| Posted by: SAI at April 6, 2003, 7:29 pm | | Topic: Spiderman Forum: JoBlo | | Well I'm glad to see you justified all your criticisms... Here is my review. SPIDER-MAN Dir: Sam Raimi Stars: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, JK Simmons Review: Spider-Man; The Movie has a long and troubled history. The first serious attempts to make the film came in the mid 90’s when James Cameron wrote a (terrible) scriptment. Cameron’s version was rumoured to be featuring Charlie Sheen as Peter Parker and Arnie as Doctor Octopus. With hindsight it is fortunate this never got off the ground. What does all this have to do with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man? More than you’d think; one key concept has been retained, but to that later. Despite always looking forward to the end result the fans of the comic have always had worries about Spider-Man. They wanted to see it done right. Certain things, particularly the changes to the origin story and the “organic” web shooters (left over from Cameron’s work), were extremely controversial. The news is good, but for a few, very minor, things Sam Raimi has made the perfect Spider-Man film. For the most part the casting is excellent. Tobey Maguire is perfect, he looks just like Peter in the early comics and his voice suits Peter’s character (though it doesn't suit Spider-Man quite so well). This is a feature of Maguire’s performance, he’s so believable as the everyman in the early part of the film that it is Peter and not Spider-Man who comes across as the more powerful character, no small feat. He's particularly effective in his scenes with Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris (who play Uncle Ben and Aunt May and, particularly in Harris' case seem to have stepped out of the comic). JK Simmons nearly steals the film in his scenes as Daily Bugle editor J Jonah Jameson, his look is perfect and he gets many of the best lines. Though he could have been given more screentime Simmons makes a real impact on the film and ensures that Jameson will be a character fans will want more of in the sequel. Willem Dafoe was not an obvious choice to play the Green Goblin (There were rumours about John Malkovich, Kevin Spacey and Nicolas Cage being in the running) but he too exceeds expectations. The conversations that Osborn and the Goblin have are great examples of Dafoe's talent, switching characters sometimes within a single shot. It's always good to see Bruce Campbell in a Sam Raimi film and he has a decent cameo as the wrestling announcer (and provides a nice twist on how Spider-Man gets his name). Kirsten Dunst has been praised for her portrayal of Mary Jane, the love of Peters life. It is a little difficult to understand why, she almost ruins screenwriter David Koepp’s brilliant ending (in which she is given some beautiful dialogue) with her breathy delivery. This is a hallmark of all her scenes, all her important moments seem overplayed. However there is one scene, in Peter’s Aunt’s hospital room, that she is absolutely wonderful in, predictably it is the scene she has least dialogue in. In the end though she’s just not MJ. There have been complaints about the special effects. It is hard to see why. These effects are state of the art, they look as if they are the best that could have been achieved, looking finished unlike, say, those in The Mummy Returns. Of course there are moments that we know are achieved digitally, rather than poor effects this is because these moments would be physically impossible without the computer. The film looks like a comic. Not just in the movement of the characters but in the composition of shots. One shot is the best comic book cover that’s never been drawn (look out for it near the end). As well as that one shot there is the scene in which Peter designs his costume, at this point the experience of watching the film is incredibly close to that of reading the comic, it’s a wonderful moment. The fight scenes are well choreographed and have a convincing brutality to them particularly the final face off between Spider-Man and the Goblin. This is what led to the film getting a 12 certificate. To digress for a moment it is, in the opinion of this reviewer, irresponsible for any council to have cut the certificate to a PG, this is a very violent film. As was said above Raimi has NEARLY made the perfect Spider-Man film, so what’s wrong? The Green Goblin suit. The problem is less that it deviates from the comic and more specifically about the mask. It is set in one position. This means that when Spider-Man and the Goblin talk it feels as though Dafoe simply dubbed the lines in later and it takes a lot away from his (excellent) performance. Danny Elfmans score is good but sounds so much like his other work that it plays like a greatest hits. The “organic” web shooters. They make sense and it is easy to see why Raimi took that route but there is one major problem that arises from this decision. Spider-Man can't run out of web. In the comics this forces him into more inventive ways to beat his enemies and adds a new dimension to fights, one sorely missed in the film. Overall Spider-Man is an excellent film. There are very few things wrong with it and not one threatens to derail the film. If you like Spider-Man you simply must see this, it is the best you'll ever have seen him rendered on screen. Even if you are not an established fan it is highly recommended, far and away the best superhero film since Superman 2 . 4/5 |
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