Spider-Man
Published September 18, 2002
Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson as Aunt May and Uncle Ben come across as a loving couple, but not as hickish as Ma and Pa Kent - which is quite accurate. The scenes with Peter and his Aunt are nicely done as well, rooting the fantastic world of Spider-Man with the very real world of Peter Parker. J.K. Simmons is brilliant as newspaper magnate J. Jonah Jameson, perfecting the art of cigar chomping bluster - the scenes with him were way too short, please more JJ in the sequel! James Franco did well as the neglected Harry Osborn, making a unique dynamic in which his best friend and his father are both superpowered beings on flip sides of the coin who must sit down to dinner together.
Kirsten Dunst is superb as the sexy, yet damaged Mary Jane who is part of the fabric that makes Peter Parker/Spider-Man discover his true purpose and find himself with her behind him. Her performance is subtle, but the scenes with her and Tobey Maguire are well done.
Spider-Man does its source material proud, and is a film that can be enjoyed by both diehard fanboys and the general public. It is what Superman was, and the first Batman continued. Watching this makes you wonder what Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher were doing when they destroyed the Batman mythos in the cinematic disasters of the three Batman sequels. Ditto for Superman 3 and 4. Spider-Man and Superman are the benchmarks for excellence in comic filmmaking, proving that you can take these Amazing and Sensational characters of two dimensions and faithfully create an entertaining and engaging film without dumbing it down.
Originally seen at OliverWillis.com
- Spider-Man
- Published: September 18, 2002
- Type:
- Section: Video: Adventure
- Filed Under: Video: Drama, Video: SF
- Writer: Oliver Willis
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Uh huh. I'm with you on this one.
In contrast to many of the films in a pretty disappointing summer, Spiderman was worth the wait. Much of that due to the casting. Y'know, they say that effects are king in the movies, which probably explains why so many of them suck so spectacularly. With Tobey Maguire at the helm, the webslinger thrives.
Only minor downside lay in the fact that, having laid out a story that was both compelling and true to the comicbook roots, screenwriter David Koepp (Panic Room) felt obliged to drift a little too often into spectacularly cringeworthy dialogue (Final Kirsten Dunst scene a case in point), but hey, you cant have it all...yet.
Also not really in agreement with the Batman comment. I mean, here's a guy who dresses up as a bat, with a serious Philip Marlowe-esque isolation complex. I'd say Batman Returns dealt with that far better than the original, and that the first two films work pretty well together in establishing that, hey, our superheroes, they can be screwed up too. If there's one criticism that can be leveled at the Superman series, and indeed at the character itself from conception to resolution, is that this isn't touched on enough.
As for the Joel Schumacher efforts...god help us all.
Keep writing, man.
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Thanks O, very compelling.