Everything a blockbuster movie was meant to be.
Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, J.K Simmons, Thomas Haden Church, James Cromwell, Topher Grace, and Bryce Dallas Howard. Directed by Sam Raimi.
Wow. As I write this the box office for this movie has been confirmed: $148 million in the U.S. alone. This is the LARGEST box office return weekend in history, much less the month of May. The previous record holder was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
Anyway, before seeing this movie I had heard mixed reviews. One friend of mine said that it was visually great but lacked in story. Most of the reviewers felt that way as well. I can see their point, and I will elaborate.
NOTE: As I have previously stated, I am not a comic book geek. I’ve never owned more than ten in my lifetime. That being said, anything I know about the “Spider-Man” franchise has been restricted to movies and television.
The movie begins with Peter Parker (Maguire) recounting how well his life is going, with the exception of his friendship with Harry Osborn (Franco). Things are going well for him and Spider-Man so much that he’s thinking of proposing to Mary Jane (Dunst).
Meanwhile, the escaped convict (Church) who really killed Uncle Ben falls into a de-molecularizer and turns him into sand, thus creating Sandman.
… And elsewhere in the city Harry Osborn is plotting his revenge against Parker/Spider-Man as he becomes Hobgoblin.
… And Parker has freelance competition at the Daily Bugle against newcomer Edward Brock (Grace), whose girlfriend is Gwen Stacey (Howard) whose father is the Chief of Police (Cromwell).
… And a meteorite falls to earth and attaches itself to Parker.
… And Parker finds that sound disturbs the substance from the meteorite. He sheds it off himself and it attaches to Brock, thereby creating Venow.
… And lastly Venom teams up with Sandman, causing Spidey to team up with Hobgoblin.
There’s more to the movie, including a cameo by Stan Lee as a bystander and Bruce Campbell working in a French restaurant. What impressed me the most about it was the rollercoaster pacing. It substitutes characterization for visuals and action sequences. Normally, I would agree that this is a bad thing. However having watched the other two Spider-Man movies, this is what Sam Raimi wanted. And at a $350 million price tag, it was worth it.
The visuals themselves felt more fluid; more realistic (as can be for a superhero movie). Topher changing back and forth from Edward Brock to Venom was done well. Sandman felt as if he was in it for effect; not that I’m complaining. The storyline for Hobgoblin was a little weak, though. I do agree with the casting of Grace and Church as opposed to Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in “Spidey 2”.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie. It was one of the few times I have watched a summer blockbuster and felt that I was watching a movie, not a product endorsement.
B+
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 14
But then I AM a comic book geek. So I suppose the fact that we are coming at it from different viewing styles may affect our appreciation of the movie.
Sounds like it's a "love it or hate it" kind of movie.
I did feel that the part where Peter Parker is strutting down the street was a bit over done, but he is a super hero so I give they some slack with things like that.
I always enjoy the Stan Lee cameos (since seeing the first two movies I was eagerly looking for him is this one, and was surprised to see him for a longer time, and with lines!), and I liked the story, too. Some people have said that they felt it was too long, and they wanted more action. But it didn't feel long to me, and the action was great for me, also. My husband did say he would have wanted the Venom character to develop more, but since the college profesor still has a small Venom sample, maybe we'll see some part of the character again!
WS - I viewed this as an "entertain me, please" movie. As an "aesthetic" film, yes, it fails.
Of coarse it made a lot of money, tickets were $9.50/adult (whereas they were $8.00/adult last summer)
But I felt like the screenplay folks tried to cram too much into what should be a COMIC BOOK genre. Too much "pathos"; too much "romance"; too much exposition. This is escapist fluff. Even Stan "the Man" Lee would not call comics "high drama" and this movie tried too hard to be that.
The effects were great. The action a little lacking, but there, just reduced due to all the OTHER stuff they tried to cram in.
Oh, and for what it's worth, Dr Connor is/becomes THE SCORPION in the comic books. That doesn't mean the movies will pay any attention to that, but just to prove I have the "Comic Geek" credentials!
Lastly, I was surprised at the number of VERY YOUNG children in this movie. I went first before deciding to allow my 8 year old to see it. This one is far TOO INTENSE (VENOM, basically, but as it should be) for LITTLE ONES. I suspect there will be nightmares made from this one!
And you can't have a true iconic character without a memorable lead.
All Time Best
Terminator - Arnold!!! Could it get any better?
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Harrison Ford (Indy)
Die Hard - Bruce Willis (John Maclane)
Pirates of the Caribbean - Johnny Depp (Capt Jack Sparrow)
Aliens - Sigourney Weaver - (Ripley)
Rocky - Sylvester Stallone - (Rocky)
The Matrix - Keanu Reeves (Neo)
Middle of the Pack
Harry Potter - Daniel Radcliffe (Harry)
Star Wars - tough call to drop Star Wars to the middle but no lead ever emerges
The Lord of the Rings - Elijah Wood (Frodo)
Dirty Harry - Clint Eastwood ( Harry Callahan)
Spiderman - Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker)
Mission Impossible - Tom Cruise (Etan Hunt)- forgetful
Shrek - Mike Myers (Shrek) - even though the movie overall isn't the best - Mike's character will always be remembered
Best of the Worst
Batman - can we remember all of the leads???
Beverly Hill Cop - Eddie Murphy (Axel Foley)
Hot Shots - Charlie Sheen (Topper Harley)
If this is part of a larger two-film arc it could still be as great as it should be. My main gripe, aside from the hasty pacing, was about the black suit itself. In the comics the suit could transform itself into regular clothes for Peter. In the movie they did away with that even though it would seem to make more sense for it to transform rather than him taking off the suit, then putting it back on and having to wear it under his regular clothes. It was silly and distracting for him to have it under his clothes and have him repeatedly rub his chest to show the suit's effect.
And by the way, Dr. Connors is not Carnage OR Scorpion. He becomes The Lizard. He experiments with reptile DNA in an attempt to grow back his missing arm and of course they go awry. He's one of the better villains because he's so close to Peter.
FYI, Carnage is Cletus Kassidy, a serial killer, and Scorpion's real name is Max something. I can't remember exactly, but he's a petty thug and was originally hired by J. Jonah Jameson (in the comics anyway) to kill Spider-Man.