you are given their whole story. Hope this helps!
I read his review first thing on Friday on his site. I’m really not that surprised. His first love of a comic-movie is Superman and his second is Batman. I have to admit, even after seeing Spider-Man, my favorite comic-movie is still Superman. Spider-man is second. The Rocketeer is third and X-Men/Blade/MiB are all in fourth. Okay, as for Ebert. He and I have disagreed many times on films. And while I miss Gene Siskel, the same thing has happened with him. And David Ansen (of Newsweek) - his review of Alien back in 1979 made me go out and sneak into the theater to see it (I was only 15 and couldn’t see “rated R” flicks). However I enjoy the discussion of movies that critics bring out. I see Ebert’s point of view on Spider-Man. I enjoy his perspective. He has a undeniable joy of movies - read his books or past columns.
Critics make me look deeper as to my choices for movies as well why I like a movie. "Why did that movie appeal to me?" I hate the typical "that kicked ass" or "that was just cool". I mean, "why"? What do you consider "cool"? Critics provide us with another point of view. I appreciate that.
fitone: I already mentioned what didn't work in Spider-Man in my original post.
Tenyearsgone: Yeah,I'm a regular of marvel.com (like to read the online comics, too!) - I just didn't want to spoil it for others who may not want to know what's ahead for our dear web-head.
HOLLYWOOD (Box Office Mojo) - The Amazing Spider-Man indeed.
"No need for "spin" control from Sony. Spider-Man shattered every opening record on books with an unprecedented $114 million weekend, according to studio estimates. Never before in Hollywood history has a movie grossed over $100 million in its first three days, not even when taking ticket price inflation into account. To put that figure into further perspective, uber-blockbusters Stars Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone took 5 days to hit that mark."
Oh my! Patricia ;-)
I checked out the marvel website, they don’t mention the hobgoblin. I am only 17,so I grew up with the spiderman show in FOX. I remember the hobgoblin came before the green goblin.
Has anyone noticed an underlying storyline or a paradox in the Spiderman film besides me, one that parallels the fear of today’s society in regards to terrorism? I could go on and explain my thesis if anyone wants me to enlighten them…