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Spider-Man: Brilliant!
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Midnight Sun



Joined: 02 Aug 1999
Posts: 1759

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2002 7:03 pm    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

Go see! Its almost as good as the first Superman and much better than any of the Batman films.
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HardRocker
Site Admin


Joined: 06 Nov 1998
Posts: 1769
Location: Dallas, TX.

PostPosted: Sat May 04, 2002 8:44 am    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

cool...Spiderman was my fav back in the comic book days, followed by Daredevil (of who I hear a movie may be in the works) followed by Captain America. Marvel was where it was at, DC stuff was too cheesy for me as a kid.
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Templar



Joined: 17 Oct 1999
Posts: 592
Location: the planet of the apes

PostPosted: Sat May 04, 2002 5:39 pm    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

Saw it this afternoon, and it was good. I have a few minor problems with it, but all in all, a very good movie and well worth the admission price.
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Sat May 04, 2002 6:55 pm    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

I read on another board that "Spider-Man" broke a one-day box office record by grossing over 41 million dollars. Can anyone verify this? I can't find anything about it.

And yes,they are making a Daredevil movie. Ben Affleck is going to play Daredevil. Jennifer Garner from the show "Alias" is going to be in it too. She was on David Letterman last night talking about it.
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Subtraction



Joined: 10 Feb 2001
Posts: 631
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

PostPosted: Sat May 04, 2002 8:25 pm    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

hehe, I am checking out the new Woody Allen movie rather than Spider-Man. I am just not a typical metal fan if I go for Woody Allen movies over anything hehe. However I do want to see Spider-Man, but after my favorite.
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B5ERIK



Joined: 02 Jun 2000
Posts: 751
Location: Southern California

PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2002 2:01 am    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

Spider-Man was, well....Amazing!

They really got the feel of the original comic books right, and the effects were great as well. And the story was good, too!

A MUST-SEE for sure.
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2002 5:31 pm    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

I just saw "Spider-Man" today, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I'm going to do a review of it. I've never written a film review before,so here goes nuthin'.

I was afraid to see this movie. I was afraid that I'd be disappointed,afraid that this would be a farce or a live-action cartoon with no human interest and that it would kill everyone's perception of everything that the comic book medium could be.I wasn't sure about Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst being in the movie. I was concerned when I heard they were making Spidey's webbing organic and threw out the web-shooter idea. I became dismayed when I read that Roger Ebert only gave it 2 1/2 stars and at this point,almost had to be coaxed into seeing the film.You see,I'm a lifelong comics fan and Spider-Man is my all-time favorite comic book hero.I have grown-up with him. Peter Parker looks like me,and I've always felt that I was him. He was the first comics character I felt I could relate to. The comics have had their ups and downs creatively throught the years,but all in all,I've remained loyal to 'ol Webhead(J.Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr. are really working wonders with the character these days) I almost thought we were going to see "Spider-Teen" or "Spider-Dude". I was afraid to see this movie.

Boy, were Ebert and I dead wrong! There were minor problems with it,I felt,but overall,"Spider-Man" was everything I had hoped it would be:the best darn comic book movie ever made. Roger Ebert felt that the action sequences were fake-looking and said that "Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon" handled this type of superhumanity more effectively.I felt "Spider-Man" captured Spidey's actions perfectly. In the movie,Spider-Man and the Green Goblin have the fluidity in their movements that reminds one of the Lee/Ditko Spider-Man era. Spidey fights like he does in the comics(throwing guys around,double-punches,etc.)and the Green Goblin is as sinister, dangerous,and cunning as a large predator on the loose. The fight scenes are choreographed well,evoking the fantastic and the brutal all at once. Any comics fan will be reminded of the immortal "Death Of Gwen Stacy" storyline during the chilling,final confrontation between hero and villain.New York becomes a character in its own right. Watching the film,you really get the impression that Spidey owns the Big Apple.The city is like an old,familiar friend to him as he effortlessly swings from rooftop to rooftop,looking for vermin that would soil or irritate NYC and the good people who live there(the scene where all of the citizens start pelting the Goblin with debris and such almost brought a tear to my eye). "Spider-Man" is as much a tribute to New York and its residents as well as the comic book form and Spidey himself.

I had been pulling for Freddie Prinze Jr. to get the role as Peter Parker,but Tobey Maguire's performance made me forget about all of that. Maguire evokes Parker's quiet,shy,sensitive personality perhaps better than any other actor out there and balances it masterfully with cocky,devil-may-care attitude of Parker's alter ego. Now, I can't imagine anyone else playing Parker other than Maguire.

The same can be said for Dunst's Mary Jane Watson. I originally thought that she would have made a better Gwen Stacy(Parker's first true love in the comics). After seeing her as Watson,I became convinced that she was the correct choice. Dunst really tapped into the fun-loving,starry-eyed yet troubled working-class girl that MJ has always been. MJ's a flirt and a dreamer,and Dunst made her come to life(I wish she would have said the line "Face it tiger,you just hit the jackpot!" like she did in the comics,but oh well).

I jumped for joy when Willem Defoe was pegged to play the Green Goblin,and Defoe doesn't disappoint. I was hoping that the filmmakers would build the costume and mask around Defoe's chisled visage(just look at that face,he is the Goblin! I love it!),however they opt for a "body-armor" look that works pretty well in its own right. Defoe's portrayal of Norman Osborne's madness is frightening. Defoe didn't turn the Goblin into a buffoon like others would have. Defoe's Goblin is deadly,swift,and truly an alter-ego. Defoe makes you believe that Osborne and the Goblin are two separate people inhabiting one mind. The Goblin mask speaks to Osborne,and Osbourne speaks back to it. He makes Osborne seem sympathetic,and in a way,almost tragic in the tradition of the great Marvel comics villains.Under different circumstances,Parker and the senior Osborne would have been like father and son,and Defoe as well as Maguire show that through their stellar performances.

All of the other performances are great too. From James Franco's Harry Osborne(poor,little rich kid),to J.K. Simmons' J.Jonah Jameson(I wanted to see Dabney Coleman play him,but Simmons fleshes him out well),and even Randy Savage as Bonesaw McGraw(the Macho Man is jakked in this one!). Cliff Robertson's Uncle Ben is as loving as the comics character was,and Rosemary Harris turns Aunt May into the grandmother we all had or wish we had.

My beefs about this picture are minor. The score was totally wrong for this one. Danny Elfman sounds like he was doing another Batman film by mistake. There is nothing quirky about "Spider-Man",and the music should have reflected this. Spider-Man was to me the first "rock 'n' roll" superhero. Think about it,he defies authority,gets chased by cops,is misunderstood by elders,is full of bravado,is a smart-aleck,and is loved by the people. I wanted to hear electric guitar instead of a bouncy,pretentious orchestra. "Spider-Man" is set in New York,not a fictional city like Gotham where Elfman's music fit in better.

The Green Goblin's costume also takes some getting used to. Like I said before,I wished they would have taken advantage of Defoe's face(oh that face gives ya the willies,no pun intended). I would have rather seen a form-fitting mask,rather than the bulky helmet the Goblin is given here.

I have always loved heroes and heroism,fictional and otherwise. "Spider-Man" only reinforced it. Spider-Man is our folk hero,an American myth,our everyman,and I think is in everyone of us. Peter Parker is the kid who we think is geeky,but is cooler than we will ever know. Spider-Man is the mousy librarian who plays in a metal band by night,the janitor with a bestselling novel in his head,the accountant who dreams of being a director,hell,the construction worker who dresses in drag and sings Ethel Merman tunes while off-duty. Spider-Man is rock 'n' roll,romance,youth,daring,creativity,and anything anyone ever wanted to be when they grow up. The movie made this all clear.I hate to admit it,but I'm finding myself getting choked up writing this. Watching the movie made me take a look into myself and realize more than ever that I too am Peter Parker and Spider-Man or at least wish I was.

"Spider-Man" is a sometimes harrowing,but ultimately wonderful film. Everyone will find something to enjoy in it. The action fans will rejoice when the battles take place,the romantics will fall head over heels with the love triangle,and those who just plain like a good flick will come away wanting to cruise the skyline of their hometown via webstrands.I want to personally thank all who were involved in the making of this picture. "We"(meaning comics fans) really needed this movie to be excellent. Not only did you all deliver,but you all seemed to have the time of your lives while you were at it.I want to see a franchise. I want to see Jack Black as Dr. Octopus,Henry Rollins as Venom,Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kraven The Hunter,Kevin Spacey as Electro,Ben Kingsley as the Vulture,Portia de Rossi as the Black Cat,Ed Harris as the Scorpion,and I could go on and on.

Go out and see this movie.
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Tyrannorabbit



Joined: 04 Oct 2000
Posts: 3985
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2002 3:15 pm    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

Just wrote up a review of my own, for my site:

[url=http://www.geocities.com/tyrannorabbit/spiderman.html]http://www. geocities.com/tyrannorabbit/spiderman.html[/url]
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2002 4:25 pm    Post subject: Spider-Man: Brilliant! Reply with quote

Good review Tyrannorabbit! I was disappointed that you didn't like Dunst as MJ. I thought she captured MJ perfectly. Jennifer Hewitt is too much the sexpot for my tastes,and I'm not crazy about her acting.

As for your comments that you never felt that Spidey was in any danger while leaping and swinging from the buildings,well I've been reading the Spider-Man comics for about 25 years now,and I've rarely ever felt that Spidey was in any danger either while getting around. Again,that's the way it is in the comics. To Spidey,swinging and jumping from skyscrapers,is just as second-nature to him as it is to a normal human riding a bike or driving a car. He knows his city too well to allow himself to be injured,and the city "knows" him too well to do anything to hurt him.

I don't know about the Rhino as the next villian. In the comics,he's usually portrayed as a big,dumb,hard-luck buffoon that always gets humiliated by Spidey and occasionally really gets his butt handed to him by the Hulk. It would be fun to see him in one of the sequels as a secondary character(Kevin James from the show "The King Of Queens" would be good for this role).

I'm glad you liked the movie overall though. You have a cool site too! Oh,and everybody should give the comics a look. J. Michael Straczynski(you know,the Babylon 5 dude)is writing "Amazing Spider-Man" now and is crafting some of the best Spidey stories I've read in many moons. The artist on the series,John Romita Jr.,is one of the comics field's top illustrators,and his work just gets better year after year.
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