Spider-Man
A Spider-Man movie is finally here! Yeah, so, being a long-time fan of Spider-Man until a few years back (Clone Wars, anyone?), I had to make sure that I went into this movie with the understanding that no, it wasn't going to follow comic continuity exactly. For all that, I thought they did a pretty good job on many aspects of the film, and of course not so well on other aspects. Here's the rundown.
Storyline
All the basics were there, and done pretty well. Peter's exploration of his powers, his short-lived wrestling career, Uncle Ben's death as a direct result of his inaction, etc etc. However, I couldn't help but feel as if they followed the origin story from the recent "Ultimate Spider-Man" more than the original (and if you haven't read that, go for it - you might be pleasantly surprised at how they handle it). As a die-hard fan, this made it a little funny-feeling, but all in all made it feel more "current" than the original origin, which took place in the early 60's, y'know? Also, the entire 120-some issue conflict between Spidey and the Goblin was pretty convincingly packaged into two hours of movie - and that's impressive.
Characters
This is where I had some problems. We really didn't get to see much of the relationship between Pete and his Uncle Ben, which is basically the entire foundation for Pete's choice to become a hero - however, I can respect that they had to get a lot into a short time. Willem Dafoe as the Goblin was an interesting choice, but he gave off too much of a creepy Joker vibe for my liking, and the whole split-personality thing wasn't handled too well. And, of course, Mary Jane's character was pretty much shafted. She came across as a shallow teenager who only goes after the rich guys and the super-heroes; nothing like the self-confident and spunky MJ of the comics. Yeah, great example to the teenage population there, right? Ugh. Also, one of the things I disliked the most about the movie was that Pete let the burglar fall to his death. So much for Spider-Man being a hero who would never take a life...
Effects
Overall, pretty sweet. They've come a long way with the CGI, lemme tell you. It was pretty easy to forget you were watching an animated Spidey swing through the city, climb the walls, etc. etc. - at least while he was in costume, that is. Choreography wasn't half-bad either - Spidey and the Goblin really did move exactly like they do in any comic book, which is a nice touch.
Costumes
Well, they didn't look like they do in a comic book... ~insert winky smiley here~ Spidey's costume was pretty true-to-form, but the Goblin looked pretty ridiculous. Of course, I can't really hold that against anyone, as no one really believes that human beings can fit into those spandex suits and look like they do in the comics. Also, Pete's wrestling outfit was pretty amusing. ~grin~
Acting
Tobey Maguire had Pete down pretty well, I thought. Willem Dafoe was creepy enough, but as I mentioned, the split-personality thing just didn't work as well as it could have. Perhaps if he hadn't been talking to himself in the mirror... Uncle Ben and Aunt May were decent, but not spectacular, as was Harry. Kirsten Dunst, however, simply shouldn't have been Mary Jane. She wasn't right for the part, pure and simple. To give her the benefit of the doubt, I think the part was written pretty poorly, but nevertheless, she'd have made a much better Gwen Stacy than MJ. And how could I forget Jolly Jonah Jameson? Man alive, he was great. JJJ to a tee.
Romance
Blech. I kept thinking to myself, "Burton never would have let the schmaltz level rise this high!" Seriously, the Pete-MJ relationship was different from in the books, but I think the whole "unrequited love" thing wasn't too poorly done, and that teens these days could probably relate to it pretty well (for whatever that's worth). However, there were at least two or three (dozen) occasions where the sheer unadulterated smooshiness were just too much.
Overall
Thematically, I think this movie could have used a little more thought. Pete's reason for becoming a hero was well-done ("With great power comes great responsibility," of course), but the fact that he let the burglar die undermined one of Spidey's most important character traits; no one dies on Spider-Man's watch. But most of all, I think the movie missed out on the soul of the Spider-Man comics - Peter Parker is an ordinary kid who has to balance his ordinary life with the life of a super-hero. Not enough emphasis was put on Pete's private life until the Goblin threatened it; in effect, in only served as a catalyst to push the story forward, rather than serving as the story itself. I feel that this is the greatest flaw of this movie - it was just about a super-hero, and not about Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-man.
All that said - I liked the movie. It was slick, it was well-put together, and it was fun. It just could've been better if they'd left its soul intact. But hey, that's Hollywood, right?
Overall rating:
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