"Spider-Man" - 04/27/03 - 05/03/03

[Morticia]

This is a thread to discuss the technical and/or thematic merits of "Spider-Man".

The purpose being to foster intelligent discussion of films without resorting to "It's a piece of crap." or "It's the greatest film ever." (And so that we all can gain a bit of a film education from everyone.)

We'll discuss a new film each week. Either slade or I will post the film in this forum in advance, and lock the topic until the first day of discussion.

Thanks everyone. We are open to any ideas about running this forum.

****SPOILER WARNING**** of course this entire thread is going to be full of spoilers.

[Monster]

ok i give this a try not good at these things but here it goes..

ok well when i put in the dvd in my player, i thought the main menue screen screen was cool not to complicated to use, but not to much animation also. i thought the special effetc used in the movie were good, great story line, i felt it kept spiderman to the way he was and didnt add anything new to him like powers etc.. or even new bad guys. all the same as when iw as kids reading the comics.

ok that s my little post i not good at this stuff..

[SeanL]

Spiderman does have its detractors, but I think it gets more things right than it gets them wrong.

Tobey Maquire played the part of Peter Parker/Spiderman VERY well. When I first heard that he was cast in the role I did not see it as a good sign. After a few minutes, my fears were laid to rest. The film moved along at a good pace, never got boring or slow. The action scenes were well staged, with my favorite being the first battle between Spidey and GG at that festival. Good stuff.

That said, some of the cgi shots of Spiderman did make him look a little too rubbery, mainly when making big jumps(as he leaps off) and hard landings. I can't really fault the filmmakers for that, as animating human beings is still an iffy proposition. Hard to get the full range of human motion just right. The other thing, I would've prefered that Willem Dafoe have played the Green Goblin a notch or two down...he was a little too over the top for my tastes.

Those are minor quibbles really. Spiderman was truly deserving of the success it garnered, and I look forward to the next Spiderman adventure!

[Oscar Antonio M]

When i first heard of the movie i really wasnt hyped for it as im not really fond of super-hero movies, but when i began to hear more about it i wanted it to see it.

So i saw it a few weeks after opening day and i have to say it was a great experience, its one of the most entertaining and well-done movies i had ever seen.

The acting by Tobey McGuire was Peter Parker was very good, i loved the way he changed from Average kid to Super-Hero, William Dafoe was fantastic and scary as the Green Goblin.

The only one i wasnt too fond of was Kirsten Dunst, i think she was given the worst lines of dialogue and i found her acting too simplistic.

Other than that i really liked this movie and i always find it a fun watch.

The fake action sequences put me to sleep and I found the plot derivative, and the whole murder of aunt May under developed and unmoving. thinking back on the film I can't remember a single performance or line of dialogue. A completely forgettable film. Special effects can NEVER carry a film.

[aintnosin]

The CGI shots of Spider-Man swinging and fighting were the real weak point of this movie. The CGI Spidey seemed to lack any sense of weight or other physical realities. You never thought you were looking at anything but a special effect.

[tqpix]

I enjoyed this movie a lot!

I like movies that try to follow the source material as close as possible; therefore, I felt the filmmakers should've put Gwen Stacy in there. However, I thought that a redheaded Kirsten Dunst is ultra hot!

William Dafoe was perfect casted as the Green Goblin; a sensational performance!

[SilentBob]

Well i saw this 4 times at the movie theaters. I saw it once 3 days before the release (awesome) I thought the movie was just amazing and couldn't belive what they were able to do in it. 2nd time with my friend 2 weeks later i still liked it but it had lost some of its touch. 3rd time i saw it was when i treated my mom to the movie in Toronto. We were seeinga Blue Jays game sat night and decided to bring her to see Spider-Man. . . they also decided to put it on the IMAX Screen The bulb wasn't strong enough to get all the great detail like on the smaller screens but man it felt like you were swinging with him in all the scenes and again i started to love the film. 4th time was with my sister and i still like dit but again it was losing the magic of my first viewing.


Anyways overall i think the movie was great. The CGI and the Parade scene were a bit Power Rangerish but overall it was great. Tobey was a big surprise to play Peter and he did a great job playing the nerd and playing the superhero role as well. The casting for the movie was pretty uch all very well done and J.J. wasn't used enough in the movie. (hard to believe he plays the psychiatrist on Law & Order) He was just perfect. The costume for Green Goblin wasn't the best and looked kind of bad but from earlier screen shots trying to got the comic book style . . . it wasn't that bad.

But i think the strongest thing going for the movie was Sam Raimi and his directing. He is a weird guy but he has all these amazing shots in that head of his that are just amazing. The swinging in the city is cool to watch and his panning up, beside and down a crawling Peter Parker on a wall was seamless but gave that true feeling that he was Spider-Man. It was weird hearing him being casted as the director after Cameron left and i at the time didn't know who the hell Raimi was. One night i watched a small movie called Army of darkness and fell in love with it and found out who Raimi was. He was perfect for the type of movie. Plus he i believe helped along with the script of the movie and until i had read Cameron's drug addicted Parker and stripper girlfriend Mj taht i knew something good would come out of it. He did a fine job of fixing up the script and delivering a wonderful comic book movie.

Now it will be interesting to see what he does with The Amazing Spider-Man and if he will stay on for a 3rd movie as well.

[JM-KC]

I thought the movie did a good job of generating a fun feeling, especially as Spiderman first developed and became the toast of the town. I thought they did a good job of setting up the conflict between Spidey and the Green Goblin.

My only question to others on the forum: Was the early scene when GG overcame Spidey (with a gas) and then held him captive kind of undermining to the conflict and the growing sense of the Amazing Spiderman, toast of the town?

I would have preferred that the conflict and tension bewteen GG and Spidey develop as a clash of dangerous and clever opponents, with neither one able to get the upper hand. Then the tension would build as the audience wonders: Who will prevail? When the film allowed Spidey to be at GG's mercy early on, it kind of hurt that sense of growing conflict (for me.)

Other films make this mistake (I think it is a mistake) as well. To be fair, I think the comics do it, too--but only after the hero has been well established. Any thoughts?

[3DMan]

Actually, I like it when the hero's ass is wupped by the villian early on. Makes it look like the villian is undefeatable and the hero will have to use his cunning instead of his brawn. I mean, GG was kicking his ASS at the end and it looked hopeless for sleepy boy. Plus, as Spider-man just came into being, he should be pretty wimpy in the first film and become more badass in subsequent films. Sort of like Neo in The Matrix Reloaded. Smith beat his ass hard in the first film, but in the sequel Neo was swatting agents away.

[JM-KC]

Originally posted by 3DMan
Actually, I like it when the hero's ass is wupped by the villian early on. Makes it look like the villian is undefeatable and the hero will have to use his cunning instead of his brawn.

Thanks for the different point of view. It'll be fun to see the sequels.

Also, your signature refers to one of my favorite movies,
The Spanish Prisoner.