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| Spider Man
Year: 2002
Classification: Action/Adventure
Directed:
- Sam Raimi
Actors/Actresses:
- Ted Raimi
- Tobey Maguire
- Kirsten Dunst
As Good As the Genre Gets
The Story: Brainy high-school outcast, Peter Parker, gets bitten by a genetically engineered hybrid spider, and gains many spider characteristics and abilities. He must figure out how this fits into his life and what to do with it. Meanwhile, he runs afoul of a rich scientist/businessman, who runs performance-enhancing tests on himself and becomes the Green Goblin. They are very evenly matched, and it's quite a contest for a while.
Technical: This is a well-cast, well-paced, lively movie with more story than I had expected. Some of the computer-generated combat scenes are frenetic and hard to follow, but I didn't mind it too much because there was also the idea that poor Peter is having a hard time keeping up with his own new abilities (e.g., he stumbles several times while running super-fast across building tops).
Commentary: Of the comic book to movie adaptations, I like this one best. Like Sam Raimi's earlier "Dark Man", Tobey McGuire gives us a very believable superhero, and even a sometimes-pitiable villain. The "Batman" films are intentionally dark for the "Dark Knight" but "Spider-Man" shows us Peter Parker's pain and confusion in stark contrast to the bright, mundane world around him.
Fairly loyal to the Spiderman of the comics; good DVD
That Sam Raimi was the right director for Spider-man's debut on the big screen is obvious once you've seen this film. His penchant for cartoon-like moments in his other films (e.g., the Evil Dead series, the Quick and the Dead, and the comic-inspired Darkman) boded well for success. Likewise, his encycopediac knowledge of the character was not new - he'd been collecting Spiderman comics ever since he was a kid. With such a director at the helm, and with Spider-man creator Stan Lee looking over his shoulder, it's no wonder that Spider-man the Film looks and feels exactly like we'd imagine based on reading Spider-man the Comic. When compared to, say, the Batman films, Spidey fans must have breathed a sigh of relief that the filmakers got the character mostly right.
Most of our favourite Spidey characters are here - Peter Parker (played to "wallflower" perfection by Toby Maguire), his colleagues Harry and Flash, the fiery readhead Mary Jane Watson, and of course Aunt May and Uncle Ben. The film covers Spiderman's origin (slightly updating the spider bite from a radioactive spider to a genetically enhanced one). The absolute highlight of the film is his attempt to make money wrestling, where he takes on a seriously buffed-up Randy "Macho Man" Savage (called "Bonesaw" in the film). Raimi regular Bruce Campbell appears as the ring announcer, apparently using the Elvis hair and wardrobe acquired from his recent "Bubba Ho-tep" film.
We then advance to the main story - the battle with arch-enemy Green Goblin, here played by Willem Dafoe, who does an admirable job personifying the villain even though half the time we can't see his face. Likewise Maguire's Webslinger personifies the comic character using body language, standard Spidey poses, and a generous helping of CGI to aid his webslinging trips through the concrete jungles of Manhatten. The CGI is normally not intrusive or obvious - a glaring exception being one scene where Spidey takes on 5 muggers simultaneously, where the animation is jerky and unrealistic. Mostly, though, it's smooth and doesn't defy the laws of physics too badly....
True Spider-man fans will question certain decisions of the filmakers, of course. Most notable is the absence of Gwen Stacy, who is killed by one incarnation of the Green Goblin in the comics. Unfortunately, we know Mary Jane will be alright when GG threatens her - the same wouldn't be true if it had been Gwen up there. Similarly, the romantic quadrangle between Peter, Harry, MJ, and Gwen would have been really fun to see on film, if only to give actress Kirsten Dunst a break from all the testoterone-driven action from an otherwise male cast. Maybe we'll get to see Gwen (and even Felicia (the Black Cat)? he asks hopefully) in the sequels. Finally, the patented Spider-man wisecracking banter is somewhat submerged in overly melodramatic fight scenes. Likewise, MJ's confidence - hopefully Raimi allows himself and his characters to loosen up as the series pr
ETMR - Spiderman
1. Humanity: What events in the film drove Peter Parker to adopting his vigilante attitude toward crime?
2. Implications: How is Spiderman's understanding of "with great power comes great responsibility" an example of contemporary American thought? Think specifically about the nature of evil and the propensity toward intense individual classification when one's existence becomes threatened.
3. Evolution: Spiderman was a hero born out of the 60s, springing from both the dangers of genetic manipulation and the problems of substance abuse (in the form of Oscorp Chemicals). Raimi makes little mention of the chemical abuse in the story, and paints it in a much simpler picture of the probable evil in man's soul and the strange world of pseudoscience. Therefore, it is obvious that in many ways, the film departs from its traditional conditioning while remaining loyal to the original personalities of the characters. In which ways is Spiderman the hero shown to be a creation of the contemporary age, versus a creation of the 60s, in the film?
4. Realism: America has a long history, not only in comics but in legendary history, of people who take the law into their own hands. If a being like Spiderman existed, could he survive in our real world, or is he only a dream?
5. Stageplay: Spiderman is classicly a cynic, an individual thinker, an avid contemporarian (someone "in" the times), a man of passions (versus someone who could care less), an irreligious jokester and a man who is not sure of his destiny, but lives to succeed. Do you feel Maguire fulfills this role? Some critics say he is too much of a "boy" to fill Spiderman's shoes, while others claim it is his boyishness that charms us into belief. What do you think?
Buy Spider Man at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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