I talked about this on my Facebook page. But I’ll just get it out here too. As much as everyone loved the Sam Raimi films - and don’t get me wrong, his Evil Dead trilogy ranks as one of my all time favorite movies - I’m sorry. For me, there was just so much he got wrong in those movies. I just wasn’t feeling it. It wasn’t Spider-Man as I knew him. Granted, much of what I know of Spider-Man was more informed by the various TV shows over the years, from the 1960’s cartoon, to Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, to the 1990’s show and Spectacular Spider-Man. And when I say this, fanboys will tell me, “Well if you read the actual comics, you’d feel differently. Blah-blah-blah.” Which is nonsense. Because by now most of the TV shows have replicated the classic comic story arcs, and his depiction in comics isn’t too far off from what was in the TV shows anyway. But I digress.
But where do I begin? Well, first off, Raimi’s Spider-Man hardly ever joked or wisecracked, which is pretty much what the character is known for doing. It’s a big part of what makes him fun. Peter Parker may have problems, but when he’s Spider-Man he becomes much more self-confident. All those problems just fall away. And of course with the anonymity of the mask, he can say things that he probably couldn’t get away with saying as Peter (ask your typical internet troll for similar examples).
By contrast, Maguire’s Peter was a moper and a whiner. “Why can’t I have what I want?” he asks in Spider-Man 2. I just wanted to grab him at that point and yell at him, “Dude! You’re freakin’ Spider-Man! You’re not totally helpless. Get out there and grow a pair!”
And also, while I understood that Maguire was the star and everything, it seemed both he and Raimi wanted to spend as little time having Peter in the costume or with the mask on as little as possible. Excuse me. I’m sorry, but I thought I was paying to see a movie called Spider-Man. Not Peter Parker Who Occasionally Dresses as Spider-Man. It just really annoyed me that Raimi would get the mask off Maguire. Every. Chance. He. Got.:mad:
There have been many movies where actors spend a whole film behind a mask and you never see their face. Hugo Weaving turned out a great performance in V For Vendetta. And Karl Urban’s taking a similar tack in the new Judge Dredd movie; obeying the cardinal rule that Dredd never takes off his helmet. So I don’t buy that you have see the actor, or that acting through a mask looks hokey. If the actor is good, the audience will buy into it.
And then there’s the villains. Everyone was spot-on with how the Green Goblin looked like a Power Ranger. But let’s not also forget Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2, who looked like a flasher more than anything else. I mean, what else do you think of when you see a guy dressed in a trenchcoat and wearing sunglasses?
And Doc Ock was also so mischaracterized. He was never a nice guy! Ever! He was always egocentric, selfish and self-centered. Don’t give me that, “Oh, those mean old nasty tentacles made him do it.” Please.
But the thing that made me realize that Raimi had really dropped the ball was when he missed a golden opportunity to recreate a classic and significant moment in Spider-Man history. In Spider-Man 2, Mary Jane comes to the door and stands there, and I hoped that in that scene she would utter that famous line, “Face it, tiger. You hit the jackpot!” And it never came.
When Spider-Man 3 came out, I just couldn’t get excited anymore, because I knew what was coming. Ocelli and I were so underwhelmed, we left the theater. From what I understand, we didn’t miss much and to this day I don’t regret ever doing it. People have been ragging on Spider-Man 3 as the worst, but I argue that the problems in that movie had also been in the previous two. It’s just that that time the flaws were so apparent they could no longer be ignored.
But with this new movie? Considering Sony’s really only making it so they can keep the rights from going back to Marvel/Disney (really the worst possible reason to make a movie), it’s looking more promising than Raimi’s versions! Everything that I thought was missing in the Raimi movies is here: Peter Parker as a scientist? Check. Bitten by a radioactive spider (as opposed to a genetically engineered one)? Check. Mechanical webshooters (as opposed to organic)? Check. Spidey wisecracking? HUGE check! Also, for a director whose biggest movie before this was the romantic comedy 500 Days (of Summer), it looks like Mark Webb is putting even more and better action scenes in this than there were in the Raimi movies.
Also it’s a nice change of pace to have Gwen Stacy be the main romantic interest in this as opposed to Mary Jane, even though we know she’s doomed. And let’s face it, Peter was in a relationship with Gwen long before MJ showed up. So this makes it even closer to the comics. And while we may not have J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson (the only thing Raimi’s movies ever got right), Dennis Leary looks surprisingly good as Capt. Stacy.
And while The Lizard may not look exactly like his comic book depiction, he’s still pretty cool-looking and fearsome. He’s a Spider-Man villain I’ve always wanted to see get the big screen treatment next to Mysterio and the Vulture. And considering Raimi dangled Dr. Curt Connors in front of us for three whole movies and never followed-through, I’d say it’s about time
So yeah, I’m pretty much 100% behind this movie now after having seen that trailer. Finally it looks like the Spider-Man movie I really wanted to see. And it’s a shame it took three other movies before they got it right.
