spider-man

 

 

    1/2

 

   In a summer fraught with one blockbuster after another,  it's almost expected that they're mostly hype. Spider-Man was not by any means the golden achievement in this years cinema, but it was good enough to give people unfamiliar with the Spidey universe a fun escapist film and fans a theatrical high budget story of their favorite web slinger.

 

 Now, we get to story, characters and so forth. The overall story (aside from the traditional origin of Parker's powers) was not at all original, being almost an exact copy of the comic book. Norman Osborn becomes the Green Goblin after poisoning himself with an experimental formula, and going mad has no clue that he leads a double life at first. Eventually though he figures it out, and then I believe embraces it as a means to deal with pain in his own life.

 

  The story was altered slightly of course, such as the little spider that bites Peter being bio-engineered rather than radioactive (a good way to shed the typical nuke origin so many icon heroes have, such as the Incredible Hulk or our beloved Godzilla) and the girlfriend in question is Mary Jane instead of Gwen Stacey who was Parker's first love. But again, the story simply becomes a reinterpretation of old ones instead of a new effort. In one way you could look at that as a good thing, like they were adapting a novel rather than inventing their own story, but on the other hand you could just call it lazy.

 

 For instance, originally when Norman goes mad and learns of Spider-Man's ID, he tortures his loved ones and kidnaps his girlfriend, just as in the movie. Also his death by glider-jabbing was the same, which was a little gross. But despite the entire plot being borrowed it was smooth running and well done, so I commend it for that.

 

  The special effects and costumes are a different matter. Spidey is pretty much the same, save that his "weblines" on his suit are silver metal now, and he had scale like designs on his tights. The Goblin however is a whole new story. Ditching the Halloween cutie look they went heavy metal, making the costume a green flightsuit and a motionless helmet twisted in the traditional scream. This unfortunately had a bad effect on talking scenes with the Goblin, because you couldn't see his mouth move, and rarely  could you see his eyes,  but otherwise you just watched him bob his head up and down for a minute as he spoke.

 

  The action between the two was good and fast paced, but surprisingly the computer graphics were very unconvincing. In many, many scenes Spidey was CGI to achieve his jumps and flips and so on, but the CGI figure didn't look like it took up any space on camera. It basically LOOKED animated. This is a shame, because I had heard the specials were supposed to be taking a step forward to realism. Maybe it was purposeful, but I doubt it.

 

  The acting was some of the best I've seen in a comic tie-in movie, with strong leading roles in Willam Defoe (Greeny) and even though he was never too emotional , Toby Mcguire as the web-head. Uncle Ben and Aunt May were played very heart warmingly, and except for an early scene they were wonderful. But above all what I loved about this film is that it took its time. It didn't rush along, trying to skip ahead to the action. It had a good mix of action and slow emotional moments, so kudos to Director Reimi.

 

  Now, parental warning. This film's violence is not strong at all, save for the final battle between the Goblin and Spider-Man. Lots of beating, exploding pumpkins, and as mentioned the Goblin getting skewered like a turkey. There is no sex, though a few deep tongue twisting kisses appear. The worst thing about this film, and the reason for the PG-13 in all reality is the language. Sweet adorable Aunt May and Uncle Ben (any relation to the rice guy?) say a** about five times in thirty seconds. Jesus is also used many times, as well as the traditional Dam* Hel* and so forth. So just keep that in mind if you plan to make this a family night flick.

 

   This movie also has sequel written all over it, so be prepared for Spider-Man 2 in a few years. Let's hope they're more creative with the story, and bring in some good villains. Venom would be nice...