[OT] Spider-Man...who's interested? (possible spoilers)
- Thread starter Tom Cashel
- Start date
Doc Midnight...
To be politely argumentative…
Could you please define what you mean by a hack? Because I wish to defend Mr. McFarlane’s work, however, before I start an inadvertent flame war (you never know where Peter David might turn up), I want to know what position I am opposing, and if I really disagree with it. Also, are we referring to his work on the Spiderman titles in general, on Spiderman (the series), on Spawn, or just in general?
To be politely argumentative…
Could you please define what you mean by a hack? Because I wish to defend Mr. McFarlane’s work, however, before I start an inadvertent flame war (you never know where Peter David might turn up), I want to know what position I am opposing, and if I really disagree with it. Also, are we referring to his work on the Spiderman titles in general, on Spiderman (the series), on Spawn, or just in general?
hmmm- if there were cliff's notes fro a comic book, would it be any shorter? i mean a comic book is a medium that in and of itself is as little wording as possible and the pictures speak for itself. now if you condense the statements even more, you have a flip book... and I would be surprised if someone got a complex story like GG out of a flip book-
But then again, most comic books rae just flip books- you walk into a store, flip through them- and walk out...
edit:
as for Todd McFarlane, i respect him as an artist. He did after all got me started in collectin Spidey comics. His manipulation and contortion of the classic spidey made it seem so much more interesting than just the flat swinging spidey of Stan lee.
But when taken as a whole, he is no where near as talented as some of the other artist sout there- Jim Lee is an awesome artist that received little acclaim for his work. The cartoon completely hakked his WildCATS to shreds while the toys were about as good as the cartoon.
McFarlane is just better at marketign and where he sells his name to- that is why his cartoons (spawn) is so much better and also his toys.
eh- to each their own though. If you are saying he is your fav spidey artist, I agree. But if you say he is your fav artist, then I would have to respect tjhat but tell you that there are plenty of better ones out there...
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Mouseferatu
Hero
Here you go. My review, cut-and-pasted from my Live Journal.
(And for the record, there were no mechanical web-shooters of any sort in the movie...)
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Folks, this is, without a doubt, the most comic-bookish of all comic book movies. More than Superman, Batman, or X-men, this was a comic book come to life. The camera angles, the blocking, everything.
We'll start with the few complaints I have.
There were a few scenes where the dialog just didn't work. It was mostly in the "emotional" scenes between Peter and MJ. It was choppy, it didn't flow, it was written like a speech rather than natural speaking, and the actors didn't seem like they were comfortable with it.
Other than that, my only problem was...
Well, other than that, there were no problems.
The actors were perfectly cast. Toby Maguire is Peter. Willem Dafoe is... well, Willem Dafoe is just scary. He played the part perfectly. The mirror scene--you'll know when you see it--is freaky. He even made the "armor" version of the Green Goblin outfit work, and I had my doubts about that going into this movie.
Sam Raimi was the perfect director for this movie. I can't think of a single objection I had to the directing.
Oh, and the guy who played JJJ--damn, he had that part down.
The effects were excellent. Yes, some of the CGI was obviously CGI, but you know what? That doesn't matter. We know that CGI can't do humans 100% perfectly yet. The point isn't that the CGI should look flawlessly like real people, the point is that it should look damn good for CGI. And it did. If that's not good enough for you, I point you to Ray Harryhousen movies like Clash of the Titans as a reminder of how far effects have come.
In terms of loyalty to the source material, this one's as close as they come. Compared to this, X-men took massive liberties. Everything here comes right from the comic.
Yes, some details are changed. The spider is altered genetically, not with radiation. Peter's webs are organic, not from a device he built. If this sort of thing bothers you, don't see this movie and go curl up in your parent's basement. It works.
This is the Spider-man movie we've wanted. Go see it.
(And for the record, there were no mechanical web-shooters of any sort in the movie...)
-----------------------
Folks, this is, without a doubt, the most comic-bookish of all comic book movies. More than Superman, Batman, or X-men, this was a comic book come to life. The camera angles, the blocking, everything.
We'll start with the few complaints I have.
There were a few scenes where the dialog just didn't work. It was mostly in the "emotional" scenes between Peter and MJ. It was choppy, it didn't flow, it was written like a speech rather than natural speaking, and the actors didn't seem like they were comfortable with it.
Other than that, my only problem was...
Well, other than that, there were no problems.
The actors were perfectly cast. Toby Maguire is Peter. Willem Dafoe is... well, Willem Dafoe is just scary. He played the part perfectly. The mirror scene--you'll know when you see it--is freaky. He even made the "armor" version of the Green Goblin outfit work, and I had my doubts about that going into this movie.
Sam Raimi was the perfect director for this movie. I can't think of a single objection I had to the directing.
Oh, and the guy who played JJJ--damn, he had that part down.
The effects were excellent. Yes, some of the CGI was obviously CGI, but you know what? That doesn't matter. We know that CGI can't do humans 100% perfectly yet. The point isn't that the CGI should look flawlessly like real people, the point is that it should look damn good for CGI. And it did. If that's not good enough for you, I point you to Ray Harryhousen movies like Clash of the Titans as a reminder of how far effects have come.
In terms of loyalty to the source material, this one's as close as they come. Compared to this, X-men took massive liberties. Everything here comes right from the comic.
Yes, some details are changed. The spider is altered genetically, not with radiation. Peter's webs are organic, not from a device he built. If this sort of thing bothers you, don't see this movie and go curl up in your parent's basement. It works.
This is the Spider-man movie we've wanted. Go see it.
dont get mad, im just saying. . . .
REAL BIG SPOILERS
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I know I’ll be going against the crowd with this one, but I can’t hold it in a moment longer . . . . what a dissatisfying piece of garbage! (note: I am not a Spiderman fan, I have nothing against it but I expected to see a good movie, and I didn’t)
Sweet merciful invisible-man-in-the-sky, I sat in that theatre for two hours waiting for Spiderman to grow some nuts to go with his webshooters and get with the girl – the sexy, sexy now red headed Kirsten Dunst – and what do I get for it? The big gay spider copout. The whole theatre erupted with noise when the credits rolled by, and it wasn’t clapping. I’d like to say something constructive, but I just can’t do it right now. Bad. BAD! Naughty movie!
How dare they string me along with Peter Parker boo hooing and not wooing for two hours and in the end when she confesses her love he sighs and walks away like a big gay nothing. Peter Parker is a homosexual. (I’m really just frustrated, I don’t mean this and I have nothing against alternative lifestyles, but I heard harsher words yelled out at the end anyway) The INTRODUCTION to the movie called it a love story, and all I get in the end is a blatantly out of character move from the protagonist so that we’d all feel that much more inclined to go to the freaking sequel.
Another thing that bothered me, did anyone else find people laughing at the absolute wrong moments? As Peter pours his heart out to MJ in the hospital next to his aunt – you know, the whole “I talked to spiderman and told him about you . . . .” thing – most of the people in the audience started laughing. It happened again as MJ confessed her true feelings at the end, it seemed like the mere mention of the word “love” sent a shiver of laughs or chuckles through the audience. Is love dead? Can a love story not be taken seriously anymore? This bothered me because despite my dissatisfaction with the ending I thought the acting was spectacular and I don’t see why it wasn’t taken more seriously.
REAL BIG SPOILERS
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I know I’ll be going against the crowd with this one, but I can’t hold it in a moment longer . . . . what a dissatisfying piece of garbage! (note: I am not a Spiderman fan, I have nothing against it but I expected to see a good movie, and I didn’t)
Sweet merciful invisible-man-in-the-sky, I sat in that theatre for two hours waiting for Spiderman to grow some nuts to go with his webshooters and get with the girl – the sexy, sexy now red headed Kirsten Dunst – and what do I get for it? The big gay spider copout. The whole theatre erupted with noise when the credits rolled by, and it wasn’t clapping. I’d like to say something constructive, but I just can’t do it right now. Bad. BAD! Naughty movie!
How dare they string me along with Peter Parker boo hooing and not wooing for two hours and in the end when she confesses her love he sighs and walks away like a big gay nothing. Peter Parker is a homosexual. (I’m really just frustrated, I don’t mean this and I have nothing against alternative lifestyles, but I heard harsher words yelled out at the end anyway) The INTRODUCTION to the movie called it a love story, and all I get in the end is a blatantly out of character move from the protagonist so that we’d all feel that much more inclined to go to the freaking sequel.
Another thing that bothered me, did anyone else find people laughing at the absolute wrong moments? As Peter pours his heart out to MJ in the hospital next to his aunt – you know, the whole “I talked to spiderman and told him about you . . . .” thing – most of the people in the audience started laughing. It happened again as MJ confessed her true feelings at the end, it seemed like the mere mention of the word “love” sent a shiver of laughs or chuckles through the audience. Is love dead? Can a love story not be taken seriously anymore? This bothered me because despite my dissatisfaction with the ending I thought the acting was spectacular and I don’t see why it wasn’t taken more seriously.
Mouseferatu
Hero
Sigh.
You do realize that Peter had no choice but to walk away, right? That's what the whole big voiceover speech about "everyone he loves get hurt because of him" was about. Entirely in character, entirely appropriate, and entirely the right ending if you wanted to take the love story seriously.
There are enough cheap tricks in Hollywood, designed to make people come back for the sequel. But when something actually fits the story, let's give them some credit, you know?
You do realize that Peter had no choice but to walk away, right? That's what the whole big voiceover speech about "everyone he loves get hurt because of him" was about. Entirely in character, entirely appropriate, and entirely the right ending if you wanted to take the love story seriously.
There are enough cheap tricks in Hollywood, designed to make people come back for the sequel. But when something actually fits the story, let's give them some credit, you know?
Of course I recognized their little attempt at legitimizing his decision, but I still feel like I was cheated in the end.
Don’t sigh at me; I take issue with that sigh. I have the right to state my opinion on these boards and have it taken seriously, your little “sigh” was rude and it implies that you consider my thoughts no more valid than a small child’s. Like I just need to have the plot explained to me and I’ll be quiet again.
Agamon
Adventurer
Re: dont get mad, im just saying. . . .
Well, I agree with the first part of your first sentance there. Somebody kinda missed the whole underlying point to the movie. And, no, it wasn't Pete getin' MJ in the sack. It was, briefly put, that with great power comes great responsibility. Half the movie was Spidey trying to save people close to him, so he did the responsible thing.
I guess if all one gets out of the movie was "lotsa action, big fight, hey, why doesn't he get the girl?" then, I guess on that shallow level, it makes no sense.
I'm sure in one of the sequals, I'm guessing the second one, MJ will find out Peter is Spider-man, and he'll have no choice but to accept her into his life (especially since it's what he really wants anyway).
Oh, and that movie kicked a whole lotta butt. Go see it if you haven't.
Methinkus said:
Well, I agree with the first part of your first sentance there. Somebody kinda missed the whole underlying point to the movie. And, no, it wasn't Pete getin' MJ in the sack. It was, briefly put, that with great power comes great responsibility. Half the movie was Spidey trying to save people close to him, so he did the responsible thing.
I guess if all one gets out of the movie was "lotsa action, big fight, hey, why doesn't he get the girl?" then, I guess on that shallow level, it makes no sense.
I'm sure in one of the sequals, I'm guessing the second one, MJ will find out Peter is Spider-man, and he'll have no choice but to accept her into his life (especially since it's what he really wants anyway).
Oh, and that movie kicked a whole lotta butt. Go see it if you haven't.
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