From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:32 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.net.uni-c.dk!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Robin Clifford Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Thu, 09 May 2002 17:16:43 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31783 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311865 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: B+ Summary: r.a.m.r. #31783 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 75 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3605 rec.arts.sf.reviews:269 "Spider-Man" For the one or two hermits out there, I'll give a brief description: 98-pound weakling high school student Peter Parker is bitten, while on a school field trip, by a genetically altered spider. The next morning he awakens to find his bod is totally buff and he has the power of an arachnid with super human speed, agility and the ability to shoot webs from his wrists. But, as his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) would tell him, "with great power comes great responsibility" and Peter learns this the hard way in director Sam Raimi's super slick "Spider-Man." As the record-breaking, opening weekend box office take of $114 million indicates, "Spider-Man" is a critic-proof flick. If every film reviewer across the country horribly panned the movie it would not have one bit of effect on the fans of the comic book super hero. There are several demographics being played to by the filmmakers here: the millions of dedicated fans of Stan Lee's popular Spidey series; then there is the even larger potential audience of comic-book-super-heroes-brought-to-the-big-screen fans; the sci-fi/special F/X freaks will pay the bucks just to see if their socks will get blown off; and, with the film's romantic side of the story with the pretty Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), the Saturday night date crowd gets pulled in, too. I, for one, had a rip roarin' good time from beginning to end. Helmer Raimi deftly moves his talented actors across the screen with precision and energy. The casting could not be more perfect from top to bottom. Tobey Maguire is Peter Parker. The young actor utilizes his low-key manner to terrific effect as he struggles with his newfound power and learns that his destiny is to fight crime and uphold justice. Kirsten Dunst is girl-next-door pretty and sexy and, in one scene in particular, provides the reason for 14 to 24-year old males out there to go see "Spider-Man." Robertson and Rosemary Harris are dead on as Peter's surrogate parents, Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Willem Dafoe is the ham in a ham sandwich as the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like character, brilliant millionaire Norman Osborne who, to save his company, takes an untested human enhancer drug. His turn into the big, bad meanie, the Green Goblin, gives the actor ample opportunity to go over the top and have some fun. Spectacular, in a small but important role, is J.K. Simmons as the publisher and martinet of the town's biggest newspaper (The Daily Bugle), J. Jonah Jamieson. The actor captures the character exactly as I remember him from the days when I read Stan Lee comics. Techs are very good but not great. There is a noticeable shift from live action to computer-generated F/X. The effects have a slight artificiality, but this is small criticism and I got over it pretty quick. David Koepp's screenplay, with some minor literary license changes, evokes the feel and spirit of Lee's original work. The humor is there and evident and the action is comic book fun. The high point of "Spider-Man" is the first hour or so as the story of how Spider-Man came to be is presented, including Peter's stint as a pro wrestler. There is a lot of charm and humor in the first half that is supplanted by the requisite good guy versus bad guy yarn as Spidey takes on the Green Goblin. At least two sequels are assured. It doesn't matter what I or any other critic say about "Spider-Man." From the opening box-office take I suspect you've probably seen it already, anyway. I give it a B+. For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com laura@reelingreviews.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31783 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311865 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: B+ From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:32 2002 From: Greg Novak Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 01:46:40 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31798 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 312726 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 5624 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31798 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 123 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!newsrelay.mitt.mh.se!news.internet5.net!feeder1.news.jippii.net!nntp.inet.fi!inet.fi!uunet!dca.uu.net!news.tufts.edu!elk.ncren.net!nntp.upenn.edu!news.misty.com!paradoxa.ogoense.net!sn-xit-04!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3621 rec.arts.sf.reviews:274 Spider-Man: A Review By Greg Novak SPIDER-MAN is the latest comic book adaptation to hit the big screen, and it does justice to its predecessor incarnations, such as Superman (1979) and Batman (1989). Actually, it blows them away, and Spider-Man rightfully takes its place at the top of the superhero genre. After earning a record breaking 115 million its opening weekend, Spider-Man just might stick around long enough to outlast all the Star Wars hype. Spider-Man himself is a unique superhero. Unlike Superman, who has extraterrestrial origins and hence never quite fits in, Spider-Man is quite human. However, he has in common with Superman an estrangement from his peers. Superman is lonely because he is an alien, literally. Spider-Man is an alien in a different way. The young Peter Parker is a freak and a geek in a world where conformity and popularity counts. Parker is bad at sports, enjoys science, and is hopelessly in love with someone way outside his class. Such is a recipe for teen-age angst and peer isolation. He gets picked on, beat up, and overlooked, and all he can do is take it. Parker is the quintessential underdog (not to be confused with another cartoon superhero), and as such, one cares for him from the start. Parker's days as an outcast soon changes thanks to a school visit to a science lab, where Parker becomes the victim of a genetically altered spider, whose bite suddenly gives Parker spider-like powers. He doesn't leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he can sure climb over them pretty fast. Tobey Maguire won the role of Spider-Man, and his meek and childlike form, makes him an unlikely candidate for such a part. He's the last person you'd expect to see swinging from skyscrapers. But Maguire projects a natural innocence that disarms and rewrites the traditional superhero stereotype. Clark Kent only acted like an innocent geek. Parker really is one. Superman director, Sam Raimi, had an answer to those who originally criticized his choice of Maguire as Spider-Man. "I wasn't looking for Spider-Man," he announced, "I was looking for Peter Parker." In Maguire, he definitely found him. However, the film would not have worked if Raime got the superhero right, but the villain wrong. From the beginning, the film threatens to be a trite two-dimensional rendering of the good vs. evil archetypes so prevalent in the superhero genre. As such the movie could easily have degenerated into cliché. When I first saw scenes for Spider-Man, the trailer emphasized snippets of "the Green Goblin," a devise that dampened my original anticipation for this film. I've long ago tired of the evil super-villain whose only goal in life is to destroy the good guy. I want to see superheroes kick the ass of ordinary people for a change. But, William Dafoe, who plays the menacing and twisted Green Goblin, actually delivers some dimension to his character. Dafoe is the latest to join the club of heavy weight actors who have portrayed similar villains, such as Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. And Dafoe does a wonderful job! I especially enjoyed his troubled and schizophrenic conversations with his evil alter ego. The film cleverly adds dimension to his character by showing the Green Goblin as a caring, if someone strict and stern father. The Goblin is actually Norman Osborn, rich industrialist, and father of Parker's best friend. Osborn is impressed by Parker's intelligence and maturity, and as such, he tries to help Parker advance his career, not knowing of course that Parker is Spider-Man. That twist adds an element of humanity to the Green Goblin, an element often lacking in this genre. It actually has shades of the wonderful depth given to Lex Luthor in the current hit TV series Smallville. Half the time you hate the Green Goblin; the other half, you pity him. Osborn actually starts out as somewhat likeable. He demands a lot of his son and has plenty of respect for the hard working Parker. However, a little introduction to "performance enhancers" designed by his company for military application, not only increases his strength, but it enhances his darker side as well. His natural competitiveness turns into a psychopathic obsession to destroy his enemies. In additional to well drawn characters, the film also develops a decent script, one that doesn't take itself too seriously. The film's humor is a particular strength. Who can forget the wonderful counsel of Parker's aunt, who is concerned about Parker's excessive schedule? "You need to slow down," she advises, "You're not Superman, you know." And I wasn't expecting to see a hilarious prototype of Spider-Man's costume, the one he had before he got it right! Equally hilarious was Parker's attempt to get a name for himself. All the unimaginative Parker could devise was the somewhat uninspiring "the Human Spider." It took the spin and imagination of a wrestling announcer to immortalize the name "the Amazing Spider-Man!" Parker's editor at the Daily Bugle, outrageously played by J. Jonah Jameson, also deserves credit for injecting humor into the film. He gives us the cheesy name, "The Green Goblin," in order to sell papers and then demands a quarter in royalties from anyone who uses it! The humor allows the viewer to gloss over any potential cheesiness to these characters. You can't laugh at the corniness if they've already done that for you. One hardly needs to analyze the action and the special effects. The age of computer-generated images has rendered it virtually impossible to do these poorly. Suffice to say; when Spider-Man swings from tall buildings, you get vertigo. From beginning to end, the film delivers great action, great effects, and great suspense. All that, combined with the humanity of its characters, a well-written script, and some great humor, and Spider-Man sets a new standard for the superhero genre. Now all he needs is a good song by Five For Fighting. "I can't stand to swing, I'm not that naïve. Men weren't meant to ride, swinging in the breeze." Hmmm, doesn't quite work. A few nits: The film reveals that Spider-Man can stick to walls because of the hairy filaments sticking out of his appendages, such as his hands and feet. However, his costume covers his entire body! He shouldn't be able to stick to anything while wearing his costume. I also found myself asking how exactly spider venom rewrites human DNA? Venom acts as paralyzing agent in its victims, and as far as I know, it can't perform genetic engineering. Nits aside, with a little suspension of disbelief, this film quite easily draws you into its world. Improvements: In the original Spider-Man, webs don't come with Spidy's superhero package. The highly intelligent Parker has to manufacture a clever devise to create his webs. I always hated this. Spider-Man's signature powers were manufactured! They corrected this mistake for the film, and Parker now gets the full range of spider traits, including his webbing. ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31798 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 312726 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 5624 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:32 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news-stob.telia.net!news-sto.telia.net!newsfeed.stueberl.de!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Christian Pyle Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 18:17:35 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31870 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 315035 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1057 X-RT-RatingText: A Summary: r.a.m.r. #31870 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 77 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3685 rec.arts.sf.reviews:286 Spider-Man Reviewed by Christian Pyle Directed by Sam Raimi Written by David Koepp (based on the comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko) Starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, and Kirsten Dunst Grade: A Fans of Marvel Comics have had to suffer through lots of awful live-action versions of their favorite characters (up to and including David Hasselhoff as grizzled secret agent Nick Fury) over the last thirty years. Even when comic-book features were all the rage after 1989's "Batman," all Marvel could muster was a dull, low budget "Captain America" and a Roger Corman-produced "Fantastic Four" that was so awful that direct-to-video was too good for it. However, the time for Marvel Comics on the big screen seems to have finally arrived. "Spider-man" captures the spirit of the comics perfectly, even miraculously. The basic story is familiar even to those who've never read a comic book: nerdy Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gets bit by a radioactive spider and gets super powers. In the movie, the spider is not radioactive; it's the result of genetic engineering, a new species of super spider, but the result's the same. Peter sprouts muscles that give him super strength and agility, finds he can climb walls, and learns how to shoot webs from his wrists. (That's another revision from the comics; there Spider-man's web comes from mechanical devices he invented. Frankly, the movie's version makes more sense.) Peter's first impulse is to use his powers for profit so that he can buy a sportscar to impress the prettiest girl in school, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). However, a tragedy soon shows him that "with great power comes great responsibility." Meanwhile, industrialist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) has decided to test his process to create super-humans on himself. He emerges with a maniacal alter-ego, the Green Goblin. "Spider-man" is the most faithful rendering of a superhero comic to film ever. The filmmakers obviously respect the work of Spider-man co-creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The "origin" portion of the movie adapts their first Spider-man story almost panel by panel. Moreover, the tone of the film is true to the spirit of Marvel. Although they vanquish their villains, Marvel heroes silently suffer inner pain that keeps them from achieving real happiness. They agonize over sacrifices they have to make, and they are feared and hated by the public they protect. David Koepp's script captures all of that. Maguire is perfect as the timid Peter, although his Spider-man voice could use more verve. Dunst's sweet Mary Jane is different than the flashy fashion-plate in the comics but is quite effective. (The movie M. J. seems more like Gwen Stacy, Peter's college sweetheart in the comics.) Dafoe was born creepy. J.K. Simmons (of "Oz" and "Law & Order") could have stepped right off the comics page as Spider-man-hating newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson Director Sam Raimi seemed to change personality when he directed 1998's "A Simple Plan." Prior to that, the secret to appreciating his films was to realize that they were deadpan parodies. But "Simple Plan" doesn't have a trace of a smirk in it. He followed it with two more "serious" movies: "For Love of the Game" (1999) and "The Gift" (2000). "Spider-man" seems to integrate the two Sam Raimis and, as a result, strikes the perfect note. It has the sense of fun that makes "Evil Dead II" such a hoot but treats the melodrama of Peter's life with a straight face. Only one scene didn't seem to fit: the moment where the Goblin is vanquished seemed more appropriate for "Army of Darkness" than for "Spider-man." Raimi fans should look for his pals Lucy Lawless, Ted Raimi, and Bruce Campbell in small roles. His 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 also turns up. © 2002 Christian L. Pyle ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31870 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 315035 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1057 X-RT-RatingText: A From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!128.230.129.106!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news-out.nuthinbutnews.com!propagator-sterling!news-in.nuthinbutnews.com!isdnet!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Harvey S. Karten Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 02:25:51 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31710 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310492 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 570 X-RT-AuthorID: 1123 X-RT-RatingText: 3/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31710 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 102 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3535 rec.arts.sf.reviews:254 SPIDER-MAN Rating out of 4 stars:3 Reviewed by Harvey Karten Columbia Pictures Director: Sam Raimi Writer: David Koepp, based on Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko Cast: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons Screened at: Beekman, NYC, 5/1/02 What never ceases to amaze me is that human begins became lords of all living creatures. Yeah, I know that the bible grants us dominionl, but look at how we can be snapped like at a twig in the hands of an ape; how the most muttish dog can run faster than we can and have a sense of smell a hundred times more acute than those of our own species; how little chamelons and change colors; and most of all how even the lowly flea, the ugly pigeon and the beautiful butterfly alike can fly under their own power. That's what might come to your mind when you see "Spider- Man," David Koepp's snappy adaptation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Marvel Comic Book series of the same name directed by Sam Raimi whose gift for imaginative, even surreal cinema has been proven by his helming of "The Hudsucker Proxy," "The Gift," and "Darkman." Whether or not you're a fan of the 40- year-old Marvel comic or what we used to call joke-books in general, you'll marvel at the way a nerdy lad, given some of the gifts of the lowly spider, is able to conquer evil through his ability to spin webs, climb buildings, and swing like Tarzan from Manhattan skyscrapers to the roofs of residences in his own Queens, New York nabe. Choosing wisely, Raimi has put Tobey Maguire in the title role. Maguire, so good in roles of a smart young guy who is nonetheless deferential to those who are older ("Wonder Boys," "Cider House Rules"), is an orphan being raised in a lower- middle-class area of Queens by his Uncle Ben (played in an appropriately avuncular manner by Cliff Robertson) and doting Aunt May (Rosemary Harris, known to arthouse audiences in such works as "Tom and Viv," "Sunshine" and "Crossing Delancey," Now in high school, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has had a crush on the girl next door since fourth grade, though you might wonder why, since hair stylist Janice Alexander took away the short blond mane that made Kirsten Dunst the cat's meow in the Peter Bogdonavich picture, replacing it with a cheap reddish tint that presumably fits a kid from a working- class, Woodhaven Boulevard row-house. Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), known here as M.J., has her eyes on Harry Osborn (James Franco), son of the rich industrialist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), scarcely looking at the heartsick Peter Parker, who is pushed around by high- school classmates who consider Peter a freak. When Peter is accidentally bitten by a genetically altered spider while on a field trip, he pulls a Jeff Goldblum. But since Sam Raimi is not David Cronenberg and David Koepp remains true to the comic book, Peter remains thoroughly human but with powers that could turn any criminal that gets in his way into an arachnophobe. The violent death of Uncle Ben turns the high-school senior into a crime fighter. Selecting his targets, he cleans up whatever violators of the social contract remain in the Big Apple that Rudy Giuliani missed, but meets his match at the hands of the Green Goblin who is none other than industrialist Norman Osborn, victim of an experiment gone awry which turns the stable Jekyll into a criminally insane Hyde who must fight against the domination of his evil side like a crack addict battling a force greater than himself. "Spider-Man" is full of comedy, particularly in the person of J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), an editor of a local tabloid, who fires orders to this cowed staff and suggests as tabloids would be wont to do that Spider-Man and The Green Goblin are somehow working together. Raimi has balanced the comic- book ambience with a down-to-earth cinematic style, avoiding the look of a Japanese anime and the morbid look that an Alex Proyas ("Dark City") might have preferred. Action scenes are intersperced with the activities of just plain folks, comic activity with occasional poignance. The reliabe Danny Elfman contributes an appropriate, unobtrusive score. When we sit at the edge of our seats, as we may occasionally do, it's not because we're caught up in some Hitchcokian suspense thriller, but because we're wondering if or when the Clark Kentish Spider-Man will reveal his identity to the Lois Lane-like Mary Jane. The answer is revealed in a heartbreaking scene near the conclusion, setting us up for a sequel or two to which we will happily look forward. Rated PG-13. Running time: 120 minutes. (C) 2002 by Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31710 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310492 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 570 X-RT-AuthorID: 1123 X-RT-RatingText: 3/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!213.56.195.71!fr.usenet-edu.net!usenet-edu.net!freenix!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Jon Popick Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 02:44:09 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31717 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310638 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 595 X-RT-AuthorID: 1146 X-RT-RatingText: 9/10 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31717 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 81 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3540 rec.arts.sf.reviews:255 Planet Sick-Boy: http://www.sick-boy.com "We Put the SIN in Cinema" © Copyright 2002 Planet Sick-Boy. All Rights Reserved. It's awfully rare for a big, over-hyped summer blockbuster to live up to expectations. We've been so disappointed by films like Pearl Harbor, Episode One, The Mummy, Wild Wild West, Independence Day and Men in Black (okay, maybe it's just Will Smith) that marginally entertaining films like The Fast and the Furious and X-Men seem like pure gold. Spider-Man is, thankfully, a welcome exception that, like it or not, heralds the beginning of the latest comic book-turned-feature film-franchise. What makes it work? For starters, director Sam Raimi is one of the best filmmakers out there, especially when it comes to making dark, comic-booky stuff (like, say, the Evil Dead and Darkman trilogies). There's a solid script from David Koepp, who has penned a few portentous films of his own (Panic Room and A Stir of Echoes, which he also directed). And the lead role is perfectly cast - a lot of people groaned when Wonder Boys' Tobey Maguire (or is he now Cider-Man?) got the call to play Peter Parker, but he effectively straddles the line between ass-kicking superhero and greasy-haired A/V club president. Much to the chagrin of Ritalin-deprived Spidey fans, Spider-Man takes its time, both literally and figuratively. Koepp and Raimi do a great job setting up Peter's pre-crime-fighting life, spending about an hour showing how he got his powers and harnessed them in a positive way. This portion of the film takes place over a leisurely period of time, which is pretty refreshing - it isn't like Peter gets bitten by the spider and, later that afternoon, becomes a nemesis to criminals everywhere. The aforementioned arachnid chomps on Peter during a high-school field trip while he silently pines for Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst, The Cat's Meow), the red-haired neighbor he's had a crush on since the age of six. Of course, she's dating the school bully (Joe Manganiello), who goes out of his way to make the scrawny Peter miserable. Recent private-school transfer Harry Osborn (James Franco, Freaks and Geeks) is Peter's only friend, though he's dogged by a strained relationship with his overbearing father - and international business tycoon - Norman (Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire). Norman and his Oscorp are about to lose a huge Defense Department contract to a rival R&D company. A hasty late-night laboratory decision messes him up and turns him into the evil Green Goblin, who flies around on a very cool sled and wears a mask like those guys from Styx's Kilroy Was Here album. He becomes obsessed with destroying Spider-Man, setting up the big battle we all knew was coming. Meanwhile, Peter is going through your basic superpowers acceptance process (embarrassment to cockiness to guilt to revenge), occasionally pausing to pout about M.J. and cry tiny Spider tears. It's mostly all good, despite the romance angle often threatening to grind the film to a halt. But I bet nobody will be talking about that, instead opting to rave about the incredible special effects, most notably the Goblin's sled and the spastic, breakneck web-swinging Spidey does through Manhattan (cinematographer Don Burgess is certainly no stranger to frenetic camera movement - he's worked on What Lies Beneath, Contact, and will shoot the upcoming T3). There are a couple of other minor flaws in Spider-Man, like when it falls into typical summer blockbuster traps by featuring both product placement and a high-profile live musical performance (Macy Gray). But there's more than enough to offset it - Danny Elfman's score (his best since Sleepy Hollow), a very funny explanation of the origin of Spidey's costume, and a scene-stealing performance from the usually creepy J.K. Simmons (Oz) as Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. There are also a bunch of cheesy Stan Lee-type one-liners, which will make you either giggle or groan, depending on how you like that sort of thing. Look for cameos ranging from Lee to Lucy Lawless to wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage to the impossibly chinned Bruce Campbell (from Raimi's Evil Dead films). 1:52 - PG-13 for stylized violence and action ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31717 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310638 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 595 X-RT-AuthorID: 1146 X-RT-RatingText: 9/10 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 From: Steve Rhodes Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 03:20:11 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31725 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310560 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 703 X-RT-AuthorID: 1271 X-RT-RatingText: 3/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31725 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 72 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.ebone.net!news1.ebone.net!deine.net!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!lnsnews.lns.cornell.edu!paradoxa.ogoense.net!sn-xit-04!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3549 rec.arts.sf.reviews:257 SPIDER-MAN A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): *** So is SPIDER-MAN, by director Sam Raimi (A SIMPLE PLAN), worthy of its massive hype? Not really, but it is a solidly entertaining popcorn flick. Starring a well cast Tobey Maguire (PLEASANTVILLE) as Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, and Kirsten Dunst (CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL) as his love interest, Mary Jane Watson, the film has major box office hit written all over it. Filled with the great special effects that summer crowds love, the movie is a definite audience pleaser, especially for the extremely lucrative age 12 to 22 demographics. (In case you didn't get the memo, the studios have moved the official opening date for summer up to the first weekend in May. No kids, school officials have not been so informed.) For those of you, like me, who haven't ever cracked open a Spider-Man comic, the movie shows us that superhero-to-be Peter obtains his special powers of leaping tall buildings with a single web by getting bitten by a genetically modified spider. The best and funniest part of the picture comes soon after the spider noshes on Peter's hand. At first Peter, who lives with his aunt (Rosemary Harris) and uncle (Cliff Robertson), doesn't know how to control his newfound powers. He finds the powers helpful in fighting school bullies, but he isn't quite sure how they work. It is during this playful period that the best laughs occur and the film is the most fun. Eventually Peter gets the knack of how to throw a web on command and other such spidery skills. A tragedy causes him to dedicate his life to battling the forces of evil in the world. After helping stop normal criminals, he finds his match in a creature known as Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). This Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type is known as Norman Osborn on his good days. Norman is a billionaire defense contractor whose son, Harry, rooms with Peter. Harry is played blandly by James Franco in the only decidedly bad casting of the movie. Although mainly a visual treat, the movie has a few choice lines. "Work was murder," Norman tells Peter's aunt after arriving late for her small dinner party. Since he just torched a building, his words are dead-on. "You're no superman, you know," Peter's aunt tells him in a bit of dialog guaranteed to tickle any audience. Actually, she's wrong. The movie SPIDER-MAN is pretty much just an updated SUPERMAN for our time with Maguire in the Superman role and Dunst in the Lois Lane part. This isn't a bad thing. SUPERMAN was quite entertaining and so is SPIDER-MAN, which is good since Maguire and Dunst already have signed deals for two sequels. SPIDER-MAN runs a little long at 1:51. It is rated PG-13 for "stylized violence and action" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up. My son Jeffrey, age 13, liked everything about the picture, giving it a full ****. He liked the casting, the acting, the special effects and the story. The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 3, 2002. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters. Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com *********************************************************************** Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email? Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31725 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310560 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 703 X-RT-AuthorID: 1271 X-RT-RatingText: 3/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 From: Bob Bloom Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 03:21:55 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31726 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310650 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 872 X-RT-AuthorID: 1363 X-RT-RatingText: 3/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31726 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 86 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.kth.se!uio.no!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!lnsnews.lns.cornell.edu!paradoxa.ogoense.net!sn-xit-04!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3553 rec.arts.sf.reviews:258 SPIDER-MAN (2002) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons. Music by Danny Elfman. Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Screenplay by David Koepp. Directed by Sam Raimi. Approx. 125 minutes. Rated PG-13. Spider-Man spins a fanciful web of action, angst and humor. This long-awaited screen adaptation of the Marvel super hero does not disappoint. It careens along at a pace that crams in all the important components of the Spider-Man mythos. The question on the minds of most fans of the comic hero deals with the performance of Tobey Maguire, whose transformation from the nerdy Peter Parker to the amazing human arachnid is the foundation on which the film rests. Maguire's acts admirably. As Parker he might seem a bit too laid back, too introspective, but after donning Spidey's red suit he exudes more flash and panache. The film follows Spider-Man's origin quite faithfully. Peter is bitten by a genetically altered spider and soon discovers he has unusual powers, including great strength and agility as well as a keen "spider sense." He also can shoot webbing from his wrists. At first he plans to use these powers for his own selfish means, but after a tragedy claims his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), he sees the light and becomes a fearsome crimefighter. As in the comics, he most dangerous adversary is the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), who also is a genetically altered individual, only his mind was affected by his metamorphosis. In their civilian guises as Peter Parker and Norman Osborn, the two come close to a father-son relationship, which wounds young Harry Osborn (James Franco), Peter's best friend. Meanwhile Harry's girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), is falling in love with Spider-Man, who, as Peter, has had a crush on her since they were in grade school. Stan Lee's creation upped the ante on comic book characters, making them more complex and three-dimensional than those who inhabited Metropolis and Gotham City. Spider-Man is a special effects feast for the eyes, but after a while the computer-generated imaging of Spidey slinging his way through the city and the Goblin zooming around tend to have a sameness about them. That also applies to the fights between the adversaries. They never rise to the spectacular. Dafoe offers a dynamic characterization as a man torn between his good and evil selves. His villain is one you can pity more than hate. Dunst is beautiful as MJ, but spends most of her time being rescued by Spidey. Franco offers touching support as the friend who sees his father's affection and attention lavished upon others. Spider-Man, written by David Koepp and directed by Sam Raimi, is loads of fun, but it lacks a feeling of originality. That may be because of the score by Danny Elfman, which is very reminiscent of his music from the first Batman movie. But these miscues should not stop you from enjoying one whale of a slam-bang cinematic ride. Spider-Man goes deeper than most comic adaptations and should be applauded for its integrity as well as its entertainment value. Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloomjc@yahoo.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31726 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310650 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 872 X-RT-AuthorID: 1363 X-RT-RatingText: 3/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 From: Susan Granger Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 03:22:58 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31727 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310651 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 742 X-RT-AuthorID: 1274 X-RT-RatingText: 8/10 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31727 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 35 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!dos.canit.se!newsfeed.sollentuna.se!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.syr.edu!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!lnsnews.lns.cornell.edu!paradoxa.ogoense.net!sn-xit-04!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3548 rec.arts.sf.reviews:256 Susan Granger's review of "SPIDER-MAN" (Universal Pictures) Directed by Sam Raimi, this initial movie is just the beginning of the gigantic web the 40 year-old Marvel comic book superhero will spin. Tobey Maguire stars as Peter Parker, a guileless, awkward, bespectacled orphan who lives in Queens, New York, with his devoted Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). He's a geeky high school senior, hanging out with his buddy Harry Osborn (James Franco), fantasizing about beautiful Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and enduring humiliation from jocks - until he's bitten by a genetically-altered spider at a Columbia University science lab. Soon after, much to his surprise, he discovers he's developed an ESP-like "spider sense," along with perfect vision, enormous strength and amazing acrobatic agility. He first uses his powers frivolously but then, when Uncle Ben is killed in a carjacking, he becomes an arachnid crime fighter, decked out in a cobwebby Spider-Man outfit. "With great power comes great responsibility," as his uncle used to say. His personal nemesis is industrialist Norman Osborn (William Dafoe), his friend's father who ingested an experimental vapor which transforms him into the violently insane, armor-clad Green Goblin, and his maniacal Jekyll-and-Hyde duality provides terrific diversion. But it's the very human charm of actor Tobey Maguire that makes all this swinging-from-threads superhero stuff work, particularly when Peter gets the confidence to pursue M.J., the-girl-next-door, culminating in a rain-drenched kiss while he's dangling upside down off a Manhattan building. Despite some contriving, Raimi and writer David Koepp never lose the lighthearted comic-book sensibility. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Spider-Man" is an iconic, introductory 8 - with Spidey sequels already being planned. ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31727 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310651 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 742 X-RT-AuthorID: 1274 X-RT-RatingText: 8/10 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!luth.se!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!hub1.nntpserver.com!telocity-west!TELOCITY!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Christopher Null Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 19:26:33 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31732 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310677 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 178 X-RT-AuthorID: 1062 X-RT-RatingText: 4/5 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31732 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 126 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3575 rec.arts.sf.reviews:263 SPIDER-MAN A film review by Christopher Null Copyright 2002 filmcritic.com If you aren't already sick to death of unyielding Spider-Man promotions for burgers, cellular phone plans, and the movie itself, you might just find the film a good time. Really good, in fact. After a dozen or so years of fantastically bitter legal wrangling, Spider-Man has finally crawled to the big screen. For the uninitiated (and even for those of us who grew up with the comics but can't remember all the details), Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is the whipping boy of his New York high school. He's got a crush on the girl next door, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), and his best friend Harry (James Franco) is the son of the local millionaire/scientist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). But Parker turns from geek to freak when he is bitten by a genetically-engineered (no longer "radioactive") spider and soon develops super powers -- the ability to climb sheer walls, superhuman strength, incredible speed, a kind of sixth sense, and those famous webs that spring from his wrists. What follows is typical of the superhero genre film, as Dafoe's Osborn turns villainous by experimenting on himself with some kind of superhuman concoction. He dons a plastic suit and climbs aboard a strange one-man jet-glider, then is nicknamed the Green Goblin as he kills off his enemies and disturbs the peace. Will Spider-Man vanquish the villain? Will he get the girl? Directed by Sam Raimi, of such films as The Evil Dead and A Simple Plan, Spider-Man is an inventive and fun action flick. It's somewhat mindless, but it has a certain wry, Raimi sensibility that fans of his will recognize and enjoy. Then again, I was surprised by the number of walkouts during our screening; maybe Raimi's sense of humor doesn't translate to everyone. The best moments of the film are at the beginning, when Peter Parker gets his famous spider bite, as he comes to terms with his newfound powers, and as he decides to "use his powers for good." The scenes where he tries to figure out how his new webs work and the debut of his spider costume (in an amateur wrestling ring) are priceless -- and are fabulously appropriate updates to what has become a pretty dated superhero story. The photography is astounding (even though most of the effects are CGI, they're really good CGI). We get to ride along on Spidey's web rides, and it feels like we too are perched on the side of the Empire State Building. And I only caught one goof, when Dunst's hair blows into the wind as she and Spidey are swinging through the streets. Also of note: Considering Raimi's past work, it's not surprising how funny Spider-Man can be. With mildly naughty (yet still PG-13) lines, even the most mundane moments are made a little bit comedic. Frankly it's the best comedy I've seen all year, and it's way better than the straightforward and pedantic X-Men. The only downside is the bad guy. The Green Goblin is one of the lamest villains ever to appear in the movies. His green suit is ridiculous and comical, and Dafoe's many monologues, delivered through a black piece of fabric that covers his gaping mouth, are hard to listen to because his character is just so stupid. (Unfortunately, pretty much all of Spider-Man's foes are lame, including such characters as "Lizard" and "Beetle.") What's the upshot? My Spidey sense says that Raimi will finally hit the A-list, Maguire will get some new respect, and this film is gonna make a whole lot of money. RATING: **** [* = lowest rating / ***** = highest rating] MPAA Rating: PG-13 Director: Sam Raimi Producer: Ian Bryce, Laura Ziskin Writer: David Koepp Starring: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, Michael Papajohn http://www.spiderman.sonypictures.com/ --- filmcritic.com / http://filmcritic.com/ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31732 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310677 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 178 X-RT-AuthorID: 1062 X-RT-RatingText: 4/5 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.net.uni-c.dk!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.wirehub.nl!news-out.nuthinbutnews.com!propagator-sterling!news-in.nuthinbutnews.com!isdnet!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Shannon Patrick Sullivan Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 22:02:28 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31744 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311357 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 886 X-RT-AuthorID: 1699 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31744 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 127 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3563 rec.arts.sf.reviews:260 SPIDER-MAN (2002) / *** 1/2 Directed by Sam Raimi. Screenplay by David Koepp, based on the comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst. Running time: 121 minutes. Rated PG for frightening scenes by the MFCB. Reviewed on May 4th, 2002. By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN Synopsis: When nerdy high school student Peter Parker (Maguire) is bitten by a genetically engineered spider, he finds himself developing spider-like abilities. He can climb walls and spin webs, is preternaturally strong and agile, and even has a precognitive sixth sense. Peter sees his newfound powers as a way to make a fast buck until his irresponsible behaviour results in a tragedy he could have averted. Forging a costume and christening himself "Spider-Man", Parker seeks to make a name for himself as a hero. His first challenge is the Green Goblin, the psychotic alter ego of millionaire scientist Norman Osborn (Dafoe). The Goblin plans to strike at Spider-Man through those he loves most, including his elderly Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Mary Jane Watson (Dunst), the girl next door Peter secretly loves. Review: The super-hero genre has long trod a rough road at the cinema. Past examples have run the gamut from the downright awful ("Batman And Robin") to moderately good pictures hamstrung by poor casting choices (Margot Kidder in "Superman", Kim Basinger in "Batman") or mediocre scripts ("X-Men"). Indeed, the best comic-to-film transitions have mostly been those which eschewed the graphic novel's men-in-tights tradition -- "Ghost World", for instance. With a flood of new super-hero movies on the horizon, we can only hope that "Spider-Man" heralds a reversal of this trend, for it may well be one of the best examples of the genre ever. It's not perfect by any means, but as both a faithful adaptation of one of comics' most successful characters, and as an early-summer crowd pleaser in its own right, "Spider-Man" is on target. What made the early issues of the first Spidey comic title, "Amazing Spider-Man", so successful, was that the eponymous hero was not just a bland, square-jawed good guy. Creators Stan Lee (who cameos in the movie) and Steve Ditko sought to craft a character who was more complex than that -- one who not only saw his incredible powers as being as much a burden as a gift, but also one whose super-heroic travails were counterpointed by the same day-to-day problems which afflict any teenager. Not only would Spider-Man have to go out and fight Doctor Octopus or Mysterio at night, but then Peter Parker would have to wake up the next morning and figure out how to pay for Aunt May's medical bills. Raimi and Koepp have not lost sight of this fundamental element of the "Spider-Man" legend in composing their feature film. Whereas Bruce Wayne was little more than a convenient cipher in the "Batman" movies, Peter Parker is just as important in "Spider-Man" as his costumed alter ego. Fortunately, Maguire is more than up to the task of portraying this key inner conflict. His Peter is extremely sympathetic, skillfully evoking the same turmoils which many of us faced as teenagers. At the same time, he makes Spider-Man a delightful character who is easy to cheer for. Indeed, it's just a shame that we aren't exposed to more of Spidey's trademark witty banter. Similarly, another attraction of those early "Spider-Man" stories was the fluid artwork of Ditko. Spidey is not a muscle-bound grunt who can easily batter an opponent to the ground. He relies as much on his nimbleness as his enhanced strength. Hence it is very impressive that Raimi's depiction of Spider-Man's heroics concentrate principally on this very facet. Scenes of him bounding from rooftop to rooftop, or swinging along the streets of New York on his webbing, are thrilling to behold. Although Koepp and Raimi have diverged to some degree from the character's four-colour origins, the changes and updates are smart and logical. For example, one of the reasons Lee and Ditko had Parker bitten by a radioactive spider in his comic book origin was because radiation was a key concern for the general public in the early Sixties. That's not really the case any longer, so to maintain a similar sense of relevancy, in the film the spider is genetically engineered. As the Green Goblin, Dafoe is very good, crafting a villain nearly as memorable as Jack Nicholson's Joker in the first "Batman". The Goblin is scary enough to be a potent menace, but maniacal enough to retain the spirit of the comic book character. Dunst is rather less successful; her Mary Jane is unfortunately somewhat bland, and we're never quite convinced that she's as incredible a girl as Peter clearly thinks she is. Of the supporting castmembers, by far the best is JK Simmons, who embraces the notorious J Jonah Jameson with evident relish. Jameson -- a cigar-chomping newspaper editor who decides that Spider-Man is really a menace who must be brought down -- is an inspired character, and Simmons is a lot of fun to watch. It's too bad that he doesn't get more scenes in which to strut his stuff. Harris does a good job as Aunt May; as in the comics, the frail but loving May is both a boon and a hindrance to Peter, and Harris finds the right mix of these aspects. James Franco, who plays Harry Osborn -- Peter's roommate and Norman's son -- is a tad featureless. Consequently, an effort to show a sudden strength of character in the movie's latter scenes rings rather false. The story as a whole hangs together well, skillfully blending character moments with adrenalin-pumping super-heroics. The second half is not quite as impressive as the first: it's unfortunate that the Green Goblin doesn't really have much of a plan besides "get Spider-Man", causing the film to lose some of its dramatic impetus after Peter has established his costumed identity. The climactic showdown between Spider-Man and the Goblin, in particular, comes across as rather perfunctory, although it certainly has its share of thrills. Caught up in legal tangles and studio wrangling, "Spider-Man" has had a long, tough road to the silver screen. It was worth the wait. This is a comic book super-hero brought to life like you've never seen before. Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | Shannon Patrick Sullivan | shannon@mun.ca | +---------------------------------+---------------------------------+ / Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) go.to/drwho-history \ \__ We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars __/ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31744 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311357 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 886 X-RT-AuthorID: 1699 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:46 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Eugene Novikov Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 22:08:42 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31746 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310964 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 610 X-RT-AuthorID: 1577 X-RT-RatingText: A Summary: r.a.m.r. #31746 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 131 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3564 rec.arts.sf.reviews:261 Spider-Man (2002) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/ "Who am I? You sure you wanna know?" Starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons. Directed by Sam Raimi. Rated PG-13. Spider-Man is a magnificent story buttressed by first-rate filmmaking, one of the year's best films and an adventure worth taking for all ages, sexes and dispositions. How wonderful to see this two weeks after The Scorpion King, which didn't dare waste time on either mythology or fight-scene choreography. Spider-Man is meticulous in both departments, constructed with an evident affection for both the source material and the art of cinema. The project was helped by a pair of brilliant, unorthodox choices: hiring the versatile Sam Raimi to direct and the heretofore impish Tobey Maguire to star. The importance of these decisions hasn't been wildly realized: here's a studio taking a 130 million dollar risk, and here is that risk paying off beyond anyone's imagination. It is only appropriate that the first attempt at a live-action adaptation of the legendary Marvel comic book would tell the origin story. It begins by insisting that "like all stories, it's about a girl." The girl is Mary Jane, played by the almost indescribably gorgeous Kirsten Dunst, but the story isn't really about her. It's about Peter Parker (Maguire), the socially inept science geek who is bitten by a genetically engineered spider while on a field trip to a museum. He goes to bed woozy and wakes up the next day to discover that something really bizarre is going on. You see, Peter Parker is now Spider-Man, complete with wall-climbing powers, superhuman strength, web-slinging abilities and a helpful Spider Sense that seems to slow time whenever danger approaches. Peter treats these new skills as a toy, and one of the most exhilirating scenes has him trying them out; it is here that Raimi, his cinematographer, and composer Danny Elfman move from the amiably sympathetic tone of adolescent angst to the grandiose sense of awe and excitement that are to permeate the rest of the film. When a thoughtless act kills his beloved Uncle Ben, whom he nastily told off in the previous scene, he vows to abide by the man's last words to him: "with great power comes great responsibility." His first mission is to find the killer. Peter is friends with Harry, who is the son of Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), a Machiavellian technology tycoon. Every hero needs a villain, and Osborn, desperate to obtain a contract with the U.S. Military, tests a controversial performance-enhancing serum on himself. Something goes Horribly Wrong, and out comes Osborn's alter ego: the Green Goblin, bent on death, destruction and domination. On top of all of this, of course, is the editor of the Daily Bugle (an utterly riotous J.K. Simmons; why isn't he a star?), who stubbornly insists on making both Spiderman and the Goblin into villains. There is a remarkable number of levels at work here. The mythology itself is fairly complex, particularly in the relationships between Peter, Harry and Norman. Willem Dafoe plays the latter as a schizophrenic given a supernatural dimension; a conflicted human being who is as confused and bewildered as the hero is. There is a dinner scene a little more than halfway through the movie -- you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you see it -- during which we feel that the movie will burst from the dramatic ironies and the not-yet-discovered tensions that fill the screen. But then there's also Mary Jane, and the entire metaphor of both of them discovering their sexuality while Parker is exploring his newfound powers. In what will become the movie's trademark scene, the two share a kinky upside-down kiss; the strange part is that it's on a whim; she has no idea who he is other than the fact that he just saved her life. Meanwhile, he continues to secrete bodily fluids in the form of spider webs. I don't think I'm reading too much into it. Late in the film, there is genuine poignancy, moments that brought tears to my eyes even as I chided myself for almost crying during what is ostensibly a superhero movie. The Green Goblin's last words will stick with me; Raimi never abandons any of his characters, not even the villain, and the four words he utters before his demise at the hands of his own invention cement him as a human being and give the entire movie yet another dimension. And Spider-Man's final minutes, which I won't reveal except to say that this is one movie where the hero doesn't necessarily get to bag the girl, are pitch-perfect, triumphant but also moving, and more than a little sad. I don't want to mislead you. The movie's soul is as much in its rousing, spectacular action scenes as in its quiet character moments. Its two facets combine to form exactly what an action movie should be, and one couldn't exist without the other. When Spider-Man soars, and Danny Elfman's amazing score reaches its crescendo, the heart sings. Grade: A Up Next: E.T. the Extra Terrestrial ©2002 Eugene Novikov ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31746 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 310964 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 610 X-RT-AuthorID: 1577 X-RT-RatingText: A From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news-peer-europe.sprintlink.net!news.stupi.se!netnews.com!isdnet!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Laura Clifford Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 22:34:34 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31752 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311156 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1487 X-RT-RatingText: B- Summary: r.a.m.r. #31752 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 84 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3573 rec.arts.sf.reviews:262 SPIDER-MAN ---------- Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire, "The Cider House Rules") is the picture of the 98 pound weakling. The spectacled teen is constantly harassed at school and barely noticed by Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst, "The Cat's Meow"), his neighbor since the age of six and unrequited love. His only friend is fellow outsider Harry Osborn (James Franco, TV's "James Dean"), son of millionaire scientist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe, "Shadow of the Vampire"). When a class trip takes them to a spider exhibition, Norman and Peter jockey for MJ's attention, but Peter instead gets bitten by a genetically altered arachnid in director Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man." Raimi ("The Evil Dead," "A Simple Plan") delivers a commercial comic that's head and shoulders above the bloated summer blockbusters of 2001, yet he backs away from the edge of exploring the darker aspects of his titular character. Tobey Maguire's perfect reading of Parker's adolescent angst is the most successful aspect of the film. When Peter discovers his new powers, his first thought is to use them to attain his own ends. Having noted MJ's excitement over her boyfriend Flash's (Joe Manganiello) new car, he spots an ad that promises an amateur wrestling winner $2,000 - the exact price of a used sports car (in whose universe?). He designs a pitiful forerunner of his future Spider-Man costume and holds his own against Bone Saw McGraw (Randy Poffo), but the deceitful promoter will only give him $100, citing a technicality. Peter learns a life lesson when the promoter is robbed and he refuses to stop the robber (Michael Papajohn). Spider-Man begins acting only for the common good, although his motivations are questioned by the Daily Bugle's publisher, J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons, hilarious and dead on). When Norman Osborn experiments on himself in order to keep a Government contract, he morphs into Spidey's first villain, the Green Goblin, and puts MJ in harm's way for Peter's displays of heroism. Meanwhile, the villain's son has scooped his best friend's girl. David Koepp's ("Panic Room") screenplay builds up the parallels between adolescence and the spider transformation. Parker builds muscles, grows hairs and ejects a milky substance that becomes his webbing. The alternate parallels between the transformation of Peter to Spider-Man and Norman to the Green Goblin are less successfully accomplished, and frankly, a bit hokey. The Green Goblin's initial appearance plays like a cross between the Wicked Witch's blitz on the Emerald City and the Penguin's carnival- atmospheric destruction of Gotham City in "Batman Returns." The film's final sequences return some much-needed weight, with Harry set up as the sequel's next vengeful villain and Peter denying his own desires ('With great power comes great responsibility.'). Maguire is simply terrific as the conflicted young man, ping-ponging between the joy and wonder of his newfound abilities and the devastation of spurned love and lost family. A red-headed Dunst is an able love interest. Franco plays Harry like he never left that James Dean biopic, but his mopiness is offset by 'dad' Dafoe's exuberant haminess. Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson are perfectly cast as Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Bruce Campbell ("The Evil Dead") makes an amusing cameo as the wrestling announcer. While the actor's are fun to watch, the special effects are often disappointing. Crumbling balconies and buildings look like sets and Spider-Man's bouncing leaps are clearly unnatural. The film's transitional midsection is awkwardly handled, with snippets of Osborn's story edited in (Arthur Coburn, Bob Murawski) to remind us he's there. Danny Elfmann's score plagiarizes his own for "Edward Scissorhands" when it isn't being stock superhero standard. While "Spider-Man" effectively lays the groundwork for a new series, we can hope the filmmakers smooth out the rough edges the second time around. B- For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com laura@reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31752 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311156 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1487 X-RT-RatingText: B- From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.kth.se!uio.no!80.65.228.52.MISMATCH!deine.net!fr.usenet-edu.net!usenet-edu.net!freenix!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Dennis Schwartz Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 22:43:01 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31754 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311052 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: C Summary: r.a.m.r. #31754 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 104 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3581 rec.arts.sf.reviews:264 SPIDER-MAN (director: Sam Raimi; screenwriter: David Koepp/based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; cinematographer: Don Burgess; editors: Bob Murawski/Arthur Coburn; music: Danny Elfman; cast: Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man/Peter Parker), Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin/Norman Osborn), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (Harry Osborn), Cliff Robertson (Ben Parker), Rosemary Harris (May Parker), J. K. Simmons (Jameson), Gerry Becker (Fargas), Joe Manganiello ('Flash' Thompson), Randy Savage (Bone Saw McGraw), Stanley Anderson (General Slocum) Ron Perkins (Dr. Stromm); Runtime: 120; Columbia Pictures; 2002) "This Spider-Man is a sticky popcorn film, that should appeal to a multiplex audience looking for an escape film." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz It's not Superman, it's Spider-Man--and it's a sure-fire critic-proof film that should do well in the box-office. So let the onslaught of summer movies begin with this comic book story started in 1962. It's coldly but efficiently directed by Sam Raimi and is adapted from the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, with David Koepp as the screenwriter. The film looks good, but other than that it fails to have any emotional impact. This Spider-Man is a sticky popcorn film, that should appeal to a multiplex audience looking for an escape film and those not caring how incredulous it all is but filled with amazement at how faithful it is to the comic-book. It's all about childhood hero worship for a superhero to save the world, and in this case he's an ordinary guy from the city. I was not inspired by the trying story, and was not overwhelmed with the CGI special effects (except for the fight scene on the girders of the Queensboro Bridge), which mainly consisted of Spider-Man scaling walls at superspeed and fighting with his arch villain the Green Goblin. Peter Parker (Maguire) is a nerdy high school senior who lives in a working-class Queens neighborhood on a street with a row of houses. He has lived with his kindly Uncle Ben (Robertson) and caring Aunt May (Harris), ever since his parents died. He secretly pines for his next-door neighbor, the attractive redheaded Mary Jane Watson (Dunst), but she's going out with the school bully Flash and doesn't even consider him as a serious prospect. He has made friends with another outsider, Harry Osborn (Franco), who is a rich kid kicked out of a private school. On a high school field trip to visit a Columbia University exhibition on spiders, a genetically modified superspecies spider escapes and bites Peter. Peter realizes he has now been given the powers to scale walls, create webs, has developed super reflexes, doesn't need glasses anymore, has sticky hands, and he is also proud to observe in the mirror the new muscles he has developed. The first test of his powers is when he beats up the bully Flash up in a school fight. He then decides to get money for a sports car to impress Mary Jane -- taking the challenge to fight a wrestling match with Bone Saw McGraw in a steel cage by dressing-up as Spider-Man. He wins but gets cheated out of his promised money by the crooked promoter, who then gets robbed. Peter refuses to help him stop the thief. When he goes to meet Uncle Ben for a ride home, his uncle is shot dead by a street criminal. Peter now vows to use his new powers to get rid of evil. He becomes, as he sarcastically says to himself, "your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." He keeps busy fighting street crime and rescuing fire victims from burning buildings, while concealing his identity with his costume and mask. After high school graduation he moves in with Harry and with his tycoon industrial scientist father Norman Osborn (Dafoe) to their city mansion. To support himself he gets a job as freelance photographer for the crass Mr. Jameson on his exploitive newspaper, taking pictures of Spider-Man in action. At the same time Peter is undergoing an identity crisis, so is Norman. His research company, which develops "human performance enhancement" applications for the military, is about to lose a big contract, so Osborn is induced to perform a risky experiment on himself and becomes the evil Green Goblin when the experiment fails to materialize properly. In his evil state he is reduced to flying around on a rocket-powered board and he gets his revenge by killing off the board of directors who sold him out. Also, to Peter's travail, Harry is dating Mary Jane. This human interest part of the story was far more interesting than the phony looking and emotionally empty computer-generated images of Spider-Man in action. Those images were superimposed on real backgrounds and instead of enhancing the film --took the excitement and pulse out of it. The corniest scene is saved for last, as Peter has finally broken the ice with Mary Jane as she swears her love to him. All Peter can manage to say is that he just wants to be friends. "Only a friend?" she repeats. "That's all I have to give," he says. Now what was that about! Did the spider bite effect his sexuality? The acting was less than amazing by everyone, the script was stripped of any wit, and the special effects were hardly riveting. It's a ridiculous film that somehow managed to survive all the things that were wrong with it and become one that's easy on the eyes. There's already a sequel in the works. REVIEWED ON 5/9/2002 GRADE: C Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" http://www.sover.net/~ozus © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31754 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311052 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: C From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!logbridge.uoregon.edu!tethys.csu.net!nntp!sn-xit-01!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Homer Yen Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Tue, 07 May 2002 17:21:29 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31760 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311637 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: B+ Summary: r.a.m.r. #31760 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 98 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3582 rec.arts.sf.reviews:265 "Spiderman" Spins a Youthful Tale by Homer Yen (c) 2002 "Spiderman" may be the name of a superhero, but the story is really about an ordinary kid. He just happens to have extraordinary powers. Compared to other superhero films about Batman or the X-Men, this film certainly doesn't have their otherworldly feel. For example, when Tobey Maguire in costume says "I'm your friendly, neighborhood Spiderman," he sounds like a total geek. Yet, in many ways, our favorite web-slinger is the most powerful of the lot because it is about human nature rather than colorful villains and their mad schemes. Thus, comparatively, "Spiderman" seems fresher, with a more human perspective. That's something that we can all appreciate. "Spiderman" recounts the superhero's origin and introduces the central characters that spawned the comic book franchise. We meet Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who is nerdy, bookish and socially inept. He's just about to graduate from high school but isn't ready for the world as he is very much an outcast. He has a burning but unrequited love for Mary Jane Parker (Kirsten Dunst). He is being raised by his venerable Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). And his best friend Harry (James Franco) is ashamed of his father's (Willem Dafoe) wealth. Concentrating on Peter Parker rather than his alter ego is the right move. Yes, we do see how a genetically enhanced spider bites Peter and subsequently gives him these super powers. His vision improves, his muscles begin to bulge, and a pesky glutinous substance sprays out from his wrists. But, the film is really a tender story about a frail boy trying to cope with some tough realities of life. They include bullies, responsibility, sacrifice, and love. We see these elements being explored whether it's Peter Parker trying to survive high school or whether it's his alter ego battling the Green Goblin. Tobey Maguire brings fallibility to the character. After all, he's just trying to figure things out. Kirsten Dunst is also enjoyable as we watch her character change from a high schooler motivated by good looks to a young woman attracted to good character. Seeing their relationship evolve was more absorbing than watching Spiderman go against the Green Goblin. However, it's clear that Dafoe as the bad guy relishes being a villain, and he's suitably creepy in that role. As a summer movie, and it lives up to expectations. Visuals are quite impressive, especially in the sequences where Spiderman swings through the concrete jungle shooting out strands from his wrists as his means of travel. And, it's plenty amusing as Peter tries to figure out life and his new powers primarily through trial and error. Just how much do people want to see "Spiderman"? At the local 18-theatre cineplex, this film is playing in 5 of those theatres. That's 25 screenings throughout the day. And on it's first two opening nights when there were a total of 50 showtimes from which to choose, 42 of those were sold out. It's 3-day national opening totaled a record-breaking $114 million, eclipsing the previous record holder by $25 million and became the first film to ever gross over $100 million in it's first three days. You'd have to crawl up and over a wall to get into a theatre during the opening weekend. But it's probably worth the effort. You can't keep a good man down. Grade: B+ S: 1 out of 3 L: 0 out of 3 V: 2 out of 3 ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31760 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311637 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: B+ From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!skynet.be!skynet.be!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Mark R. Leeper Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Tue, 07 May 2002 17:34:13 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31766 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311643 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1309 X-RT-RatingText: 7/10 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31766 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 177 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3584 rec.arts.sf.reviews:266 SPIDER-MAN (a film review by Mark R. Leeper) CAPSULE: Sam Raimi does a comic superhero story that is more character driven than fight driven. Toby McGuire plays Peter Parker, the boy bitten by a spider and finds himself with special spider powers. The film is fairly faithful to the comic book and at the same time is fast-moving and fun. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), low +2 (-4 to +4) Following the review is a non-spoiler discussion of Spider-Man's capabilities. I have not read a lot of comic books since I was in Junior High. At that time Spider-Man was still a new comic, but I read several issues and have read a few since. To be honest it was neither sufficiently weird, nor sufficiently science-fictional to hold my interest at that time. I did like that the characters portrayed were a little better developed than the DC superheroes. I have, however, read enough Spider-Man and X-Men comic books to know that the new film SPIDER-MAN seems closer to the original comic books than the recent X-MEN did. But that is not the only reason I think this is the better of the two films. For my taste the characters of X-MEN did not seem as well-developed and to a much greater extent that film was fight-driven and while SPIDER-MAN is more character-driven. Peter Parker is something of a cliche, much like the title character of CARRIE, but at least we get a better idea of who he is than we did with the characters of most comic book based films. Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) is his school's science nebbish. He can tell you anything about science, but he cannot work up the courage to talk to his attractive next-door-neighbor and classmate, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). An orphan, he is lives a frustrating life in a minor key in a lower-middle class neighborhood of New York. Then Peter is bitten by a spider that was altered by DNA research. (Originally in the comic it was altered by atomic radiation, but writer Stan Lee seems to use whatever science that is current, mysterious, and topical.) Parker is very sick for a few hours, but when he recovers he gets considerably better than just well. He finds he has the power to shoot webs from his wrists. (Why would he develop this at his wrists? I suppose it would be a very different film if he had inherited spinnerets in the same anatomical location where a spider has them.) Now, after hundreds of years when presumably nobody in New York City had super-powers, the same day that Peter Parker becomes spiderized by sheer coincidence someone else gets super-powers also. (What are the chances?) It is Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), the father of Peter's best friend (another twist of fate!) who becomes a super-powered schizophrenic. Osborn is much like Jekyll and Hyde, but instead of Hyde he turns into lurid Green Goblin. Actually, his most amazing power seems to be to keep his balance on a sort of high-speed anti-gravity speeder. But while the film does have fight scenes between him and Spider-Man, they do not drag on as they do in some films like the current BLADE II. Instead, the film focuses on how Parker's relationships change as he discovers his powers. Parker interacts with Ms. Watson as well as his aging aunt and uncle. The latter is played by the venerable Cliff Robertson. (That is an interesting casting choice. Robertson's signature role was Charly Gordon who also finds his relationships changing when he is altered by a scientific experiment.) Actually, the special effects of SPIDER-MAN may be of a lower average quality than most other blockbuster fantasy films of late. In spite of this being one film where wirework might work well, too often the filmmakers rely on digital effects that do not convince the eye. The images create look three-dimensional but frequently will accelerate in ways that look more like cartoon figures. Also, the fact is that while SPIDER-MAN may have a nifty suit, the whole concept does not work well for a movie superhero. Spider- Man's powers are that he is strong and fast, he throws sticky webs, and he sticks to things. His sort of rescue is generally limited to throwing a web to stop someone from falling. But to make a sequence long enough to be interesting on film the person has to fall from a very great height. People fall from very high up indeed in SPIDER-MAN. I will discuss more limitations of the Spider-Man character after the review. And in addition to conceptual limitations, he has another restriction imposed by the writers. As my wife has observed in films, apparently superheroes are frequently not allowed to kill their opponents directly any more, even in fights to the death. Notice that SPIDER-MAN does not kill his opponents. Instead he frazzles them to the point that they make some stupid blunder and conveniently kill themselves. We see this happen at least twice in this film. The writers apparently do not want to risk losing audience sympathy. In fact, these "frazzle-to-death killings" seem to have become standard in many action films. Tobey Maguire simply does not look like the Peter Parker of the comic books, but he does a reasonably convincing job. I am a little reluctant to see him in a mass market film since he has been very good in some arthouse films and now he may not return to that sort of film. Dunst does fine as the attractive friend of Parker. But having recently seen her in THE CAT'S MEOW as an actress who hides her intelligence behind a veneer of perky childishness, I think she is wasted in this simple role. J. K. Simmons is terrific as Parker's nasty boss J. Jonah Jameson. Sam Raimi known for THE EVIL DEAD and DARK MAN directs. SPIDER-MAN was more fun than I was expecting. I'd give it a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale. As long as we are on the subject, there are some things I have never known about Spider-Man. The first observation I would have is that there are marked similarities between Spider-Man and the introverted villain in the episode "Spider Boy" of the radio series "The Shadow" (November 11, 1945) I would be curious how much Stan Lee knew of that episode. In the comic book Spider-Man looks really dramatic swinging among tall buildings, but I have never established how Spider-Man is able to travel very well with his web-swing approach. Necessary (but not sufficient) would be to have buildings at least thirty feet higher than his plane of travel. Actually, depending on the distance between suspension points, it would probably have to be much higher than that. Even in Manhattan he would be extremely limited in where this means of locomotion could take him. He has to alternate suspension points first on one side of his line of travel, then the other or he would end up flattening himself in the plane of the face of the building. He probably would find that it is very difficult to find a sequence of buildings he could use without finding one recessed too far from his line of travel. Web-swinging would of necessity be a very limited means of travel. My guess is that a real Spider-Man would simply walk most places he went. That is a lot less spectacular. Spider-Man's wall climbs would also be impossible. I am not an expert on spiders, but I think that even tarantulas have problems climbing a vertical surface because they are just too heavy. Parker is A LOT heavier than a tarantula. The film suggested that Parker grows hooks on his hands, but even with fishhook gloves one could never get enough purchase to support a human's weight. Not only would ha probably not be able to get to where the crime is, it is not at all clear how he knows where the crime is. Apparently Parker usually just happens on crimes being committed. Most of the crimes he seems to stop are in broad daylight and not in high-crime parts of the city. If it were so easy to find crime, police would probably be better at doing their job and stopping it. It seems to me that the comic book refers to so- called "spider sense." My question is what "spider sense?" Most spiders have a hard time knowing what is going on one or two leg- spans from their body. Web spiders can sense movement further away, but that is really because it causes web vibrations under their bodies. Some hunting spiders, very distant relatives of the spider in the film, have considerably better eyesight, but nothing to match the eyesight of a mammal. If Peter Parker inherited spider senses about all he would need is a tin cup. All this is not to say that spiders cannot do some pretty impressive things--most of which have probably never been used in the Spider-Man comic. Spiderlings use strands of silk to catch the wind and get carried into the air. Live spiders have been found floating in this way in the upper levels of the stratosphere and come down miles out to sea. Most of the impressive things Spider-Man can do he does not get from his spider inheritance. Oh, and at this stage of his maturity he seems to be looking for a mate. Male spiders do this also, of course, but many do not survive the mating ritual. I hope his human side helps him to make a better choice. Mark R. Leeper mleeper@optonline.net Copyright 2002 Mark R. Leeper ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31766 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311643 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1309 X-RT-RatingText: 7/10 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.kth.se!uio.no!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!hub1.nntpserver.com!hub1.meganetnews.com!sjc-peer.news.verio.net!news.verio.net!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Jerry Saravia Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 18:13:42 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31772 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311805 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 875 X-RT-AuthorID: 1314 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31772 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 112 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3604 rec.arts.sf.reviews:268 SPIDER-MAN (2002) Reviewed by Jerry Saravia RATING: 3 stars and a half May 7th, 2002 The Spider-Man comics were always my favorite comics in my childhood. The reason was because it dealt with a superhero who was more nerdy than Clark Kent, and less adept socially, even with dearest Mary Jane Watson. The fact that he lived with his aunt and uncle, practiced web-shooting at night, and paraded around New York City fighting crime only to return to his bedroom is what made it click with me on a personal level. I have been waiting for many years for a real movie about good old Spidey, and finally it has come. So how is it? "Spider-Man" is one of the best superhero movies since the original "Superman" with Christopher Reeve. Yes, it is loud and frenetic but so were the comics, and it never loses sight of its human dimension. The central human dimension is in the character of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), the socially inept high-school senior who is always bullied and tormented by his peers. He has a special fascination with arachnids and with his next-door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), a red-haired beauty with sunny smiles who slowly becomes attracted to Peter. One day, on a class trip to a lab, Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider. He gets pale and collapses once he gets home to his Uncle and Aunt Parker (both played by Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris). The next day, he notices he has rippling muscles, an ability to scale walls and jump from one rooftop to another, and to shoot spider-web from his skin. Naturally, he keeps these superhuman abilities secret, and hopes that they may increase his chances with Mary Jane. Of course, she is interested in Harry Osborn (James Franco), son of the troubled tycoon Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). While Peter discovers his powers and obtains them accidentally, Norman Osborn is about to lose his corporation and subjects himself to dangerous green vapors that split his identity. Hence, the Green Goblin is born, a maniacal sociopath intent on exploding half of New York City with his gizmos and bombs. Outside of losing a corporation he created, I was never clear why Norman was so willing to destroy everything in his path. Now that Spider-Man is known in the news for his heroics, Spidey has to fight the Green Goblin and stop his menace to society. I cannot resist discussing this film in light of September 11th, but in a strange manner, "Spider-Man" is almost a heroic nod to that horrible tragedy in New York, establishing the hero who must save New York from a terrorist, and what else could Green Goblin be? A thrilling sequence where Spider-Man tries to save a cable car full of children and Mary Jane at the same time is followed by New Yorkers on a bridge chanting and raving to the Green Goblin, literally saying, "We are all New Yorkers and will stick together. You fight one of us, you fight all of us!" Well, it is not verbatim but you get the idea. I have a feeling this scene was shot post-September 11th. And there is the last shot of good old Spidey swinging through New York past a prominently displayed American flag. The "Superman" movies focused on these patriotic images because they dealt with a superhero of the world, not just of a metropolitan city. Spider-Man has always been a New York hero, but enough digressions. "Spider-Man" has lots of goodies in store for the audience. I really sensed (a spidey sense?) that Peter Parker, as played by the perfectly cast Tobey Maguire, enjoyed his newly discovered powers and has fun with them as if he was a kid who got a brand new toy. Maguire shows the feckless and determined charisma of Peter Parker and how he shapes himself into being strong and devoted to saving others, not to mention his love for Mary Jane. If there is one problem with the character, it is when he dons the red and blue costume. Spider-Man can't possibly show emotion behind that mask. We hear him talk and we imagine he is horrified during many horrifying sequences where the people of New York are put in harm's way, but there is little sense of individua lity. He swings through the streets with such lightning speed that it may well be a video game or an animated cartoon. If nothing else, this has always concerned me about a big-screen adaptation because we all know what Spider-Man can do, so how do you show him in action if it doesn't necessarily look plausible? Maguire is at his best without the costume, sharing his complete sincerity and love for everyone else he meets (he is so sincere that he makes Tom Cruise blush). We begin to understand how Mary Jane takes a liking to Peter as well, and how can she not? Kirsten Dunst is breezy and sweet as Mary Jane, exuding all the giggles and loving smiles one expects from the character. I would have loved if there was more of her character's home life (she lives with parents who are always shouting at each other) but it is a genuine pleasure seeing her onscreen (she has certainly matured since "Interview With a Vampire" - an actress I never thought could tackle Mary Jane but she delivers here). Willem Dafoe is as menacing and sorrowful as he can be in the best tradition of Jekyll and Hyde as Green Goblin. The mask is also fearsome to look at, and could easily give the Joker a run for his money. His cackle and brooding mannerisms are really something to behold. I also loved a mirror sequence where Norman switches from Green Goblin to his normal self, aiming to stop himself from doing more harm. "Spider-Man" is not as good as "Superman" if only because it is not as richly layered or as complex with its human characters (compare how many scenes there are of newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson to Perry White, and you will get a rough idea). However, this Spidey is superior and more fun than "Batman" or "X-Men" and is consistenly entertaining and expertly staged and acted. Director Sam Raimi is having lots of fun here, as he did with another comic-book type character, Darkman. All I can say is that I am glad Spidey finally made it to the big screen. Post any comments, complaints or questions at http://moviething.com/m embers/movies/faust/forum.shtml or email me at Faust668@aol.com For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/JATMIndex.shtml ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31772 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311805 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 875 X-RT-AuthorID: 1314 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.net.uni-c.dk!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Robin Clifford Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Thu, 09 May 2002 17:16:43 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31783 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311865 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: B+ Summary: r.a.m.r. #31783 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 75 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3605 rec.arts.sf.reviews:269 "Spider-Man" For the one or two hermits out there, I'll give a brief description: 98-pound weakling high school student Peter Parker is bitten, while on a school field trip, by a genetically altered spider. The next morning he awakens to find his bod is totally buff and he has the power of an arachnid with super human speed, agility and the ability to shoot webs from his wrists. But, as his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) would tell him, "with great power comes great responsibility" and Peter learns this the hard way in director Sam Raimi's super slick "Spider-Man." As the record-breaking, opening weekend box office take of $114 million indicates, "Spider-Man" is a critic-proof flick. If every film reviewer across the country horribly panned the movie it would not have one bit of effect on the fans of the comic book super hero. There are several demographics being played to by the filmmakers here: the millions of dedicated fans of Stan Lee's popular Spidey series; then there is the even larger potential audience of comic-book-super-heroes-brought-to-the-big-screen fans; the sci-fi/special F/X freaks will pay the bucks just to see if their socks will get blown off; and, with the film's romantic side of the story with the pretty Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), the Saturday night date crowd gets pulled in, too. I, for one, had a rip roarin' good time from beginning to end. Helmer Raimi deftly moves his talented actors across the screen with precision and energy. The casting could not be more perfect from top to bottom. Tobey Maguire is Peter Parker. The young actor utilizes his low-key manner to terrific effect as he struggles with his newfound power and learns that his destiny is to fight crime and uphold justice. Kirsten Dunst is girl-next-door pretty and sexy and, in one scene in particular, provides the reason for 14 to 24-year old males out there to go see "Spider-Man." Robertson and Rosemary Harris are dead on as Peter's surrogate parents, Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Willem Dafoe is the ham in a ham sandwich as the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like character, brilliant millionaire Norman Osborne who, to save his company, takes an untested human enhancer drug. His turn into the big, bad meanie, the Green Goblin, gives the actor ample opportunity to go over the top and have some fun. Spectacular, in a small but important role, is J.K. Simmons as the publisher and martinet of the town's biggest newspaper (The Daily Bugle), J. Jonah Jamieson. The actor captures the character exactly as I remember him from the days when I read Stan Lee comics. Techs are very good but not great. There is a noticeable shift from live action to computer-generated F/X. The effects have a slight artificiality, but this is small criticism and I got over it pretty quick. David Koepp's screenplay, with some minor literary license changes, evokes the feel and spirit of Lee's original work. The humor is there and evident and the action is comic book fun. The high point of "Spider-Man" is the first hour or so as the story of how Spider-Man came to be is presented, including Peter's stint as a pro wrestler. There is a lot of charm and humor in the first half that is supplanted by the requisite good guy versus bad guy yarn as Spidey takes on the Green Goblin. At least two sequels are assured. It doesn't matter what I or any other critic say about "Spider-Man." From the opening box-office take I suspect you've probably seen it already, anyway. I give it a B+. For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com laura@reelingreviews.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31783 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 311865 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: B+ From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 From: Greg Novak Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 01:46:40 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31798 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 312726 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 5624 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31798 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 123 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!newsrelay.mitt.mh.se!news.internet5.net!feeder1.news.jippii.net!nntp.inet.fi!inet.fi!uunet!dca.uu.net!news.tufts.edu!elk.ncren.net!nntp.upenn.edu!news.misty.com!paradoxa.ogoense.net!sn-xit-04!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3621 rec.arts.sf.reviews:274 Spider-Man: A Review By Greg Novak SPIDER-MAN is the latest comic book adaptation to hit the big screen, and it does justice to its predecessor incarnations, such as Superman (1979) and Batman (1989). Actually, it blows them away, and Spider-Man rightfully takes its place at the top of the superhero genre. After earning a record breaking 115 million its opening weekend, Spider-Man just might stick around long enough to outlast all the Star Wars hype. Spider-Man himself is a unique superhero. Unlike Superman, who has extraterrestrial origins and hence never quite fits in, Spider-Man is quite human. However, he has in common with Superman an estrangement from his peers. Superman is lonely because he is an alien, literally. Spider-Man is an alien in a different way. The young Peter Parker is a freak and a geek in a world where conformity and popularity counts. Parker is bad at sports, enjoys science, and is hopelessly in love with someone way outside his class. Such is a recipe for teen-age angst and peer isolation. He gets picked on, beat up, and overlooked, and all he can do is take it. Parker is the quintessential underdog (not to be confused with another cartoon superhero), and as such, one cares for him from the start. Parker's days as an outcast soon changes thanks to a school visit to a science lab, where Parker becomes the victim of a genetically altered spider, whose bite suddenly gives Parker spider-like powers. He doesn't leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he can sure climb over them pretty fast. Tobey Maguire won the role of Spider-Man, and his meek and childlike form, makes him an unlikely candidate for such a part. He's the last person you'd expect to see swinging from skyscrapers. But Maguire projects a natural innocence that disarms and rewrites the traditional superhero stereotype. Clark Kent only acted like an innocent geek. Parker really is one. Superman director, Sam Raimi, had an answer to those who originally criticized his choice of Maguire as Spider-Man. "I wasn't looking for Spider-Man," he announced, "I was looking for Peter Parker." In Maguire, he definitely found him. However, the film would not have worked if Raime got the superhero right, but the villain wrong. From the beginning, the film threatens to be a trite two-dimensional rendering of the good vs. evil archetypes so prevalent in the superhero genre. As such the movie could easily have degenerated into cliché. When I first saw scenes for Spider-Man, the trailer emphasized snippets of "the Green Goblin," a devise that dampened my original anticipation for this film. I've long ago tired of the evil super-villain whose only goal in life is to destroy the good guy. I want to see superheroes kick the ass of ordinary people for a change. But, William Dafoe, who plays the menacing and twisted Green Goblin, actually delivers some dimension to his character. Dafoe is the latest to join the club of heavy weight actors who have portrayed similar villains, such as Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. And Dafoe does a wonderful job! I especially enjoyed his troubled and schizophrenic conversations with his evil alter ego. The film cleverly adds dimension to his character by showing the Green Goblin as a caring, if someone strict and stern father. The Goblin is actually Norman Osborn, rich industrialist, and father of Parker's best friend. Osborn is impressed by Parker's intelligence and maturity, and as such, he tries to help Parker advance his career, not knowing of course that Parker is Spider-Man. That twist adds an element of humanity to the Green Goblin, an element often lacking in this genre. It actually has shades of the wonderful depth given to Lex Luthor in the current hit TV series Smallville. Half the time you hate the Green Goblin; the other half, you pity him. Osborn actually starts out as somewhat likeable. He demands a lot of his son and has plenty of respect for the hard working Parker. However, a little introduction to "performance enhancers" designed by his company for military application, not only increases his strength, but it enhances his darker side as well. His natural competitiveness turns into a psychopathic obsession to destroy his enemies. In additional to well drawn characters, the film also develops a decent script, one that doesn't take itself too seriously. The film's humor is a particular strength. Who can forget the wonderful counsel of Parker's aunt, who is concerned about Parker's excessive schedule? "You need to slow down," she advises, "You're not Superman, you know." And I wasn't expecting to see a hilarious prototype of Spider-Man's costume, the one he had before he got it right! Equally hilarious was Parker's attempt to get a name for himself. All the unimaginative Parker could devise was the somewhat uninspiring "the Human Spider." It took the spin and imagination of a wrestling announcer to immortalize the name "the Amazing Spider-Man!" Parker's editor at the Daily Bugle, outrageously played by J. Jonah Jameson, also deserves credit for injecting humor into the film. He gives us the cheesy name, "The Green Goblin," in order to sell papers and then demands a quarter in royalties from anyone who uses it! The humor allows the viewer to gloss over any potential cheesiness to these characters. You can't laugh at the corniness if they've already done that for you. One hardly needs to analyze the action and the special effects. The age of computer-generated images has rendered it virtually impossible to do these poorly. Suffice to say; when Spider-Man swings from tall buildings, you get vertigo. From beginning to end, the film delivers great action, great effects, and great suspense. All that, combined with the humanity of its characters, a well-written script, and some great humor, and Spider-Man sets a new standard for the superhero genre. Now all he needs is a good song by Five For Fighting. "I can't stand to swing, I'm not that naïve. Men weren't meant to ride, swinging in the breeze." Hmmm, doesn't quite work. A few nits: The film reveals that Spider-Man can stick to walls because of the hairy filaments sticking out of his appendages, such as his hands and feet. However, his costume covers his entire body! He shouldn't be able to stick to anything while wearing his costume. I also found myself asking how exactly spider venom rewrites human DNA? Venom acts as paralyzing agent in its victims, and as far as I know, it can't perform genetic engineering. Nits aside, with a little suspension of disbelief, this film quite easily draws you into its world. Improvements: In the original Spider-Man, webs don't come with Spidy's superhero package. The highly intelligent Parker has to manufacture a clever devise to create his webs. I always hated this. Spider-Man's signature powers were manufactured! They corrected this mistake for the film, and Parker now gets the full range of spider traits, including his webbing. ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31798 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 312726 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 5624 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:23:47 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news-stob.telia.net!news-sto.telia.net!newsfeed.stueberl.de!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Christian Pyle Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Spider-Man (2002) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 18:17:35 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31870 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 315035 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1057 X-RT-RatingText: A Summary: r.a.m.r. #31870 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 77 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3685 rec.arts.sf.reviews:286 Spider-Man Reviewed by Christian Pyle Directed by Sam Raimi Written by David Koepp (based on the comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko) Starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, and Kirsten Dunst Grade: A Fans of Marvel Comics have had to suffer through lots of awful live-action versions of their favorite characters (up to and including David Hasselhoff as grizzled secret agent Nick Fury) over the last thirty years. Even when comic-book features were all the rage after 1989's "Batman," all Marvel could muster was a dull, low budget "Captain America" and a Roger Corman-produced "Fantastic Four" that was so awful that direct-to-video was too good for it. However, the time for Marvel Comics on the big screen seems to have finally arrived. "Spider-man" captures the spirit of the comics perfectly, even miraculously. The basic story is familiar even to those who've never read a comic book: nerdy Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gets bit by a radioactive spider and gets super powers. In the movie, the spider is not radioactive; it's the result of genetic engineering, a new species of super spider, but the result's the same. Peter sprouts muscles that give him super strength and agility, finds he can climb walls, and learns how to shoot webs from his wrists. (That's another revision from the comics; there Spider-man's web comes from mechanical devices he invented. Frankly, the movie's version makes more sense.) Peter's first impulse is to use his powers for profit so that he can buy a sportscar to impress the prettiest girl in school, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). However, a tragedy soon shows him that "with great power comes great responsibility." Meanwhile, industrialist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) has decided to test his process to create super-humans on himself. He emerges with a maniacal alter-ego, the Green Goblin. "Spider-man" is the most faithful rendering of a superhero comic to film ever. The filmmakers obviously respect the work of Spider-man co-creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The "origin" portion of the movie adapts their first Spider-man story almost panel by panel. Moreover, the tone of the film is true to the spirit of Marvel. Although they vanquish their villains, Marvel heroes silently suffer inner pain that keeps them from achieving real happiness. They agonize over sacrifices they have to make, and they are feared and hated by the public they protect. David Koepp's script captures all of that. Maguire is perfect as the timid Peter, although his Spider-man voice could use more verve. Dunst's sweet Mary Jane is different than the flashy fashion-plate in the comics but is quite effective. (The movie M. J. seems more like Gwen Stacy, Peter's college sweetheart in the comics.) Dafoe was born creepy. J.K. Simmons (of "Oz" and "Law & Order") could have stepped right off the comics page as Spider-man-hating newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson Director Sam Raimi seemed to change personality when he directed 1998's "A Simple Plan." Prior to that, the secret to appreciating his films was to realize that they were deadpan parodies. But "Simple Plan" doesn't have a trace of a smirk in it. He followed it with two more "serious" movies: "For Love of the Game" (1999) and "The Gift" (2000). "Spider-man" seems to integrate the two Sam Raimis and, as a result, strikes the perfect note. It has the sense of fun that makes "Evil Dead II" such a hoot but treats the melodrama of Peter's life with a straight face. Only one scene didn't seem to fit: the moment where the Goblin is vanquished seemed more appropriate for "Army of Darkness" than for "Spider-man." Raimi fans should look for his pals Lucy Lawless, Ted Raimi, and Bruce Campbell in small roles. His 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 also turns up. © 2002 Christian L. Pyle ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31870 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 315035 X-RT-TitleID: 1112310 X-RT-AuthorID: 1057 X-RT-RatingText: A