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TalkBack For SPIDER-MAN

chicken and liver by sefsterJ	May 4th, 2002 02:32:12 PM
please deliver.
Simply the best comic-book movie EVER by Mully4Ever	May 4th, 2002 02:33:03 PM
Sam Raimi deserves an Oscar.
Spiderman... Spiderman... Does whatever a spider can.. by Cool-Hand-Mook	May 4th, 2002 02:35:43 PM
Just cheesy enough to be good. Any more and I would've died. It was right on target. I never had doubts in Tobey until I actually saw him on film... But he did it. Congrats to Marvel. Congrats to Raimi. Congrats all around... Too bad theyre not following the formula with Hulk... They're changing things... Argh. Hulk Smash!
Overhyped. Bad. Bad. Bad. by MattmanReturns	May 4th, 2002 02:38:43 PM
I hated this movie. Corny dialogue, the dramatic scenes draaaggged, and the Green Goblin was laughable.
Spiderman Thoughts by Scud	May 4th, 2002 02:38:49 PM
First and foremost, this movie is definately the best comic book adaption ever. When I left the theater yesterday, I was not thinking about the special effects or the action, though the final fight between spidey and the goblin was an awesome climax. I found myself thinking about the funnier moments were we were introduced to Peter Parker and his evolution to Spiderman. This movie tops superman, bar none. Even my prized x men movie can't hold a candle to this flick. Without a doubt, it has it's flaws, but they are so far and few between that it does not matter. In fact, I'm going to see it all again. People who are ready to start complaining and nitpicking, keep in mind, this is as good as it gets and I'm happy with that.
Very good, nearly great by abcdefz2	May 4th, 2002 02:41:36 PM
Overall, I thought it was really good-spirited movie; not perfect, but not a misfire. I loved the way that the movie took its time as Parker grew into his new abilities; that made the payoff of the final shot pretty terrific. The Goblin costume still was a bit of a problem, but not too bad; that being said, there was a time or two when the glider crashing in just looked like it was being driven in on a forklift or something, and I kept wishing they would at least jiggle the damned thing to look like it was hovering. Oh well. Hopefully they'll take their time and really nail the second one.
Marvel film logo by DrOzymandias	May 4th, 2002 02:47:02 PM
I loved the flick, only behind Unbreakable and X-Men for my favorite comic book movie, but how awesome was Marvel's new film logo that opened the film! Those flipping comic book pages... absolutely loved it. Great cameo's, too: Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Stan Lee... sweet...
I think it's safe to say by Darth Melkor	May 4th, 2002 02:49:00 PM
No movie released this year will beat that. Overall BO maybe but definately not opening.
this by Kampbell-Kid	May 4th, 2002 02:51:33 PM

It wasn't great, but it got the job done by metsrulein2k	May 4th, 2002 02:54:09 PM
Who would have thought that Peter Parker becoming Spider-Man would be the best part of the movie? That means trouble because if the sequel is just action, it wont touch this movie. I loved how Peter had to say no the MJ in the end, nobody in the theatre was expecting it but if fit perfectly into the theme of the movie. I actually didnt like any of the action except for maybe that last fight. Since Spidey is gonna break 110 million this weekend, a decline should be abuot 20% this weekend and 30% the one after that, that means AOTC better make over 55 million its opening weekend or it might not debut at #1. How crazy would it be for a SW film to debut at #2? I think that would be a great way to send a message that Lucas, dont you?
If Malexandria has the balls to show up on this talkback too, so by Lenny Nero	May 4th, 2002 02:56:48 PM
Mal, this was an awesome movie. You don't seem to like any event film except for the shitty ones. Here's an idea: don't build them up for yourself. Your review talks about disappointment with built expectations and what you know about comic books, but the movie is a movie, not a comic book, and it succeeded. It's not great in my opinion (opinion, see? Personal, not all-encompassing, and definitely fallible), but it's still a really really good and cool movie. I have no idea why ECLIPSE magazine is one of the places accepted by ROTTEN TOMATOES. Perhaps you can let me know so I can start up a webpage that does nothing but tear down the mainstream. (Remember, this is the person who liked NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE.) For shame.
comment on what metsrulen2k? by THE WALLACE	May 4th, 2002 02:59:25 PM
"make a better movie fat ass!" gimme a break... he may have just done so. and if clones sucks than not beating spiderman will do nothing to help that. Geeeez
This film shocked me... by Kampbell-Kid	May 4th, 2002 03:00:43 PM
I'm picky about comic films... anything hasn't been better than the 1989's Batman. After leaving Spiderman I had that same giddy inner childhood excitement that I haven't felt since I was 12 watching the first Batman. I never bought in the hype and haven't looked forward to this film cuz I've been hearing about it ever since James Cameron wanted to do this project. Spiderman felt special because it hit the comic dead on with it's tone, look, and approach to telling Peter Parker's story. It was well balanced... perfect ammount of action and perfect ammount of proper character development. My only complaint would be the CGI looked minorly fake sometimes but it never was an eyesore or something that made me cringe. Ok wait, Macy Gray's cameo made me cringe. However I still LOVED THIS MOVIE!!! Hey Sony!! Let James Cameron direct one of the sequels. :) He'll make the "Aliens" of the Spiderman series.
Amazing by 1701_Lad	May 4th, 2002 03:02:44 PM
Sam Rami did any excellent job of bringing Spider man to life. The colours were just vibrant enough without feeling comic booky. The costume: excellent. Event the whole organic webshooters worked well. It is all I'd hoped for, well, except for Dunst who seemed slightly out of place by the end of the film. Finally a truly excellent Marvel film adaption.
I don't mean to be disagreeable, but anyone who pans the mov by Lenny Nero	May 4th, 2002 03:03:41 PM
This is a dead-on comic book movie, dialogue intact, and it was perfect IN THAT SENSE (not a perfect movie, mind you). The Goblin costume was great despite early misgivings, the organic webshooters worked fine and saved the movie some unnecessary explanation about Peter as scientist (which is never really discussed...not yet, at least) and the action scenes were great. The first two times he turned into CGI it looked fake, but as he lent weight to flight, I got into that whole in-this-world-but-dismissing-g ravity deal. It looked like a SUPERHERO for once, and not some actor in a funny costume. Spidey is badass, and I can't wait to see it again. Over $41 million, man. Raimi, I'm so proud of you. And hey, I'm in two shots in the movie, both POVs going into the cars, one at the beginning of the montage in the middle (also seen in most recent trailer) and one during the very end shot (you know what I'm talking about...man that was fucking awesome). You know what? Never mind. I love this movie. Naysayers go to Eclipse Magazine.
Sigh... by Godard?	May 4th, 2002 03:03:58 PM
The first act plays out great, with the discovering of his spider powers and all, but overall, I found the movie formulaic, tired, poorly written, and in many places very boring. The green goblin was not at all interesting or intimidating. There were several key moments... meant to be... very dramatic... with Peter Parker... divulging his deepest desires... to Mary Jane... and vice versa... and they kept... talking like this... pauses... Holy fish crap, I wanted to throw something at the screen. Great first act, though.
An perfect moviegoing experience.. by BankyG	May 4th, 2002 03:04:31 PM
In one word....kickass. While I thought some of the lovey dovey dialogue was kinda hokey, everyone in the film was pitch perfectly cast. I LOVED Dafoe. He was one of the best bad guys I've seen in a long time. I was surprised at a lot of the sexual innuendo in the script. Good stuff. The scene between Spidey and G.G. on the rooftop when G.G. tries to get Spidey to join up was so cheesy it was perfect. The final fight scene was more than perfect. And the final scene of the movie ended it up all well. In response to P.P.'s last line to Mary Jane, one loud guy behind me cracked up the entire theater by screaming "No way!" How could he deny Kirsten Dunst? So hot!!!!!!
Oh yeah, and Bruce Campbell rules! by Lenny Nero	May 4th, 2002 03:05:37 PM

Go Spidey! by HumanTorch	May 4th, 2002 03:08:18 PM
As a fellow hero and big time fan, hats off to Spider-Man. Raimi did a great job with this film, I had my doubts after seeing Evil Dead 2, I'm just not into the B horror flicks. I have no doubt that it will go on to be a great series of films after this one. Tobey and Kirsten did a great job as did Willem Dafoe. Cinematography and special effects were amazing, plus,Stan Lee's cameo gives an added chuckle to those who spent their junior high school years reading Spidey... Can't wait for the sequels.
I'd like to give an honest opinion... by Kid Z	May 4th, 2002 03:11:15 PM
... but I can't, really. Why not, you ask? Because at the showing I went to I, and everyone else in the theatre had to suffer through two fuckin' hours of screeching, crying, shreiking and loud kid-babble from the motherfuckin' redneck larvae spawned by a tribe of pigfuckers who had come down from the hills to catch a "movin' pitcher"! Who the FUCK brings toddlers to a 10:45 PM showing? HICKS do, that's who! The only enjoyment I got out of the whole evening was when someone a few rows back started yelling "Kick the baby, Kick the baby!" in a South Park-esque voice. The whole theatre broke out in cheers! I say we start a petition to be sent to all the major theatre chains asking, nay, DEMANDING the establishment of "Child-Free Viewings" of all releases. Let the revolution start here, Harry! Well, I was gonna see this at least twice anyway...
Great movie, funny incident... by the_big_O	May 4th, 2002 03:14:14 PM
Long time reader, first time poster. Saw Spider-Man yesterday at 9:10 pm. I loved it. It was everything I was expecting. J. J. Simmons' Jameson was hilarious. Well today I was at my local comic book store for free comic book day, and was discussing Spider-Man with another customer. He didn't like it at all (claimied there wasn't enough action, to which I replied that the character development made up for that and bla bla but I won't get into that). Now I respect other people's opinions, but this guy was wearing a Batman Forever t-shirt. Kind of makes you wonder...
Dude, Harry. There is a site called Fandango.com by All-ighty Ollar	May 4th, 2002 03:17:15 PM
but if it doesn't have your local theater on there, then nevermind.
by CrapHole	May 4th, 2002 03:17:51 PM
I had a goofy smile plastered on my face during the entire movie. I enjoyed it, although I felt that something was missing...I still can't put my finger on it...but something wasnt right. Anyway J.J.J. was hilarious...can't wait to see Spiderman and J.J.J have more dialog..I loved the quite mommy and daddy need to talk line.
Only one complaint.... by HumanTorch	May 4th, 2002 03:18:31 PM
Yeah, the Macy Gray cameo? Friggin..... Couldn't they get a singer/band that doesn't suck? I almost threw my popcorn at the screen, a shiver went down my spine when she came on....Euughh.. So, instead, i started a theater wide chant for the Goblin "Blow up Macy Gray!" "Blow up Macy Gray!" not that she hasn't worked hard to become what she is, but she sucks! almost ruined the scene! Other than that, Spidey Rocks!
Amazing! by beelzichubb	May 4th, 2002 03:18:37 PM
Sam Raimi has done that which could not be done, he made the best comic book movie ever! All the bitchy can be thrown out the window. None of those things ruined the film. The Green Goblin outfit made perfect sense and man did Willem Defoe make it work! Toby was indeed Peter. It didn't matte whether the web shooters were organic or mechanical. The gripes are so small that they are not even worth mentioning. I THANK THE GODS FOR WHAT THEY HAVE GIVEN US! Wait till the end of the credits too, ya get the cool-ass spidey theme! "Spiderman, Spiderman......"
Teenage Wish Fulfillment Fulfilled. by Christopher3	May 4th, 2002 03:19:31 PM
Good show! Raimi's not a blockbuster director, but then "Spiderman" isn't a blockbuster film. It is, however, a great comic book film and a model for other directors (who equate comics with shit that blows up real good) to follow. I agree with A.O. Scott that the most interesting parts of the movie are the intimate ones; the special effects feel a little detached from the main story, which is really a tug of war between Ben and Norman for Peter and a tug of war between Peter and Harry for Mary Jane. It's a neat interpersonal setup; the dialog is really clunky, but Raimi and his actors do a fantastic job of selling it. The resolution between MJ and Parker at the end was both inspired and appropriate; it's a great counterpoint to his earlier selfishness ("You forgot to mention the part where I care") to have him turn his back on the thing he wants the most to answer the call of duty. I liked the Raimi-isms, too (the montage sequences and neat screen wipes), but anyone worried about Evil Dead-ish freakouts should come away pleased. They're infrequent and tastefully deployed. My grade: A. Looks like 2002 is the year Marvel finally gets its shit together.
HOLY SHIT 41 MILLION IN 1 DAY!!!!! by mpfanatic	May 4th, 2002 03:23:19 PM
Spiderman broke all box office records that exist yesterday grossing more than 41.4 million and looks to have a weekend take of 110 million that is SICK and so was the movie the greatest superhero movie of all time
Imax goodness! by beelzichubb	May 4th, 2002 03:24:30 PM
Just had to say too. I don't know how many others got to see it the way I did, it was awesome! My local movie house had 2 screenings of web-head on their Imax screen. The top and bottom 10 ft were not used but the result was the ultimate letterbox presentation! plus the sound was friggin fantastic! The manager even made an announcement that anyone who doesn't like very loud things please leave now. They showed a AOTC trailer the same size! I hope it's shown the same way. see it Imaxed if you can!
Good, but not great by movie brat	May 4th, 2002 03:29:53 PM
Well, what I didn't like: The development of Dafoe's character of Norman Osborne into the Green Goblin and his whole Jekyll/Hyde-kinda-thing going on. Neither did I like the costume of Green Goblin since I just found it laughable. Although it was fun to watch, the way Peter Parker discovers his extraordinary powers was not convincing to me. It went way too fast! Like, wake up in the morning, realizing not being a nerd any more, thinking "Yippie! I'm Spider-Man" and that's it. I would have liked him kinda unsure about what is becoming of him. Neither did I like the wrestling match. There could have been other and better ways of earning him some money. And I didn't like the way, Spideys "great conflict" went into this (the way he feels kinda responsible for the death of his uncle). Was just forgotten all too fast. Neither did I like the way several other scenes played out. They just came out of the blue and went by without having any effect on the whole plot construction. Well, it was fun, definitely. Great actors, esp. Tobey who is now going to be a huge star. And great entertainment. But coulda been better.
I'm going to cry by JacksonsBane	May 4th, 2002 03:35:49 PM
You geeks are making me drool. I have to wait over a month to see this. Sony you fuckwits, what were you thinking? Unsurprisingly we do speak English here in the UK, is it that much of a problem to release the same day as the USA? The answer is no. New Line managed it with LOTR and Fox with AOTC. Get your shit together cos we're all going to download it off the net.
It was...well...OK...barely...OK... well Maybe not by Stu_Pedaso	May 4th, 2002 03:35:52 PM
First of all, I'm not a huge Spiderman fan. Never read the comics, had no expectations for the movie. I was actually thinking that I might really enjoy it more just because I really could have cared less. It didn't work out that way. If anything I was disapointed, which is sad because of the fact I didn't really have any expectations. I saw the film last night (opening night) at 10:00 in a sold out IMAX theatre that holds about 400 people. People, in general, were very excited about being there and loud clapping broke out when the movie started. One thing I noticed was that people were not quite as enthusiastic when the movie was over. More on that later. I think this movie was decent. Was it great? No. Was it worth my 7.50? yeah, once. I won't go back and see it, and most of the people I talked to said the same thing. I'm talking about normal people, not the movie geeks that frequent this place (yes, that includes me). Oh, I'm sure there will be fanboys (and girls) that go back for repeated viewings I think think we will see a lot more than a 20% drop of for next weekend like someone posted earlier. As someone already mentioned, the best part of this movie weren't even the action scenes. They were the scenes of Parker discovering how to use his powers. The action scenes were really mediocre at best. Even the final scene IMO left something to be desired. There just seemed to be something missing. I knoew thats vague but I'm having a hard time figuring exactly what it was. I have to say that the casting of this movie is dead on. Dafoe as a villain of any kind is perfect. I mean look at the guys face. The only problem was that they covered it up with that god-awful mask. Just give the guy a good make-up job. Why waste such a perfectly evil face by putting it behing a mask? Every time I looked at that stupid mask it made me want to laugh. Was it suposed to be creepy? Scary? even interesting? I was just friggin' funny looking. The only actor that I can really complain about is the Guy who plays Defoes son and Parker's friend. Man that guy is emotionless. Oh, and the dialogue in this movie was just as bad as Phantom Menace. I give Raimi some credit though because the camera work really saved this for me. Oh and how the hell did Spidey get that great suit? He went from that crappy wrestling outfit to something that came from a government laboratory or something. No explanation is given to how he made this or how he made it so fast. Or how about when a couple of thugs chase MJ down an alley and all of a sudden you have more thugs crashing through boarded up windows. Where exactly were they coming from. Were they sitting behind those windows peaking though slots in the wood, waiting for days for an unsuspecting victim to come running down the alley so they ca bust through the window and join other would be attackers. Now, I know this is based on a comic hero but people, and even kids, aren't stupid. There was a couple sitting next to me and they laughed..not just chuckled...but laughed during parts that were supposed to be serious. There was a teenager that somehow got away with laying in the aisle to watch the movie. As we were leaving his friends were making fun of him because he slept through half the movie. His response? "Well, I thought you said this was supposed to be good." After the movie was over there were a few claps but very little excitement. I did not hear one positive comment. Then again I didn't hear a negative one either. The more I think about this movie the more laughable I think it is. Granted it had its momment but not enough of them. When I first left, I actually kind of liked it in spite of its flaws. Now, I wonder if that was just because I thought I should have liked it. I'm sure it will have its fans. Every movie does. If you are one of them. Great. More power to ya. I for one want those two hours of my life back.
Better than X-Men, Superman, and Batman by Steal_Dragon	May 4th, 2002 03:42:38 PM
This is the best super-hero adaption ever. The orgin was done perfectly and I thought the cgi was fine and as for the fighting sequences, come on Ebert he just became Spider-Man, he can't suddenly become Neo, he is a nerd, where could he learn how to fight, I think Yuen Woo Ping would be a little busy.
This Movie is Everything That Makes SPIDER-MAN Great. by CHEWBLACCA	May 4th, 2002 03:44:41 PM
Doesn't that say it all.
Better than X-Men, Superman, and Batman by Steal_Dragon	May 4th, 2002 03:48:55 PM
But the theme could be a little catchy. Danny Elfman you failed me, weren't you the same person who created the Batman theme and the Simpson's theme.
The most 3 out of 4 star movie in the history of 3 out of 4 star by Village Idiot	May 4th, 2002 03:55:23 PM
WHAT I LIKED: THE SPIDER-MAN COSTUME WAS PERFECT. It worked in the daytime, which is tricky. It never felt like I was watching a milk commercial...THE WHOLE VISUAL PRESENTATION OF THE FILM WAS GOOD TOO: very kinetic, unique and fun, without being silly...DAFOE WAS GREAT. I felt there was so much more going on there with him than with anything I've ever seen in a Batman movie...SOME OF THE ACTION SEQUENCES HAD ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT. The expo sequence was pretty cool, the whole sequence with the bridge rocked. When Spidey got his "public validation," that was a great moment...DUNST WAS BEAUTIFUL AND THOROUGHLY WINSOME...In retrospect, I think THE ENDING MADE AN UNEXPECTED AND POWERFUL STATEMENT. Peter took responsibility for his power in a way I hadn't expected. (Of course, we all know he'll find a loophole eventually.)________WHAT WAS NOT SO HOT: (No surprise) THE SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE HIT AND MISS. Things had more of a "fakey" feel to them more often than I would have preferred. (A friend of mine wondered out loud what it would have been like if ILM had done them.) I'm sure they'll have more budget next time, and they'll look better...THE MUSIC WAS FLAT and it didn't help the movie at all. Big mistake. Ex.: At the expo when Peter does the big reveal, the music plays incidentally. There was definitely nothing to walk out of the theatre humming. Almost as bad as the music in X-Men...THE GOBLIN COSTUME WORKED ON SOME LEVELS, NOT ON OTHER, REALLY IMPORTANT ONES: it would have been nice to see something more like a face on Dafoe. They should have found a softer mask somehow...MOST GLARING OMISSION: NO SMACK-TALKING SPIDER-MAN. What happened? Where were the wise-cracks? This is such an endemic part of the character, the absence really stung.______THE VERDICT: On a scale of four stars, I've got to go with a SOLID THREE STARS. Much better than Batman and X-Men, but in my mind, Superman remains the gold standard.
Spider-Man is a good Movie... by FUTA1-Fan	May 4th, 2002 03:56:25 PM
But, Superman is still my favorite ComicBook adapted to film. I'd rank Spider-Man second or third on my all-time best list. It's much better than X-Men. Forget about all the bitching about organic shooters. Or the whining about how bad the GG suit is. Thank Sam Raimi for putting this much care into the movie and go see a good superhero flick. Maybe someone will get off their asses and do an Astro City tv show or movie.
if you didn't enjoy the hell out of spider-man... by Man-Spider	May 4th, 2002 03:57:19 PM
...there's a strong possiblity that you don't have a soul. The flick is pure bliss!! RAIMI RULES!!! Gonna see it again tonight...JOY!!!
CAMEOS!!! by PattyOGreen	May 4th, 2002 04:04:35 PM
I loved the film... but I loved the 2 big cameos too. Yes, I am a Campbell Whore (as close to officially as you can get - that's why the "w" is capitalized), and I thrilled at seeing him give Spidey his name in his typical sarcastic demeanor. And Ted Raimi! YAY! I love this man simply for his god-given talent to make a complete idiot and ass of himself onscreen. No one can do it better, and no one could've played J. Jonah's whipping boy/yes-man better. Overall, loved the movie. The "touching" scenes are the part that I'll be going to the restroom during now, though. Just a bit too slow. But then again, Sammy's never been fantastic at his attempts to make a relationship endearing to the audience. Just look at Ash and Linda's endearing 2 minutes in Evil Dead 2. "Bah-BAHHH, bah-BAH-bah-BAHHHH!" "Giggle-giggle." Cheesey. The good thing was that it only took 2 minutes to get the woman killed and start the movie. Here, we spend 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there with Peter and his stiffy for her making him talk... real.. slow... I get more and more impatient with them as the film goes on. Aunt May's room? Looking at my watch. Funeral at the end? Getting ready to go if it wasn't for that cool bit of swinging at the end. Too much time to get around to telling him that she loves her and that she should buzz off on that tangent. But hey, I'm a moron, what do I know.
bring on the sequels!!! by yeah i'm a jerk!	May 4th, 2002 04:08:17 PM
i have to say this was by far the most awsome comic book movie ever made. i really enjoyed it. sure it could have been better, if they had followed the comics even closer. but it didn't have any shitty cutesy stuff, no ms.lion, or kid sidekicks. this was perfectly cool. this thing made me sort of sit with a feeling of awe. i like macy gray, so i wont join the bandwagon. i just wish they could have played the ramones version of the spiderman theme, it was superior to any of the music played in this film. i am a big fan of danny elfman, but this score was very generic, much in the same way as michael kamen's x-men score. i just hope daredevil and x-men 2 deliver the goods. the hulk is gonna suck, because they arent following the example of spiderman and keeping the character's origin straight.
Um....bad... by CooGuy	May 4th, 2002 04:14:32 PM
Okay, I saw it twice. Hated it the first time, enjoyed it more the second time. The first time through it felt like a 2 hour version of Smallville directed by Sam. Ugh, who wants that?? Also, I felt the directing wasn't even that great. I mean, Sam's the man, but my initial thoughts were of letdown here. But, the second time through I had more fun, didn't nitpick the directing so bad, and the Spider powers growth stuff felt a little better. My main conflict though, was the Green Goblin. I was SO completely okay with the costume UNTIL I saw the movie. It did feel like a Power Ranger villian. On top of that, we were having so much fun with Spidey's powers and beating up buglars and stuff, did we REALLY need a villian even? I think it would've been way cooler to see Spidey beat up thugs and not waste movie/Spidey time showing off how horrible you can bleed storylines together....
YOU MESS WITH ONE NEW YORKER, YOU MESS WITH ALL OF US! Horrible by chuckrussel	May 4th, 2002 04:21:27 PM
'nuff said!
Spiderman was good with poignant individual moments, but pretty by SierraMountain	May 4th, 2002 04:22:06 PM
I have to holla' mad props to the 40 year old who talks like a 12 year old director, Sam Raimi for not losing focus on the dramatic side of this movie. With this said, I thought the action sequences(the sole reason the majority of the general movie going public will be wathcing this) were too dull. I felt no tension or excitement as I watched things blow up on screen. Not even the dangling cable car full of children set piece was gripping. I wasn't thrilled not even for a brief moment all throughout the several action set-pieces in the movie. Don't get me wrong, overall, I enjoyed it, but my enjoyment came from the poignant story of Peter Parker and the tragedy of what happens to his uncle. The tragedy being directly linked with his failure to abide by his uncle's advice was truly an emotional moment. I thought little moments like that were brilliant. But come on, as I said, who the hell goes to watch a movie called Spiderman to watch drama. We want to watch sh-it blow up, grip us on the edges of our seat, give us a high tension filled 2 hour ride. Unfortunately, the movie did none of that. After the movie ended, I couldn't help but feel disappointment not only from the movie but also from the fact that James Cameron didn't helm it. Had Cameron took the directing duties of this movie, there is no doubt in my mind that the movie would have suceeded immensely in both departments of drama AND action. Why oh why Cameron did you NOT direct this. Legal bullsh-it aside, you're king of the world and if you kept your interest in this project, you would have preservered and would have given us a truly stunning and thrilling movie. One last thing I'd like to say is, is that out of all of the comic book movies I've seen, I enjoyed this the most. The climactic fight towards the end of Spiderman was efficient at best. I was expecting a grand set-piece that spanned throughout a long stretch of locations. The final battle just didn't seem grand and thrilling enough. Me and my buddies found ourselves actually laughing when Dafoe got iced John Travolta-style in Broken Arrow, If James Cameron had directed Spiderman, the action sequences would have been grand in scale and thrilling. Raimi's Spiderman didn't make me feel that anytime during its actions sequences, Spiderman's life was at stake. I had this consistent sense of comfort all throughout the movie that MAguire would pull through and save the day without breaking a sweat. It didn't give Spiderman impossible odds to overcome during the action sequences. I just felt they were carelessly done. Efficient and solid, yes. Exceptional, grand, and thrilling? F-ucks no!
One problem: Carjacker's fate by DrOzymandias	May 4th, 2002 04:23:19 PM
Was anyone else annoyed at the carjacker's fate? Personally, I saw it as Spiderman allowing someone to die through inaction, and we all know Spiderman doesn't do that. Batman, even Superman, they've killed, but Spiderman never did (fans remember the whole debate during Maximum Carnage). Personally, I think Raimi took the easy way out, and that was the only betrayal of the character
MOVIE BRAT, YOU IDIOT!! by spideyman1218	May 4th, 2002 04:25:32 PM
You didn't like the wrestling scene?! IT WAS RIGHT OUT OF THE COMIC BOOK!
Spider-Man Review by The E	May 4th, 2002 04:28:43 PM
First off, Spider-Man is a GREAT movie that ties with Superman and is better than Batman or X-Men. Now go see it. The rest of this review does include spoilers, you've been warned. I've been a "true believer" since I was a kid. I didn't read the comics but I did watch the cartoon and TV show religiously in the early 80's, I had the toys, etc. So this was probably going to be the most anticipated movie in my lifetime. It met my expectations, although not surpassing them (which would be pretty hard). First, the things I disliked: 1) Score, Music, Theme: Elfman, what a let down, but I expected that much. Elfman didn't create a "humable" theme for Batman, but it was cool. Yet, the score helped push Superman to a new level. I can always hum that them, it's majestic, breathtaking. It added so much to Reeve's screen presense. Spider-Man is robbed, he doesn't have a theme! Now don't get me wrong, the music is great in the movie, fits like a glove to the scenes, but I want a theme I can remember and I don't get it. 2) Villian: Every great movie has a great villian. Die Hard, Terminator, Empire Strikes Back, Predator, you name it, it has a great villian. Green Goblin a good Villian but not GREAT. He wasn't threatening enough till the very end. He killed some military guys who seemed like jerks, no loss. He made some derogatory comments to women, no loss, he set a building on fire, but no one was hurt. Villians have to prove themselves to be evil. Goblin doesn't show that till the end when he's about to kill children or MJ. We should have seen more of that earlier to sink in that this guy was pure evil. Have some casualties in some scenes, or at least make that his intention. I know Goblin has his internal demons he's struggling with, but when he wears the mask he is suppose to be evil. Gene Hackman made up for his evil-ness by being funny and clever. Goblin isn't funny nor very clever, but more evil than Luthor. 3) Transition from old to new costume: Did I blink? I wanted to see a slower transition. Add a couple minutes to the film, I wanted to see him make the mirrors for his eyes, get the fabric for the costume, learn fighting skills, it just jumped from the beginner stage to the experienced stage with not intermediate step. 4) Blowjob for Richard Donner: I like when directors pays tribute to influences in their movies, but not at the expense of the hero's image. There are signature "Superman" like moments that should never be stolen or copied. One of them is the classic Kent/Superman switch, Superman running and ripping his shirt open to reveal the "S". That is a classic move of his and looks very stupid having Spider-Man do it to reveal a little Spider on his chest. It was unecessary, and took away from Spidy's individual super hero status. Spidy jumps to the ground landing perfectly almost laying flat, great signature move. If Wolverine did that it would look akward and stupid. The "Superman" line was enough. 5) Macy Gray: First it could have been any singer, even my fav, but a popular artist does not need to be in the movie. It takes us away from the fantasy that it's "real-life" and reminds us, "hey, this is movie, look Macy Gray is in it". Plus Macy Gray really BLOWS. A scratchy voice is not a gift, she sucks. 6) Too much in the trailers: I admit, I watched the trailers like 100+ times, but still. They showed too much in the trailers and some of the best CGI was not a surprise int he film. 7) The NY line "we all stick together" felt too tacked on, unecessary. Have 5% of the profits go to victims or something, but don't ruin the film. What if Superman would have had a line about the OPEC embargo, or plane hijackings, unecessary. What I liked: 1) Camera Angles: Raimi nailed it. He talked about making Spidy be a ballerina in the air and he pulls it off in Spades. Excellent. Spidy really comes to life when he's swinging above NY. Can't say enough about this. 2) To catch the theif: I like to think of this as the climax of the movie, even though it probably isn't. This Spidy Scene is increadible. It really works. You really feel his desire and anger for revenge. The special effects, the clumsiness, the want to get this guy at all costs. Just great. This scene is reminiscent of the first scene in which Superman saves Lois from the falling helicopter. Although the Supe scene wins in the end because of the accompaning score. 3) Special Effects: The complaints are not warranty. I am picky when it comes to effects. Mummy 2 Scorpion King is so unforgivable, while AI is a landmark. While not TOTALLY seemless, I would say 90% of the shots are believable and the other 10% are not very noticible. They did an incredible job. Superman would have a similar ratio. Could have been better, yes, but did it manage to be very believable, yes. Great job. 4) Acting: top notch stuff. All of them nail their roles and no lines like Toad/Storm. 5) Last scene swinging city: Excellent way to end, could have done without the Flag stuff, but still great last 20 seconds GREAT CGI work, again, amazing camera work. Why is it better than Batman or X-Men? Batman, the action scenes seemed kinda elementary, the Joker's death, the plot around makeup faces, I don't know, don't get me wrong it was a great movie but had some defencencies. X-Men, the costumes, they could have made costumes similar to the original without making them look campy. Make the yellow a darker yellow, do something, but the Matrix leather didn't cut it. Toad & Storm, nuff' said. Spider-Man has it's faults, as I said above, but not like Batman or X-Men. Super-Man, white-trash Lois, slow slow beginning, teenage Clark that does not resemble Reeves whatsoever, are my main complaints. But those are miniscule negatives, and by far is one of the greatest movies of all time. Spider-Man was GREAT, not perfect, but an exceptional super hero film that will stand the test of time. I'm proud to be a Spidy fan after seeing this movie.
On a few other complaints from others. by PattyOGreen	May 4th, 2002 04:29:19 PM
The CGI did look a bit iffy, but my mind just started getting into the groove of it as a comic-book movie. It looks comicy. So it's allright. Doesn't have to be seamless, and it's not like ILM was the outfit doing the effects or anything. Now, Dafoe... someone said his part was horrid. Fuck you. I got the most enjoyment out of the Green Goblin. (P.S. I want a Goblin Glider. Can anyone hook me up? Or, at least one of those sweet-ass glowing pumpkin bombs?) He was AWESOME! And I was rolling in my seat in sheer joy during the mirror scene. I just was waiting for him to talk about chopping up his girlfriend - heehee. I know, I know.... I'm one of THOSE Evil Dead 2 fans... As for the score, yes, I too am quite peeved that Elfman didn't do a better job, or at least throw us a bone and give us a fucking THEME. Superman best illustrates the proper usage of multiple themes in a Super-Hero movie. Hear the main theme - Superman's here to save the day, yippee! We get to see him kick some ass now! Otis' theme - we get to hear some more of Luthor's plans for world conquest. Love theme - gives a bit more depth and feeling to the touchy-feely romance. We not only see them falling for each other, but we are swept along in it through the music. That's probably one of the main things that made the "touching" scenes in Spider-Man stick out so sorely and not move along. I know, I know... Elfman is fantastic, but he's no Williams. And on top of that, Williams has been no Williams for some time now as well. He can sure still write a theme, but for the most part, those one or two themes are all that are used throughout the entire film (i.e. Harry freakin' Potter). Damnit... why can't the themes be as good as they were even 10 years ago? Again... I'm just a moron, don't mind me.
SPIDERMAN NUMBERS! by climbhigh	May 4th, 2002 04:30:05 PM
The most powerful moment of the film for me was when he told MJ at Uncle Ben's gravesite that "I will allways be here for you, we will allways be friends". He sacraficed the girl of his dreams to fight crime and fulfill his destiny. Then it shows the ending with him patroling New York then him landing on the flag pole with old glory waving.. INCREDIBLE! This movie is very satisfying, entertaining and moving and a MUST BUY on dvd when released. I hope it SINKS Titanics #1 spot, and its well on its way ---> http://boxofficemojo.com/daily /
Spidey by CashCrowe	May 4th, 2002 04:34:43 PM
Wow, everything that I wanted in the movie I got. I guess my only complaint was that it wasn't longer, the Brooklyn Bridge scene and the finaly battle should have been split up IMHO. It would've made for more drama that way because it went so fast! Anyway, I loved it, best comic book movie yet!
I thought Danny Elfman's score sucked!!! by BigTuna	May 4th, 2002 04:35:46 PM
I know people like the guy. But the music sounded WAY too much like the first Batman.
Yes! Yes! OH, GOD, YESSS! by Wade Steele	May 4th, 2002 04:37:31 PM
I nust admit, I had some reservations about seeing this movie. And after hearing about some of the potiential changes in the Hulk, I was even more afraid of even the minor changes in Spiderman. But, by 4:45 Friday afternoon (the show started at 4:30), my fears had all but vaproized into the dark theater. Hell, even the horrific costume disign for the Green Goblin made me squeel in delight after I realized how it was used. (BTW, any TBers who want to bitch about the new look of the Goblin need to check out the Ulitmate Spiderman series.) Even if someone is not a comic fans, and belive me I know I'm going to have a hard time convincing my non-comic fan friends to go see it, the emotional core Spiderman is still in tact. My biggest problem with X-men was that the true essence of what made the story great was not there, but here there is actually an emotional story of Peter Parker maturing and accepting the responcibillities of adulthood. Overall, I don't care if Ep. II sucks, this is already a great movie summer.
This was not a good movie. At all. by Swarmy	May 4th, 2002 04:41:14 PM
Sorry, this was what happens when a director known for making small budget campy movies gets a lot of money and a big license. You get a big budget campy mess of a movie. Between the costumes, dialog and action I couldn't tell if I was watching Spiderman or the Power Rangers.
Well, if you want shit that blows up real good, you can wait for by Christopher3	May 4th, 2002 04:49:42 PM
How anyone couldn't have enjoyed this is beyond me. P.S. that's the Queensboro Bridge, not the Brooklyn Bridge.
Marvel Magic FINALLY Comes to the Screen by Gstormcrow	May 4th, 2002 04:55:36 PM
All I can say is "What a relief." Saw the film last night, and I wasn't disappointed. Was it PERFECT? NOPE....but what film is? Was it Great...Yes It Was. Raimi didn't try and "improve" on the story, he stuck FAITHFULLY to Spiderman's original storyline, INCLUDING the wrestling match, and that faithfulness paid off big time in the overall "tone" of the entire film! Ok...Organic Web Shooters, made me crazy when I read about it all those months ago....forgot about mechanical web shooters within five minutes of Peter using his organic ones...just not a big deal. The Goblin's Mask....my biggest problem....but it wasn't bad enough to ruin the movie. And Mr. D. did a hell of a job acting through it anyway. In fact I thought he was arguably the best comic villain ever brought to screen thus far. Made Jack's Joker look pathetic and obvious. Toby....nailed it. Even when he IS Spiderman, Parker remains the same....SLOWLY growing out of the "nerd" role, not quite comfortable with his new responsibilities....still finding his place. One of the best elements of the movie is his wisecracking as Spiderman, and yet his difficulty talking to MJ as Parker. And Parker's struggle to come to grips with his role in Uncle Ben's murder was perfect. I don't understand how anyone could feel it was rushed....it lasted throughout the entire movie, climaxing with Peter's realization that he couldn't connect with MJ. PERFECT J.J was RIGHT ON
Yeah, but.... by John Winger	May 4th, 2002 05:00:07 PM
I saw the movie last night at 12:15 and I was a little disappointed, based solely on the fact that I had crossed the path of some shills that worked for Sony who told me how great this movie was going to be. It was what it was...the effects when Spiderman was in the first suit were quite jerky, someone in my group said it looked like Toy Story. MJ wasn't developed (not in that way) enough, for that matter no character was truly developed. I know that there was a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time and this is just the groundwork for the sequels to come so that can pass. But that is a little nitpicky... I enjoyed it overall and will come out for the sequels. The main reason I am writing is they showed a trailer for the Hulk and the place went apeshit.....until it said Summer 2003 and the whole place booed...it was hilarious. I thought that would be the last trailer...because the crowd was hyped up and ready for a comic book movie, but inexplicably they showed a preview for "Hey Arnold..the Movie" and it sucked the air out of us like a balloon. Whoever was in charge should have been shot.....
Best Comic Book Movie Ever, Definately: Every Adolescent, Early by NoCureForFools	May 4th, 2002 05:04:17 PM
Spiderman was absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. it goes directly to the heart about what comics are really about: that insecure somewhat awkward person who is inside EVERY comic book reader. Peter Parker is the ultimate hero for this set because HE IS this set. he's awkward and shy, he's a dreamer. he longs for a girl he's known his entire life, but never talks to her. little knowing that she actually loves him back! when i was 13 years old, i fuckin' was Peter Parker. than Punk Rock came along and i got "cool", i got girls, etc. i was still a nerd on the inside (still am, as are we all), but i had a sort of alter-ego in punk rockness that worked with other outsider chicks. now i'm just me, but i have a deep love and appreciation of the GeekArts, and especially well told stories like this. i mean, dear god, the scene where he is designing his costume went right to the heart of everything comic fans / artists (most fans are aspiring artists themselves) are really about. this was a brilliantly done movie, because it was done by another Geeek-Done-Good: Raimi. a fantastic film. looking forward to part II.
Cameos, Easter Egss etc by PreludeTheory	May 4th, 2002 05:10:46 PM
I am not a die hard SPider Man fan, so I know I missed a few, but I did catch the "Dr. Connors" refernece when Peter said he had been fired. I know Harry Osborn was the Hobgoblin, were there any others? I don't remember Electro, the Sandman, or the Vulture's real names. At one time, wasn't Eddie Brock supposed to make an appearance? Did I miss it? I liked Lucy Lawless as the Punk Girl and I remember reading that Stan Lee's scene had been cut, but there he was saving a little girl in Times Square. Were any of the Oscorp Board of Directors from the comics? And I also liked the Terminix Pest Control billboard in Times Square.
Spiderman sucked. by Stu_Pedaso	May 4th, 2002 05:29:24 PM
SOME OF THE ACTION SEQUENCES HAD ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT. WTF? Whoever whote this in one of the posts above must have been wacking off in a porn theatre. Did you actually see the same movie I did? I know I.m in the minority now but give it a day or two when people start coming to their senses and all the crackheads stop posting BS about how this is the best Comic book adaption ever. This movie doesn't even touch Superman. Not even close. Two years from now Nobody is going to care about this movie but we will still be watching reruns of Superman on TV. You can post all the glowin reviews you want to but this is just another case of a movie not living up to the hype and all the Spidey wanna be's convincing themselves that this is the best that hollywood can do. You know that this is precicely why we continue to get crappy movies like this. Oh and the person that said this is going to break Titanic's record...take another drag off your crack pipe man cause you're as high as a kite. As much as I HATE Titanic, This movie is not going to come close to that record. I get irritated looking at these posts and seeing how everyone is praising this film. Is there anyone here who has gotten past the 10th grade? I mean c'mon, who are you trying to kid. I guess I just have to realize who I'm dealing with and move on because it doesn't matter what I type, you are going to go one believing that you've hit the jackpot. Pathetic.
Spidey Is Another Great Comic to Film Movie by FranktheBunny	May 4th, 2002 05:29:49 PM
Spiderman , which i saw yesterday afternoon, shows we can make them right, we did it right with X-Men and did it great with Unbreakable, and now Spiderman. Dude stop naysaying and enjoy the ride, they arent suppose to be deep like unbreakable, they are suppose to turn every fucking person in the theater into a little kid again and make everyone laugh and be scared. And i think spiderman did that, and i cant wait for Hulk, Daredevil and X2, they will all rule.
A good movie that is the greatest comic book movie. by torgoman	May 4th, 2002 05:31:27 PM
Long time luker, first time poster. Spider-Man is a good movie. Not great, but good. But compared to the Batman, Superman and X-Men movies it is fantastic. What worked for me is that they didn't get bogged down in the origin too much. It was fun watching Peter Parker learn what powers he had and practice how to use them. That's when the movie really zipped along and was fun. J. Jonah Jameson was hilarious and I wish there was more of him. Also loved all the secret shout-outs to the longtime fans. Anyone remember that ninja-wrestling costume as the Spidey Halloween costume from years ago? Also loved the Dr. Connors mention. Another thing I liked was how the script examined Peter, MJ, and Harry's relationships to their fathers and how it effected and bonded them as well. Uncle Ben gave Peter his sense of responsibility; MJ's father had her doubting her own self-worth; and Harry was forever seeking his father's approval. I'm looking forward to more of one-liner Spidey in the sequels; but right now I'm glad the movie did a good job of establishing the Peter Parker character. That's the appeal of Spider-Man. Not just the web slinging, but how having super powers can be a curse as well as a blessing. And you cannot have a Spider-Man movie franchise without first understanding Peter Parker. What doesn't exactly work for me was the Green Goblin. Okay, the body armor I can see, but the helmet was a bit of a disappointment. Not horrible, but why couldn't they have done something like the latex masks from the Mission Impossible movies? I wanted to see more expression from GG. But the whole Green Goblin conflict with Spider-Man didn't work as well as it could have. It's when the movie started to get a little wobbly before finding its footing near the end. They should have continued with the whole father figure theme in the movie. Perhaps Norman stepping in as Peter's surrogate father figure and he finds out the kid is secretly Spider-Man earlier on. So he kicks his ass as the Green Goblin and then is all nice and supportive as Norman Osbourne. Peter Parker is suddenly in an abusive father-son relationship, and he doesn't realize it until it's almost too late. That's what would have made that final conflict between them all the more powerful. Uncle Ben gave PP his purpose and he isn't going to have that manipulated by Norman Osbourne or the Green Goblin. I liked the bridge fight except for the post 9-11 shoutout to New Yorkers. That scene seemed like it was added on and GG could have easily torched their butts. Another thing is how MJ can drop several feet and catch a railing as perfectly as a trapeeze artist. Most people would fall and grapple onto the railing for dear life. But these are nitpicks. I'll probably see it again tonight. It's just a good summer movie.
a man who dresses like a spider will scare criminals? by Mr Glass	May 4th, 2002 05:32:56 PM
Somebody please explain this concept to me. I mean a guy gets spider powers and dresses like a friend of dorothy and criminals are supposed to be in fear of this man? I mean if he were really on the streets of New York he'd not only get laughed at by muggers and rapists but by regular streetfolk as well. I just can't grasp how the moviegoing public can accept this concept and yet are stumped by Memento and Donnie Darko. This movie is better than X-men but this movie still sucks cause the CG looks like shit and I still believe the subject matter is still to 2-d for it to transfer over to reality. 3 words: fake, fake, fake. this movie is just like tomb raider but why does everyone hate that movie and like this one so much?
Cuz Tomb Raider is terrible, that's why. by Lenny Nero	May 4th, 2002 05:43:17 PM

I will join the chorus and say: 41 MILLION IN THE FIRST DAY!?!!? by Cash Bailey	May 4th, 2002 05:45:01 PM
Jesus Christ, let's just hope THE TWO TOWERS can beat it at the end of the year.
Love Raimi, big Spidey fan, but... by ZakChase	May 4th, 2002 05:45:08 PM
I must say I was somewhat disappointed by the movie, which I though was good but nowhere near the exemplary level of the first two "Superman"s or "X-Men." The first hour was spot on, but things went sour from there. I REALLY hate the fact that Raimi and Koepp decided to skip over Parker actually BECOMING "Spider-Man." When you see the movie -- one minute Peter is a guy with super powers and a dead uncle, trying to figure out what to do with his abilities, and the next minute he's a New York sensation that everybody on the street is talking about. What the fuck is up with that? Where's the superhero learning curve? Tobey, Willem and Kirsten were all OK, but the characters didn't feel right on to me. You know how when you saw "X-Men," and you felt like you weren't watching an actor playing Wolverine but were actually watching Wolverine himself? Or how Ian McKellen doesn't play Gandalf, he IS Gandalf. You WILL NOT get that feeling with "Spider-Man." The CGI wildly varies from one scene to the next. And I HATE having everything spelled out for me. (For example, Harry's ridiculous "Spider-Man will pay! I swear on my father's grave, Spider-Man will pay!!!!) Jesus, have some restraint. My suggestion for the sequel: keep Raimi, but hire Brian Michael Bendis to put together a better script. Oh, and Philip Seymore Hoffman as Dock Ock.
Very good by ewem	May 4th, 2002 05:46:59 PM
Minor nits like some of the smarmy dialogue between MJ and Peter at the end... I had people in the theater loudly heckling that scene! This is the best comic movie since 1978's Superman, IMHO. Nothing's perfect, but I am eager to see sequels. I guess Harry's up next as the Hobgoblin for part 2?
you people suck who think the movie sucks.how can you say that?y by THE PROFESSOR	May 4th, 2002 05:50:16 PM
get a fucking life and have some fun. oh and by the way this was an extrodinary film true to all roots of the books. so fuck u naysayers,...really
It rocked by Private Ryan	May 4th, 2002 05:50:50 PM
This movie had me grinning from ear to ear like a little kid from start to finish. Raimi hit a home run with the film. The people who are complaining about corny dialouge- yeah, that's the idea kids. He is trying to make an old style comic book. Some of the dramatic scenes did drag a bit, but there were also some very effective moments in between Peter Parker and MJ. I liked the scene in the hospital between them, with Aunt May watching. The last speech by Dunst sucked, but whatever. The action was great, the Goblin costume was lame, the Spidey costume brilliant. The comic book references were perfect, and she called him Tiger in one scene! Lots of fun, maybe the best comic book movie adaptation ever. Tobey did a fantastic job. And Bruce Campbell ruled the world in his scene, while J Jonah Jameson was utterly perfect.
This is one of those films that Harry will probably review twice by swavill	May 4th, 2002 05:54:11 PM
Once as an adaptation and once as a stand alone film. As an adaptation it is fucking outstanding! This is truly a comic book come to life. The complaints that I have seen so far are for the most part the same complaints that could be made about the original Spiderman comics. This isn't Tolstoy people its a fucking comic book. You expect a little hokey dialog and melodrama. Thats part of its charm. The choppy action scenes of Spidey catching criminals is straight out of the comics. Then we get the complaint that the CGI doesn't look real. As compared to what? Is there anybody out there who's actually seen a man with the proportionate strength and speed of a spider swinging by a thread through New York City? Can you tell its CGI? Sure. Is that really how Spiderman would look or move? How the fuck should I know. All I do know is it worked for me and did not detract from the film. As a stand alone film I can see where some people would have problems with it. Its not "Gone With The Wind" by any stretch of the imagination. There are alot of people who seem to be put off by the way the film was cut and the script. I believe that this film was intentionally made to be a live action comic book and not a film about a comic book character. Its editing ,pacing and script reflect this. As far as I'm concerned Sam Raimi did an outstanding job of bringing a comic book to life. It was a ball to watch and that was after all the whole point. Swavill
sorry some of you didn't like... by BurlIvesLeftNut	May 4th, 2002 05:54:37 PM
But thank god the crowd I saw it with did. Most important to me were the children. It's always about the children in some way, isn't it? Anyway these kids at my theatre ate it up. Totall fucking mesmerized. And my friends, who are not spider-man fans, loved it too. They came to an understand of the character, and that is just cool. I can not wait to see it again!
Hype is the key to raking in the MOOLAH! by Nazg	May 4th, 2002 06:03:13 PM
There is NO way Spider-Man deserves $41 Million on its opening day! I would say that whoever was in charge of the marketing and hype of this movie should get a HUGE raise. Especailly the idea to put a Spider-Man trailer in front of LOTR was genius. I'm not saying its a bad movie, its a great movie, but how do you explain $41 million? I'm curious to see how this will hold up, I'm guessing about a 33% drop next weekend, then a 50% drop with AOTC hitting theaters the weekend after that.
Naysayers, you're all friggin' idiots!!! by sicboy041	May 4th, 2002 06:03:20 PM
How could you not like that movie? It was awesome. Please, suspend your disbelief for 2 hours, and sit back and enjoy the flick for what it is. A COMIC BOOK MOVIE!! And, in that regard, it is the best comic book adaptation since Superman. It was exciting, well acted, action packed, funny, touching, and didn't take itself too seriously. Much like a comic book...duh!! I thought the acting was great. In particular, Tobey Maguire, JK Simmons and Willem Dafoe. Kirsten Dunst was decent as MJ, but again, she is playing the damsel in distress role, so there is only so much she can do. The CGI was better than I expected. (Holy shit that last swinging sequence!!!). Parker's discovery of his new powers was well done. As was the burglar chase. Sure there were some slow spots, but its neccessary to help give the characters some weight. If it were all action... it'd be THE MUMMY!! A great film, and I'll definitely go see it again.
Bitching about action scenes? + Sequel fears by Sphere	May 4th, 2002 06:10:59 PM
First, everybody complaining about there not being enough explosives and action is obviously lost. This was not a movie for you. If you think a movie featuring Spiderman is supposed to be full of huge city spanning battles and grand epic moments, you're not familiar with the character. Spiderman is rarely part of epic world saving bullshit. He's just one guy doing the best he can on a fairly small scale. He frequently screws up, gets hurt, and occasionally flat out loses. The movie perfectly captured Spidermans tendency to deal best with small scale (and often personal) situations. Every hero can't be out to save the "world as we know it". THat's never been what Spiderman is about.-------So they've already signed Raimi to direct the sequel. Cool. Unfortunately, they've hired screenwriters who created the show Smallville. THese guys have pretty much gone on record as saying they find superheroes "cheesy" and "unrealistic". THat kind of attitude is what can fuck up a superhero movie. If you think superheroes are cheesy, DON"T MAKE SUPERHERO MOVIES! Make an Ahnold action movie or something. Dress him in leather all you want. Get yourself a bunch of pretty young actors and make them "edgy" and "realistic" all you like. Just don't fuck with established characters. But then that would force them to think up their own original material, so Hollywood can't have that. Just license an existing "concept" and then screw it up.----In the sequel, they may be tempted to use multiple villians to make the movie feel "bigger and better". That's not a good idea. For one thing, "bigger" ain't necessarily "better", especially for a character like SPiderman. Creative use of a single new (new, as in not the Green Goblin again...yet) villian would be much better. I think someone else had the idea of using Harry Osborn to finance the creation/hiring of a new villian, and then playing off that dynamic. That would be cool. Then you could end it with Harry really flipping out at the end as a set up for the final movie. Oh yeah, and they should throw in the Harry-as-drug-addict storyline to add to the drama and tension as Peter has to deal with his best buddy becoming an addict, losing his mind, and trying to kill his alter-ego. Yeah...
this movies nailed it by themohairsuit	May 4th, 2002 06:11:51 PM
Don't have a lot to say here, except that I am a 21 year old film student who usually hates the big event films, but Spider-Man rocked. I honestly cannot understand why a single person here found this film disagreeable or boring. It made me feel like a kid again, like it was me swinging from those buildings. They nailed it, kids. If you don't like the Spider-Man movie, you simply don't like Spider-Man.
Blade 2 was much better by --Azreal--	May 4th, 2002 06:12:19 PM
Nuff said
Spiderman: Why Spiderman wasn't great. by SYMBIOTE	May 4th, 2002 06:14:36 PM
Ok i've been a spidey fan since as far back as i can remeber. The movie had been in developement hell for even longer. Now here we have it, THE Spiderman movie, so why did i leave the theatre with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach? Why isnt Spiderman the greatest comic book movie ever? Several reasons, but in order to fully understand why this movie isnt great we must detach ourselves from our fanboy childhood and take a critical look at all comicbook movies, the fact that a movie is based on a comic book is NO excuse for it to have bad writting, or subpar effects. I'm tired of us fans having to settle for less, we deserve better. This is what happens when movies like X-men are overly hyped. Go rent that movie again and ask yourself if it deserves all the praise it received. No, it did not. It should all start with a good script, but it rarely does with comic book movies, scripts get handed around hollywood, its not uncommon to have at least three different writters on one project. An unfocused script leads to plot holes and forgetable dialouge. Isnt it convenient that all the board members of Oscrop were at the same place at the same time? Wow Mary Jane and those kids were awfully lucky that sail barge was there to pick em up. "Those eyes, those horrible yellow eyes!" But what does it matter really, more comic movies will be greenlit faster and rushed into preproduction at breakneck speeds when they see Spidermans Opening weekend box office take, oversaturating the market and destroying the genre forever. HELLBOY SAVE US!!!!!!!!!!!
Gotta love it by Counterpunch	May 4th, 2002 06:16:46 PM
To say that Raimi didn't nail this one is like saying Congo was the best moving ever. Raimi Rocks and i look forward to Spider-man part 2, everything just felt so right....wel not everything. I do have a few reserves and my first main objection is that there was less JJ Jameson, two maybe three scenes and poof nada!! Come on he is key to the whole spider-man saga and the fact that there was little interaction between him and Parker, well that just made me feel blaaah. My second gripe was the fact that the spider jokes were just too few. I was drawn to the spider comics because Spider-man doesn't just fight the beat the bad guys physically, he does it verbally to. There should have been more quips between He and the Goblin, not so much to make it cheesy stand-up, just enough to make it enjoyable. Tobey Mcguire ROCKS as peter parker, as Psider-man, he does an amazing job. And i had my reserves on the Goblin costumes, butto see it in action as he slinks all about while on th eglider, is just uber cool!! What a way to begin the summer flicks and now on to Episode 2......
THIS IS THE REVIEW HARRY REFUSED TO PUT ON THE SITE AND HIS DELA by dima	May 4th, 2002 06:26:46 PM
Seen SPIDERMAN on the tight press screening somewhere in Europe. We can diagnose Sam Raimi`s brain death. His movies should no long bear his name on credits. He lost it and we must face the consequences. We should remember him by his best works like EVIL DEAD trilogy, CRIMEWAVE and DARKMAN. His SPIDERMAN movie shows that studios whored every damn thing American culture created. Spiderman was truly an exploitation character aimed at geeky crowd that wanted to have a hero of their own origin. They couldn`t understand the simplest thing - heroes are different. Greek gods had human attributes but they were immortal. Spiderman is the simplification of the heroic mythology. But it`s all right, there are people who are not as tough as ancient Greeks. It opens with a bad Danny Elfman score and cartoonish credits which is fine because it ain`t PANIC ROOM where we also had quite ambitious credit fonts. Then, we go to Peter Parker`s voice-over and his tiresome explanatory melodrama. Then we have all those informative lines where people tell us their biographies in casual talk. I always hated that because it is the symbol of sloppy writing. Peter Parker chasing the bus and kids looking like Stan Lee`s vision of contemporary youth. Right. Sooner than later you find out that SPIDERMAN is SCREAM 3 of superhero flicks. It`s a romantic story posing as a superhero flick. It`s melodrama intercut with CGI heavy action scenes featuring guys in tights. It`s abominable because we will face VALENTINE of superhero flicks very soon. It`s full of irrelevant details aimed at seducing the geeks. Uncle Ben is driving the car from EVIL DEAD. Bruce is announcing. Nice. But where`s the story? Raimi is the noble barbarian. Beautifully gifted meister who`s geeky, cartoonish and comic book perception of the world brought him into the movie author pantheon. But he isn`t able to deal with psychological drama and someone has to tell him so. His handling of actors and so-called emotions (named overacting in my country) is, well, unahsamedly bad. It`s so bad I laughed. In scenes when I was supposed to invest into characters. I know that the most of the moviegoing crowd are nothing more than cattle pushed into cinemas on the opening weekend. Still, I think SPIDERMAN could even insult them. Storywise, the script is bearable. It lacks the action and focus. Things happen a bit too casually. But I could`ve dealt with that if the actual scenes were written in the better manner. Now, let me tell you I knew how bad hackers David Koepp and Scott Rosenberg are but sincerely I believed that Alvin Sargent could bring some old school sense of dignity into the process. Even Andrew Kevin Walker couldn`t save this mess. Sony made a great move by hiring Sam Raimi. He made this piece of shit get swallowed smoothly. Because it`s all slippery and slick. People who don`t dig movies may even like it because it ain`t apparently bad. But, let me tell you one thing Marvel had better flicks when Albert Pyun made them as in CAPTAIN AMERICA. If this film was made in 1985, it could have been treated as decent. But after BLADEs and THE MATRIX, you can`t make such mistakes. BLADE designed the mode of realistic comic book action happening right here and right now because all the stylish territories were explored by Burton`s BATMANs. THE MATRIX created some modes of rationally explained superhero action. BLADE 2 showed us how to make relevant comic book styliztion on the big screen. And after all these mastrpieces which border highest art and science, Raimi delivers glossy insult to any thinking moviegoer let alone genre movie fan. Oh, boy. No bad comment can ever stop me from seeing a Raimi movie, so I`m not trying to prevent you from seeing it. But is is only valuable as information on how people can get screwed and squeezed when they overestimate own wits.
How do I explain $41 million? Easy. by Swarmy	May 4th, 2002 06:32:35 PM
a. Endlesss hype with commercials every 10 minutes to get the kiddies all hyped up b. (and here's what makes these opening weekend numbers a bigger and bigger waste of time) the fact that the price of a normal showing is growing by leaps and bounds. Comparing the opening weekend of Spiderman with the opening weekend of The Lost World is like comparing apples and oranges since the average price of a ticket has increased almost 20% since then. Why they can't compare the number of tickets sold instead of the useless $$$$ figures is beyond me.
Definitely Better than X-Men by aacameron1	May 4th, 2002 06:43:48 PM
Standing out in the rain for 45 minutes the first time, I kept thinking, "I can't wait to see this!" Selflessly volunteering to stand out in the rain for another 40 minutes for a friend's ticket, I kept thinking, "They'd better not sell out and this had better be worth it!" Well, they didn't, and it was. It's been a long time since I experienced going to a movie on opening night. The last time I did that it was a huge letdown (It was Planet of the Apes... feel my pain, people), but this time... I was more than satisfied. Spider-Man satisfied me. The other seven people I went with at least said it was good. I thought it was great. I thought it was better than X-Men, which I formerly held as the best comic movie ever. Lemme get to some highlights. THE BAD: -The fanboys behind me that wouldn't shut up. Someone said, "Gross!" the first time Pete shot his webbing, and one of them said, "It wouldn't be gross if he had web cartirdges," at which point I coulda hit him. -The soundtrack. Most of it fit well but you couldn't really tell what was Spider-Man's theme. It's like they were afraid to forsake the old "does whatever a spider can" song to give him a new and sweet-sounding instrumental theme. -The whole split personality thing for Norman. This is more of a gripe than a bad quality, because it made me laugh every time he was talking to himself, and that last scene where they cut to the mask every time "the Goblin" was talking caused the theater to snicker through the whole scene. THE GOOD: -The origin. It was great how they played it out, and they established enough background (nerdy guy Peter who everyone made fun of, best friend's name is Harry, girl who tolerates him and is somewhat nice to him because he lives next door is Mary Jane) before he got bit. -The wrestling match. Randy was great. -The burglar escaping thing. Totally cool, and the "thanks kid" at the end of that scene kinda creeped me out, knowing what would happen next. The death of Ben and his kickin the crap out of the burglar was great. -The transition from that to graduation. People say it went by too fast, it didn't show him making the costume, blah blah. I think it made sense that he waited that long to try to be a hero and put on a costume again, it showed that he thought about what Ben said and he wasn't really over Ben's death. -CGI? What CGI? It all looked real to me. :) -The way the Goblin talked to Spider-Man when he was presenting his offer. It was funny as heck when he was talking to him and trying to make him realize that joining forces would be beneficial, at least to him. -Raimi's Spider-Sense. Great depiction, neat effects, 'nuff said. -All the fight scenes were great, especially when it slowed down to show Spidey using his agility to dodge everything. All in all, this movie was amazing. Pardon the pun. I enjoyed it and I'm recommending it to all my friends. Definitely worth spending a total of almost an hour and a half in the rain for tickets to the 9:30 show. :)
I dunno... by Listen Up	May 4th, 2002 06:48:46 PM
....I was really underwhelmed. Too many things that I didn't like as opposed to liked. I really liked the origin set up (one of the many things missing from Burton's Batman) the first third of this film really worked for me and got me psyched for the rest of the film. Loved the wrestling bit, I had no problems with organic webshooters or any of that other stuff the purists complained about. Tobey was great as Parker, Dafoe was a great Osborne, J.K. Simmons was spot on perfect as J. Jonah, Kirsten was a passable Mary Jane (nice wet t-shirt shot). But as soon as Maguire and Dafoe put on their costumes and turned into their alter-egos, things kinda fell off the tracks. I gotta agree with a lot of the comments here. A LOT of the special effects shots were really iffy, too many scenes where Spiderman seemed to weigh nothing, the Stuntman Spiderman and the CG Spiderman seemed to be operating under two separate laws of physics. Look At CTHD, they defied gravity in that film too, but the characters had weight, they operated in a world where the laws of physics were bent a little, not ignored. Spiderman needed to do that, bend the laws of gravity, don't ignore them. Second, I know I tried to keep an open mind about this, but the Green Goblin suit just didn't work for me. Somebody here said that GG looked like a Power Rangers bad guy and I couldn't agree more. Dafoe's got such a great face for the Goblin (he would have been my choice for The Joker) why cover it up with that stupid helmet? The mouth and eyes flipping up was a nice touch, but it just reinforced the fact that he shouldn't have been wearing the damn thing in the first place. Thirdly, the action shots were just weirdly directed/edited. Which surprised me because Raimi had done such a good job with the action sequences in Darkman (which I gotta admit I liked more than the first Batman). I don't know if it was the CG or what, but a lot of the time I kinda lost track of what was going on. Thirdly, and this is where I assert my comic book geekdom, but where was the smart ass Spiderman? One of the things I always liked the comic Spiderman for was his taunting of his enemies, it's what always separated him from most superheroes. They made him way too serious for me. I think if they had given him just a couple good one-line zingers to hurl at GG it would have off-set some of the really corny over the top dialogue. Fourth, as it has already been noted, Danny Elfman's soundtrack really didn't do anything for me. People here are saying that it sounds too close to the first Batman soundtrack but I think it's closer to his Dick Tracy soundtrack, either way, it wasn't very good. Lastly, and once again I gotta agree with a lot of what's been said here, this film really drags after the first half hour. Which to me is deadly for a comic book movie. You gotta have a slow build to a really spectacular finish (like in X-Men or the first Superman movies) Spiderman didn't really do that for me. So, to wrap up, I didn't hate this film, it has a lot going for it, but the things that make or break a comic book film, i.e; special effects, good action sequences, and a really-love-to-hate villain, are all missing or not executed well enough. Is Spiderman better than the first Superman movie, no. Better than X-Men, no. It's about on par with the first Batman movie. That said, I'll still go see the sequels, even though I was disappointed, I think they're off to a promising start.
I'm convinced now by bjmc1975	May 4th, 2002 06:53:18 PM
A movie could be released that, through sheer artistry, brought peace to the whole world forever, fed the poor, made criminals renounce the evil of their ways, and brought to all of humankind a golden era of universal happiness..... And there would STILL be people on this board bitching about how it sucked, anyone who likes it is an idiot, and it's unfaithful to the source material. Jesus Christ....
so so good by THE PROFESSOR	May 4th, 2002 06:53:49 PM
tooo good
Amen by aacameron1	May 4th, 2002 06:55:48 PM
to that!
thatsFdup by holoholojoe	May 4th, 2002 06:56:59 PM
that folks are slamming SM for having a storyline and NOT enough action. funny, but how much action can you have when SM is clearly overmatching everyone except the GG? the movie pays great homage to the comic book. even the corny lines, it was great, the 2 rips from Superman was no good at all. especially the rip the dress shirt part, that totally blew. the ending was cool when SM was slammed. but the way GG died just sucked. there were boring moment in the movies where it looked like fillers to the max. ------------------------------ ------------------------------ you know what was the best? the Minority Report trailer, f'me but the color tones and framing of that movie had me salivating. can't wait for that at all. ------------------------------ ---if you go into a movie and the trailer is what you remember the most, thatsfdup.com
THE ENIGMA-I WISH I COULD PUNCH YOU by THE PROFESSOR	May 4th, 2002 07:00:19 PM
I JUST DONT KNOW WHY........maybe its because you have proably never read a spider man comic that dates before 10 years ago.yeah thats probably why.spider man is not supposed to be an arrogant fool , even after he gets bitten. this movie is true to its roots. take the time to find out
With great power comes great responsibility...and a 100 million by XTheCrovvX	May 4th, 2002 07:05:28 PM
Perfection. Absolute, honest to goodness comic book film perfection. There is no Otis putting a bumbling hex on the second half of a classic. There is no Jack Nicholson putting the rest of the cast to shame(ingeniously so, but still...). There is no holding back the whole 9 yards out of fear(Blade and X-Men, great as they may be). There is no sidestepping deeper story for badass action(Blade 2). There is no underlined cop-out of an ending(Unbreakable). To paraphrase Tyler Durden, this movie looks like you want it to look, it fucks like you want it to fuck, it is smart, capable, and best of all, it is free in all the ways the above mentioned films were not. It is, i repeat, the perfect comic book film. Everything thats perfect's been mentioned already. Tobey Maguire nails Peter in a way not even the growing hype could've prepared me for. From the start, i had every doubt Kirsten Dunst was going to piss me off. The way she's written here, i honestly couldn't see anyone else in her role. And yes, much wet t-shirt ogling was done. Willem Dafoe IS Norman Osborne incarnate. The Green Goblin is nothing less than his character ripped straight from the pages of Marvel comics, and given a shot of pure fucking malice from Dafoe. The story, the slow development, the way every little discovery of Peter's powers made everybody in the audience cheer him on wall to wall. The way his every reaction with Mary Jane just recalls every single memory anyone's had of making an ass of themselves in front of the girl they want, and the desire to impress her more as a result...the slow progression of the character from the boy with spider powers to Spider Man....the web swinging sequences, how I got that same beautiful chill watching Spidey swing from building to building that i got god knows how many years back watching Superman take off from the streets of Metropolis to save Lois Lane for the first time...a chill i doubted i'd ever feel from a superhero film again...and its all topped off with a dead-on J. Jonah Jameson who actually gets away with some of the best lines in the film...this...is...perfect. Well...as close to perfect as i can imagine...i have but two teensy minor gripes. The first, the final scene between Mary Jane and Peter...important, yes...it marks the first decision in the movie that Peter makes as a hero, and not as a boy in love....but the way it's directed, it grinds the conclusion to a screeching halt, and not the slow progression to the end it shouldve been...could've been fixed with a bit less sappy dialogue, but fine...it certainly doesnt damage the film in any way, the way a certain time-turning sequence did in 1977. But, like Superman and Unbreakable before it, if youre gonna stumble along the way, do it small, and do it at the end, where it doesnt stick out like a sore thumb. My second small gripe is just something i thought was missing...we see Peter look at his drawn Spider suit, then we see our new Spider-man saving the day repeatedly around the city...now, of course, you dont end up asking this question of other superheroes...you dont just sit around asking, "Where do these guys get all their wonderful spandex?"...but i ended up asking it in the space of that scene...Where did high school graduate Peter Parker get an outfit with overlaying black wire over spandex and reflective eye covers? But of course, i digress...both of those gripes are of the most minute kind...this movie rocks the planet, and will deservedly break all sorts of records this weekend. Roll on, Spiderman 2. Roll on, Doc Ock. Roll on, Psychoboy Harry Osborne, hell, Roll on, Hulk movie....but, at the same time of course, roll on May 16th. Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, it's a great time to be a geek. Like the lady said, having her child saved from a burning building, God bless you, Spiderman. Revolution is my name.
spiderman nerds by Nazg	May 4th, 2002 07:06:49 PM
I think the key to making money with a movie is the geeks. Several people I know worship spiderman and have since they were kids. These are to sppiderman as horny teenage girsl where to Titanic or guys to Tomb Raider.
"Can spider-man come out and play?" by ranting_dude	May 4th, 2002 07:11:28 PM
I liked S-M. It rocked and kicked some @ss. I had no doubt in my mind that Tobey would be the perfect Peter/Spider-Man. Willem Dafoe as the GG is so FRICKEN AWESOME!!! When the GG attacked the World Unity Festival I moved to edge of my seat. When Uncle Ben died I wanted to cry with Pete. I caught Stan Lee's cameo as well as the Classic, Lucy Lawless, Bruce Campbell, and Ted Raimi. J.K. Simmons was funny as J.J. Overall, Everyone enjoyed it, including my brother. Although toward the end people started to leave and I was like "Shows you guys aren't true fans." I guess they expected a Fast and The Furious. They could't handle sitting through the non-action parts. In the end of the film I clapped as the credits rolled and yelled "SAM RAIMI KICKS ASS!!!! I also enjoyed the old spider-man theme at the end of the credits. My only gripes are the CG problems. They did look fake, but it didnt bother me. The other is the Elfman score. What went wrong Danny? He couldn't come up with something like Batman's. That theme stayed in my head. Before I go let me add this: The Hulk teaser was also fricken awesome and everyone clapped at the end and was saying stuff like "It looks cool!" Oh I also got 2 ques.: Why didnt spidey say "Spider sensed tingling!" and Why didnt spidey shoot his webbing at the GG's glider and get dragged in the air as the GG was crusin'? It would've been classic. Peace out playas
Spider-man and Hulk? I wouldn't be surprised if they decide by JP3183	May 4th, 2002 07:18:10 PM
"X-men" really kicked off the Marvel superhero franchise. This movie was good on the characters but bad on three things: action, effects, and music. Compare Elfman's score in this movie to his work in the "Batman" movies and you'll see what I mean. The action in Raimi's "Darkman" and "Army of Darkness" has a lot more style than this movie. And the story doesn't move smoothly. Raimi cuts from the middle of a subplot and shows the first pieces of another subplot before going back to continue the first subplot. After his work in "A Simple Plan" and "For Love of the Game", Raimi has lost his adventurous side. He better make the fight between Spidey and the Hob Goblin more creative in the next "Spider-man" sequel or this franchise will end up like the "Batman" franchise. (Note: I thought the fight between Mathayus and Memnon was a lot more thrilling than Spidey vs. the Green Goblin)
Harry Osbourn isnt the Hobgoblin by Pat the Stampede	May 4th, 2002 07:18:23 PM
He follows his fathers footsteps and dons the Green Goblin suit. Ben Kingsley as the Vulture is the best idea for a sequel Bad guy yet. Too bad it wont happen.
Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! by holidill	May 4th, 2002 07:26:00 PM
I loved everything about it. Harry Osborn becomes the green goblin not the hobgoblin, tht was Ned Leeds. Eddie Brock was mentioned when JJJ was yelling at Robbie Robertson to find a better cameraman than Eddie. Peter getting fired from working with Dr. Curt Connors. And that was Lucy Lawless? Kirsten Dunst was hot! James Franco, if he decides to don the Green Goblin mask later will kick ass. Betty Brant was shown but not named. Bring on Episode 2!! This is a great friggin movie season!
OVER-HYPED! Amazing flaws by BudWhite	May 4th, 2002 07:26:36 PM
The only reason anybody is loving this film is because of the simple thrill of finally seeing spidey on the big screen. If everyone was to take an unbiased look at the film, they'd find: - a shitty script - terrible cliched dialogue - poor performances from great actors. - An unevenly paced, inchoherent film. - Bland cinematography. All in all, a big let-down. I love spiderman, but this is a bad film. It's a guilty pleasure at best. Phantom menace had problems, but it was better.
spidey review by JCR79	May 4th, 2002 07:29:32 PM
I got up early fri morning and was all pumped up to see the web slinger and after I saw it I wanted to cry. I am a pretty big fan and a star wars fan and was looking foward to this one more than episode 2 but not any more. I not going to give my thoughts on every aspect of the movie. First, stop making those damn hbo specials. They gave away almost every cool scene in the movie. I'm using the word cool lightly because the movie was anything but cool. There was nothing in this movie that made you say wow. The special effects looked pretty good on tv but seeing them on the big screen was a joke. They leave the best shots for the last 30 sec of the film. My view on effects is pretty open. I'll give anything a chance. Sony imageworks did an amazing job on hollow man,so i thouhgt they could even make a better photo realistic person than the one in hollow man but i was way off. Seeing peter parker climb up the side of a building in pursuit of uncle bens killer was laughable. I know he doesn't move like a normal person would but still looked bogus along with about 80% of the other effects in the film. The acting was ok. I thought almost everyone did a decent job of making the most out of the cheesy and lame dialouge that was given to them. I thought the fight scenes were poorly exicuted. Nothing at all to get excited about. In a movie like this you should see fights that know one has ever seen before and make you feel the pain. Danny elfman please get ot of the business, you suck. You have no range at all. The camera work needed alot of improvement when it came to most of the film. I mean how many times are they going to show the exterior of norman's home. It must have been four or five times. We get it. We have seen it once and that was enough. We know that he's a very rich man. It's a shame that a director and a fan of spidey made such a poor film. What happened to spideys smart ass remarks and airbourne battles. He knocks the goblin off the glider and spidey hits hin and goblin hits him and the scene is over. I think the main problem was that sam was not ready to take on a project like this . Some people just can't make good action scenes and he is not an action director. As much as I dislike james cameron now, he would have made spidey great along with ILM at the helm............
Paging Stu_Pedaso by Village Idiot	May 4th, 2002 07:30:37 PM
In this day and age, with the proliferation of the internet, actually going to a porno theatre is a thing of the past. And yet I still try to make the rounds for the sake of nostalgia. Oddly enough though, this wasn't one of those times, I was actually watching the same movie called Spider-Man that you saw._______Ok, now that what is supposed to pass for humor has been gotten out of the way, I think I should apologize for my "SOME OF THE ACTION SCENES HAD ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT" remark, not for the sentiment, but for the cliche. The real truth is that I let myself be invested in some of the action scenes, specifically the part with MJ on the balcony, and later in the film with the Goblin dropping MJ and the gondola. I was fairly riveted. I enjoyed it. Much more than Batman in the belfrey, that's for goddamned sure._______Meanwhile, as I said, I feel that Superman remains the gold standard; although I can see how many would argue with that assessment, and I don't begrudge them that.
Two cents about a couple of things.... by XTheCrovvX	May 4th, 2002 07:32:02 PM
OK, i wrote my big raving review, now its time to take aim at a couple of the widely argued points...first, the CGI...its weird this newfound backlash toward computer effects...granted, there are random failures out there that support that outlook(The Scorpion King effect in The Mummy Returns stands out in my mind) but cgi or miniature or whatever, as long as an effect gets the job done without trying to bite off more than it can chew, fine. So, now...were the cgi effects here obvious? Definitely. Do they work to the film's benefit? Hell yes. Fact is, if you spend $8.50 and two hours of your time just searching for the cgi effects just to pick them apart, of course you're gonna be disappointed. If you just sit back, and let the computer effect do it's job as it pertains to the action, as it pertains to the story, you wont have the urge to bitch as often. Second, the dialogue...now, i wont lie, at first, the first time i heard the Green Goblin speak, i had a bad feeling about him. Then my brain spoke up, told me to remember, this IS, indeed, how comic book villains operate. Accept it, shut up, and i'll release more endorphins, 'kay? And so i did. Unless you're just clueless about what your average comic book is like, you should be able to recognize the writing style, shut up and appreciate it. Period. umm..thats it for now...ill be back, assuredly. revolution is still my name.
on second thought... by BurlIvesLeftNut	May 4th, 2002 07:34:43 PM
I have some issues: How come Spidey never made something substantial out of his webbing. Like a hang glider or a shield to fight off Gobby's attacks? How come there was no Spider-Mobile? How come, as he was swinging through the city, did we not see the Baxter Building? Come on, it wouldn't have been that difficult to put in. How come Flash had black hair and looked italian?!? What was up with that?!? What happened to Parker's skylight that he climbs into? He went in through the window? That's not how I remember Spidey getting into his apartment. How come Spidey didn't have a spidey-belt where he kept his automatic camera? Come on a 35mm hanging from webs?!? His little mini-spy-cam was a much better idea! And it was integrated into his costume! Speaking of costume, how come Spidey didn't have the wings under his arms?!? You know what I mean, those webby wings that help him, um--help him. How come they couldn't replicate the comic book Parker's hair with Tobey's? It doesn't make sense to me that Peter Parker should be without those to curls above his forehead. And Parker has BROWN eyes. Sheesh. Also, originally, Spidey was created because he was bitten by a RADIOACTIVE spider. This spider was more like something that was genetically enhanced. A few characters of importance that seemed to be missing: Betty Bryant, Tombstone, the Watcher, She-Hulk, Longshot, Dr. Strange, the Thing, Reed Richards, and Gwen Stacy. All of these omissions were just as bad as leaving a little japanese boy and UFOs out of that Godzilla movie a few years back.
**STAY TILL THE VERY END!** by Naia	May 4th, 2002 07:35:37 PM
I do this every movie. You never know what you might miss. . .
OH MY GOD! SPIDER-MAN WAS FLAT-OUT FUCKING FANTASTIC!! by CoolDan989	May 4th, 2002 07:38:07 PM
Oh God, I wanna see it again! I want to buy it on DVD! I want to build a fucking shrine! Every imaginable aspect of this movie was perfect. If you haven't seen it yet (not bloody likely, by now), and you think it's just a typical comic book movie, you're dead wrong. This movie has so much more to offer besides lip-smacking comic book action. This is a movie that has romance and drama to spare, and quite often a few laughs! Take the most hard-to-please moviegoer and I guarantee he'll find something to like! And Tobey Maguire and Kristen Dunst were PERFECT in this movie. Their acting just flat-out says to the audience "We care about this movie and this franchise and we're going to give you the performances of our career to show it." I now have an immense new respect for these two actors, and director Sam Raimi as well, who has my full forgiveness after making a certain movie called the Evil Dead that made me want to stop the movie and throw up. So in other words, TalkBackers, GET OFF YOUR RUFFLES-EATING ASSES AND SEE THIS MOVIE RIGHT NOW! But do it fast...I went to an afternoon showing and the whole theater was packed to the brim! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to again check Kazaa to see if somebody has a bootleg recording of the movie online...although I've checked 4 times the last hour!
Kevin Smith was right - Spiderman absolutely mediocre by 9000rpm	May 4th, 2002 07:42:18 PM
Comment: Add it up: take one comatose Tobey Maguire, an irritating friend, a hard to look at girlfriend (sorry, Kirsten Dunst's face looked like it weighed 100lbs all by itself), a joke of a villian (who came up with the ridiculous mask?), uninspired music (my son turned to me about two minutes into the film and said, "Danny Elfman - bad choice"), the lamest, most predictable and boring story imaginable (another tortured teenager who looses a parental figure and has to 'go it alone', another 'hero saves baby from the burning house'), one stale scene after another (the same old teenager picked on in the school cafeteria, beating up street thugs, the bedside vigil, the picked on teenager), the 'live your dreams - become an actress' scene, the girlfriend comes from a bad home (insert refernce to Forrest Gump,and a 1000 others), and on and on and on. The only person with a native IQ greater than Forrest Gump that could like Spiderman must have been locked in a deep hole all their lives and never allowed to see a single other film. Kevin Smith was right!
I THOUGHT SPIDEY USED WEB SHOOTERS??? by JP3183	May 4th, 2002 07:43:42 PM
I used to catch Spiderman episodes on Fox and there's one episode where he shows and explains his web shooters to a little girl. He uses his two middle fingers to push a button located on his palm to shoot the webs. Somebody please explain this to me!!!
What's really scary about this film... by 9000rpm	May 4th, 2002 07:44:03 PM
...is that Tobey Maguire supposedly 'worked out' for six months to get buffed for the role. My God, what kind of shape was he in BEFORE this piece of crap?
Who are these people? by thevizh17	May 4th, 2002 07:47:13 PM
Why can't you naysayers shut up and sit down and just enjoy the movie. I can't believe some of the lame ass comments that are being made against it. Why are you asses nitpicking? These type of films are supposed to be fantasies meaning "not real" some of you guys are the same people who complained about "BladeII" for being too CG in places...those are very retarded comments. Just take the movie for what it is " A good popcorn flick" and roll the hell on with you regular lives...
PERFECT....nuff said. by yugdesrial	May 4th, 2002 07:48:22 PM
I didn't know what to expect fully. I'd been waiting so long, and seen so many trailers that the anticipation had built to fever pitch. I was so afraid it might not hit the mark. The costume was perfect, the goblin was perfect even if he wasn't in spandex (the armor was a lot more believable and cool). The look seemed perfect. But...would the movie, the story, the feel be right? One word...perfect. I loved every minute of it. I loved the action. It was just like I had always imagined it would be if it were real. But, I must say, I loved the drama and story even more. I feel kinda silly saying it sure, but I bet other fans feel the same way. I got kinda emotional just seeing all the elements of the Spidey I came to know and love in comics playing out on the screen. I remember a Spider-man comic being the first thing I ever read when I was 4. Peter/MJ/Harry relationship, Peter and Harry livin togehter, Harry and Norman's relationship, Peter and Aunt May's relationship, Peter and Uncle Ben's relationship, Spider-man and GG's relationship, and indeed Spidey and New York City's relationship. He just looked so at home swinging amongst the skyscrapers (kudos to the CGI team, I hardly ever noticed). All of them were hit perfectly! But, most of all though, has to be the Peter/MJ relationship. The scenes where their connection developed were some of the best I've seen in any drama. Of course, a lot of that is due to knowing the characters for many years already, but I was amazingly impressed by Maguire and Dunst's performances. They were top knotch. The end where poor Peter must make such a hard decision is gut-wrenching as it plays out. But, there is a sly sense of calm in the emotional storm that I had over non-fans in the audience that (whether it took 2 or 3 sequels) they would end up together in the end. It will be a joy to see these two actors continue to play to that end. Again, I have to give it up to the Spidey scenes. From making quips to taking out 5 guys b4 even touching the ground to dodging razors to making a death-defying double save of MJ and the kids was incredible! Also, you always could tell it was Peter under there. When he saw MJ in danger, it was Peter who was desparate to save her. When he was saving the baby in the fire, you still knew it was Peter who was trying to keep a mom from losing it. When he had to hold onto the bridge and the cable car as well, it was Peter giving every ounce of himself to save those he loved and those he felt responsible for because of his gift. He had to give it his all. He had to try. That's all Spidey could ever do. And this time it worked, with some nice help from New Yorkers (a nice send-up despite how placed it may have looked, cuz keep in mind how Spidey is a New Yorker all the way as well, just see ASM #36 2nd series). Spidey was handled perfectly. And finally, there are the little things like the comic angles lifted straight outta comics like when peter walks away from the grave with MJ in the background, Spidey being dragged on cable by GG, the coy exchange at the Daily Bugle with the obvious Betty Brant, and of course, the dark attitude Harry develops toward Spider-man while considering Peter his best friend. Bottom line, did it have indiscrepancies? Sure. Name me one film of an adaptational nature that doesn't. But, guys and gals, this is as good as it gets. By movie standards, PERFECT. More than I could have dreamed. In a world where comic movies can be so disappointing, this one was all it needed to be, all it owed anyone to be and so much more. If you wanna nitpick, no one's gonna stop you, but look at this film for what it is, our greatest childhood (and adult) hero come to life. Some reviewer hit it just right. With X-men, they proved it is possible to nail it. With Spider-man, they nailed it. Here's to the sequels! I'm outta here! Thwipt!
and more stuff... by XTheCrovvX	May 4th, 2002 07:49:28 PM
ok, just remembered another point...the Danny Elfman score...its stillborn, just like Michael Kamen's X-Men score. It's not great, its not bad, its just...there. And like Kamen, Elfman has no excuse. This is the guy that wrote the Batman score for fuck's sake...one of the best hero scores in existence. And he couldnt pull some of the same magic for this one? for shame...second, this ones to JP3183...regretfully, there WAS a severely low budget Captain America flick made in the early 90s....it blew chunks to hell. But, of course, there was a Batman flick before 1989....Lastly(seriously this time), the Lucy Lawless thing...i didnt even know that was her until the credits rolled. but it was co

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