zmovie - Studios lately have been known to spend almost $200 million dollars bringing a comic book super hero to life on the silver screen. With $200 million dollars you can buy many state of the art special effects for the director to full around with to his hearts content. If in the process, though, he decides to fore-go an entertaining story and script, characters that we can get to know and sympathize with, and good actors to bring those characters to life, all the special effects in the world isn't going to amount to a hill of beans. Fortunately for us, in bringing Marvel Comic's Spiderman to life, Sam Raimi did care about those little details and the audience is richly rewarded because of it.
One of the trickier tasks when transferring a film such as Spiderman to film is in giving us enough background story. If a writer and director spend too much time on the origins of the character, it has a tendency to bog the rest of the film down. Likewise, if it is given short thrift, we never have a chance to become involved emotionally with the super-hero. In Spiderman, Raimi, aided immeasurably by Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spiderman strikes just the right note. Maguire is such an accomplished actor, that he immediately establishes Peter Parker as someone we will care about throughout the film. He has a crush on the beautiful girl next door, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), is constantly harassed by the school jerk, and has a best friend, Harry (James Franco), who's relationship with his father Norman (Willem Dafoe)is far from perfect. As for Peter, he has an exceptional home life with his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) which is probably one of the reasons Harry develops an early kinship with him. That and the fact that Harry's father seems to think more of Peter than he does of his own son at times.
After having been bitten by a mutated spider, Peter awakens one morning to find himself with some exceptional super powers. He develops muscles that he didn't have before, has reflexes Michael Jordan would be proud of, and can shoot a web like nobody's business. It is during these early scenes of discovery by Peter that the film truly excels. Maguire is like a child whom after taking his first steps, learns he can motor about the house quite nicely, thank you very much. We can't help but have as much fun watching Peter Parker hone his skills as he seems to have in being able to do these magnificent feats.
Another fine aspect of Spiderman is the love story that develops between Parker and Mary Jane. As Peter Parker, he is never able to quite overcome his inability to tell Mary Jane of his true feelings. Later, as Spiderman, there is a wonderful scene between him and Mary Jane in a drenching downpour that any romantic film would envy.
Whereas some have not been too enamored of Dafoe's portrayal as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, I found both to be right on the mark. As Norman, we see how his continuous drive to control his company alienates and spoils the relationship he has with his son Harry. It's not that Norman is an evil person, his quest for power has led him to more or less take his son for granted. Later, when after a lab accident, it is the schizophrenic battle between the normal Harry and the Evil Harry that brings the Green Goblin to life. It would have been easy for Raimi to have the lab accident just turn Harry instantly into the Green Goblin, but instead we get a richer more dramatic story that we wouldn't have had otherwise. sicario putlocker
Likewise James Franco, who looks enough like Dafoe that they could be father and son, is a youth who seems tormented by the fact that no matter what success he achieves, his father never gives him his just due. Kirsten Dunst is also beautiful and charming as Mary Jane. Her romantic scenes with Spiderman are wonderfully played, and she has an especially moving scene with Peter Parker as the film draws to a close.
As for the special effects, they are indeed spectacular. As Spiderman swoops between buildings on his web, you won't think once that it's not really him doing so. When reading IMDB reviews of this film or any other film that depends heavily on special effects, one must keep in mind that it has become more or less a hobby among some to downgrade the effects of any film so my advice is to just ignore the criticism in that regard. The effects here are fine.
Two years ago, it was with quite a bit of eagerness that I anticipated Raimi's Spiderman film and it lived up to my hopes in every aspect. If the impending sequel comes even close to being as good as the original, it'll be a job well done. And if a film such as Spiderman can have me counting the days until Spiderman II, than I have no choice but to give it my grade, which for Spiderman is an A.
Poignant, fun and a faithful adaptation to the original comic book
Sean_Thorniley
Poignant, fun and a faithful adaptation to the original comic book. I am very critical of comic book movies since I am a huge fan of the medium and was tremendously disappointed in the Superman and Batman movies (all of them, some greatly!). This film however has again demonstrated that an adaptation of a comic book story can be fun and faithful to the story, yet be a film for all ages and those who may not have ever even read a comic book. The Crow was the only other good comic book movie in my opinion, but it was not an all ages fun ride as this is!
I had the privilege of seeing the film last night, 4-30-02, in SF with the press and 300+ other folks for its "Bay Area Premiere".
The acting is the finest portion of the film with the leads giving us depth that I was unsure would be allowed by the style of story chosen. Maguire was outstanding at being a guy who can rarely catch a break, but attract difficulty with ease and aplomb. He is awkward with the woman he loves, but eloquent when dealing with the familiar, just as most teenagers are even today. He gave us wonderful joy at the prospect of "web swinging" and kicking some much deserved ass! Dafoe is wonderfully scary as the man who has succumbed to the power games of the corporate world that drives a decent man mad striving for perfection in himself while trying to hard to please all the wrong people to no avail and then being consumed by guilt that has built over the years of family neglect which finally helps to push him over the edge when an opportunity to make a huge mistake presents itself.
The rest of cast is nearly as spectacular with the J.K. Simmons turning in the best performance in the film as J. Jonah Jamason. When he appeared on screen things lite up even more and he was on fire making everyone in the audience laugh and myself nearly p** my pants. Harris as Aunt May and Robertson as Uncle Ben were excellent choices and gave the film a great deal of its credibility and finesse. Letting what happens to Ben and Peter (I am not telling) was wonderful and the best punctuation to what makes Peter do what he does and brings complete credibility to the story. I am not a huge Dunst fan, but she was just fine as the love of Peter Parker's life and a person much like Peter only neither was conscious of the fact. This to me is a more real version of "true love".
The script was far stronger than I expected with some wonderful dialog; verbal exchanges, solid plot points and pacing. Many a good parenting lesson can be found in this film as well as interesting thoughts about the choices that we make in life that we might think are no big deal when in the heat of passion, but may well come back to haunt us if we don't think before we act/speak: which is the trust of the film in my humble opinion.
The direction from Raimi was also much better than I anticipated coming from someone who is known (and loved) for his over the top camp and action. Many of the fight and action sequences where more "over done" than I like, but they were solid and much like a comic of the Silver Age from whence the story comes so it fit the film fine. Nice cinematography without the CGI taking over and detracting from the realism, in fact it made much of the web swinging truly believable. A few points made things a bit hard to "believe", but over all I think most folks will be able to suspend their disbelief.
Danny Elfman. Need I say more? He is the man when it comes to "super hero" music and is the closest thing to John Willams and the late great Bernard Herman there is today. He subtly sets the mood and most of the audience probably doesn't even realize it. Tomorrow is my day off and I will be purchasing the score to add to my collection!
Stylish, yet somewhat disappointing!
MinorityReporter
Being an avid fan of the comic book I really looked forward to this movie and for a long time I convinced myself that I liked the film. However, after a long time of self denial I bought the Spider-Man DVD and I saw the film for what it truly was. A disappointment. The magic from the comic books had evaporated.
The acting in the film is a mixed bag. Tobey Maguire is well cast but his overall acting and presence isn't very good. He does the nerd part very well but when it comes to being a super hero he falls short. Spider-Man was always a complex character with great internal struggles but the film medium doesn't convey this very well because we don't get the inner monologue that Spider-Man is so well known for. He therefore has to act with facial expressions and body language. Tobey has a pretty well defined body language but his facial expressions are somewhat lacking. Also the fact that he is wearing the Spider-Man suit in many scenes prevent us from clearly reading what is going on in his head at the moment. Kirsten Dunst is just miscast. She is a horrible actress with zero talent and no resemblance with the character she plays making her performance utterly unbelievable. Willem Dafoe is usually a brilliant actor but in Spider-Man he seems to have dumbed down quite a bit and although his schizophrenic scenes are pretty interesting they do not cover for the fact that this is Dafoe's most mediocre performance in years. James Franco who plays Harry Osborn is remarkably boring in his performance. His voice never seems to change making him a young Keanu Reeves. The most interesting and well cast actor is J.K. Simmons who plays J. Jonah Jameson and if there was ever a guy who looked like the character he is meant to play it is Simmons. This is in both looks, voice and presence.
The overall effects in the movie are undoubtedly very good and this makes the action sequences seem more believable. Spider-Man was nominated for an Oscar in the effects department but deservedly the Oscar went to The Fellowship of the Ring because while the effects are good they are far from brilliant. I will even go as far as to say that the only really good effects scene is the one at the very end where Spider-Man swings through the city. This scene, however, almost saves the film because it is brilliant and it is the only scene I can watch again and again.
Danny Elfman's score is very good and it really suiting for a super hero movie. It really shows that Elfman has done a super hero movie score before. I am of course referring to Batman which is undoubtedly one of the best scores ever and you can certainly feel that Elfman used some of the experiences from that film in Spider-Man. The score has an epic feel to it that suits the film very well. The music is beyond reproach.
Where the film fails is in the fact that it is too proper and it feels too much like it was adapted for kids which is in my opinion a mistake because the film had tremendous potential but it seems wasted because it never really becomes an adult film. Also the ending on the bridge is based on a well known story in the Spider-Man mythology where Spider-Man's first love Gwen Stacy dies in Spider-Man's battle with Green Goblin. I think they should have brought on Gwen Stacy for the first film and then introduced Mary Jan in the second movie. because it would have given Spider-Man a greater sense of loss and a better reason to hate Green Goblin if his first love had died at his hands but instead Raimi plays it safe and has Spider-Man save both the children in the lift and Mary Jane. It just seems too stupid. watch hostiles online free
All in all Spider-Man was not the movie I was hoping for. I expected the best film ever and it certainly didn't deliver. Having said that and having seen the film a couple of times on DVD now I have grown to appreciate it a bit more. My primary issue with the film is that seems that the film wasn't directed for the fans of the character who expected a better adaptation but instead the film becomes a main stream Blockbuster with a wide range which isn't necessarily a bad thing but being a hardcore Spider-Man fan I would have liked to see a more adult film. Spider-Man is a good effort though and the effects alone deserve to be watched.
One of the trickier tasks when transferring a film such as Spiderman to film is in giving us enough background story. If a writer and director spend too much time on the origins of the character, it has a tendency to bog the rest of the film down. Likewise, if it is given short thrift, we never have a chance to become involved emotionally with the super-hero. In Spiderman, Raimi, aided immeasurably by Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spiderman strikes just the right note. Maguire is such an accomplished actor, that he immediately establishes Peter Parker as someone we will care about throughout the film. He has a crush on the beautiful girl next door, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), is constantly harassed by the school jerk, and has a best friend, Harry (James Franco), who's relationship with his father Norman (Willem Dafoe)is far from perfect. As for Peter, he has an exceptional home life with his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) which is probably one of the reasons Harry develops an early kinship with him. That and the fact that Harry's father seems to think more of Peter than he does of his own son at times.
Another fine aspect of Spiderman is the love story that develops between Parker and Mary Jane. As Peter Parker, he is never able to quite overcome his inability to tell Mary Jane of his true feelings. Later, as Spiderman, there is a wonderful scene between him and Mary Jane in a drenching downpour that any romantic film would envy.
Whereas some have not been too enamored of Dafoe's portrayal as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, I found both to be right on the mark. As Norman, we see how his continuous drive to control his company alienates and spoils the relationship he has with his son Harry. It's not that Norman is an evil person, his quest for power has led him to more or less take his son for granted. Later, when after a lab accident, it is the schizophrenic battle between the normal Harry and the Evil Harry that brings the Green Goblin to life. It would have been easy for Raimi to have the lab accident just turn Harry instantly into the Green Goblin, but instead we get a richer more dramatic story that we wouldn't have had otherwise. sicario putlocker
Likewise James Franco, who looks enough like Dafoe that they could be father and son, is a youth who seems tormented by the fact that no matter what success he achieves, his father never gives him his just due. Kirsten Dunst is also beautiful and charming as Mary Jane. Her romantic scenes with Spiderman are wonderfully played, and she has an especially moving scene with Peter Parker as the film draws to a close.
As for the special effects, they are indeed spectacular. As Spiderman swoops between buildings on his web, you won't think once that it's not really him doing so. When reading IMDB reviews of this film or any other film that depends heavily on special effects, one must keep in mind that it has become more or less a hobby among some to downgrade the effects of any film so my advice is to just ignore the criticism in that regard. The effects here are fine.
Two years ago, it was with quite a bit of eagerness that I anticipated Raimi's Spiderman film and it lived up to my hopes in every aspect. If the impending sequel comes even close to being as good as the original, it'll be a job well done. And if a film such as Spiderman can have me counting the days until Spiderman II, than I have no choice but to give it my grade, which for Spiderman is an A.
Poignant, fun and a faithful adaptation to the original comic book
Sean_Thorniley
Poignant, fun and a faithful adaptation to the original comic book. I am very critical of comic book movies since I am a huge fan of the medium and was tremendously disappointed in the Superman and Batman movies (all of them, some greatly!). This film however has again demonstrated that an adaptation of a comic book story can be fun and faithful to the story, yet be a film for all ages and those who may not have ever even read a comic book. The Crow was the only other good comic book movie in my opinion, but it was not an all ages fun ride as this is!
I had the privilege of seeing the film last night, 4-30-02, in SF with the press and 300+ other folks for its "Bay Area Premiere".
The acting is the finest portion of the film with the leads giving us depth that I was unsure would be allowed by the style of story chosen. Maguire was outstanding at being a guy who can rarely catch a break, but attract difficulty with ease and aplomb. He is awkward with the woman he loves, but eloquent when dealing with the familiar, just as most teenagers are even today. He gave us wonderful joy at the prospect of "web swinging" and kicking some much deserved ass! Dafoe is wonderfully scary as the man who has succumbed to the power games of the corporate world that drives a decent man mad striving for perfection in himself while trying to hard to please all the wrong people to no avail and then being consumed by guilt that has built over the years of family neglect which finally helps to push him over the edge when an opportunity to make a huge mistake presents itself.
The rest of cast is nearly as spectacular with the J.K. Simmons turning in the best performance in the film as J. Jonah Jamason. When he appeared on screen things lite up even more and he was on fire making everyone in the audience laugh and myself nearly p** my pants. Harris as Aunt May and Robertson as Uncle Ben were excellent choices and gave the film a great deal of its credibility and finesse. Letting what happens to Ben and Peter (I am not telling) was wonderful and the best punctuation to what makes Peter do what he does and brings complete credibility to the story. I am not a huge Dunst fan, but she was just fine as the love of Peter Parker's life and a person much like Peter only neither was conscious of the fact. This to me is a more real version of "true love".
The script was far stronger than I expected with some wonderful dialog; verbal exchanges, solid plot points and pacing. Many a good parenting lesson can be found in this film as well as interesting thoughts about the choices that we make in life that we might think are no big deal when in the heat of passion, but may well come back to haunt us if we don't think before we act/speak: which is the trust of the film in my humble opinion.
The direction from Raimi was also much better than I anticipated coming from someone who is known (and loved) for his over the top camp and action. Many of the fight and action sequences where more "over done" than I like, but they were solid and much like a comic of the Silver Age from whence the story comes so it fit the film fine. Nice cinematography without the CGI taking over and detracting from the realism, in fact it made much of the web swinging truly believable. A few points made things a bit hard to "believe", but over all I think most folks will be able to suspend their disbelief.
Danny Elfman. Need I say more? He is the man when it comes to "super hero" music and is the closest thing to John Willams and the late great Bernard Herman there is today. He subtly sets the mood and most of the audience probably doesn't even realize it. Tomorrow is my day off and I will be purchasing the score to add to my collection!
MinorityReporter
Being an avid fan of the comic book I really looked forward to this movie and for a long time I convinced myself that I liked the film. However, after a long time of self denial I bought the Spider-Man DVD and I saw the film for what it truly was. A disappointment. The magic from the comic books had evaporated.
The acting in the film is a mixed bag. Tobey Maguire is well cast but his overall acting and presence isn't very good. He does the nerd part very well but when it comes to being a super hero he falls short. Spider-Man was always a complex character with great internal struggles but the film medium doesn't convey this very well because we don't get the inner monologue that Spider-Man is so well known for. He therefore has to act with facial expressions and body language. Tobey has a pretty well defined body language but his facial expressions are somewhat lacking. Also the fact that he is wearing the Spider-Man suit in many scenes prevent us from clearly reading what is going on in his head at the moment. Kirsten Dunst is just miscast. She is a horrible actress with zero talent and no resemblance with the character she plays making her performance utterly unbelievable. Willem Dafoe is usually a brilliant actor but in Spider-Man he seems to have dumbed down quite a bit and although his schizophrenic scenes are pretty interesting they do not cover for the fact that this is Dafoe's most mediocre performance in years. James Franco who plays Harry Osborn is remarkably boring in his performance. His voice never seems to change making him a young Keanu Reeves. The most interesting and well cast actor is J.K. Simmons who plays J. Jonah Jameson and if there was ever a guy who looked like the character he is meant to play it is Simmons. This is in both looks, voice and presence.
The overall effects in the movie are undoubtedly very good and this makes the action sequences seem more believable. Spider-Man was nominated for an Oscar in the effects department but deservedly the Oscar went to The Fellowship of the Ring because while the effects are good they are far from brilliant. I will even go as far as to say that the only really good effects scene is the one at the very end where Spider-Man swings through the city. This scene, however, almost saves the film because it is brilliant and it is the only scene I can watch again and again.
Danny Elfman's score is very good and it really suiting for a super hero movie. It really shows that Elfman has done a super hero movie score before. I am of course referring to Batman which is undoubtedly one of the best scores ever and you can certainly feel that Elfman used some of the experiences from that film in Spider-Man. The score has an epic feel to it that suits the film very well. The music is beyond reproach.
Where the film fails is in the fact that it is too proper and it feels too much like it was adapted for kids which is in my opinion a mistake because the film had tremendous potential but it seems wasted because it never really becomes an adult film. Also the ending on the bridge is based on a well known story in the Spider-Man mythology where Spider-Man's first love Gwen Stacy dies in Spider-Man's battle with Green Goblin. I think they should have brought on Gwen Stacy for the first film and then introduced Mary Jan in the second movie. because it would have given Spider-Man a greater sense of loss and a better reason to hate Green Goblin if his first love had died at his hands but instead Raimi plays it safe and has Spider-Man save both the children in the lift and Mary Jane. It just seems too stupid. watch hostiles online free
All in all Spider-Man was not the movie I was hoping for. I expected the best film ever and it certainly didn't deliver. Having said that and having seen the film a couple of times on DVD now I have grown to appreciate it a bit more. My primary issue with the film is that seems that the film wasn't directed for the fans of the character who expected a better adaptation but instead the film becomes a main stream Blockbuster with a wide range which isn't necessarily a bad thing but being a hardcore Spider-Man fan I would have liked to see a more adult film. Spider-Man is a good effort though and the effects alone deserve to be watched.
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