Spider-Man DVD: Review By CBF

In all its glory, Spider-Man is a cinematic delight. It is incredibly hard for me to not be completely biased against this film feature as I am 100% dedicated to the comic book origins of the character. But the "cinematic delight" part that I refer to is only accomplished through its superb visual effects, whereas it falls apart during every other part of the movie. From the unbelievable acting, to the unforgivable writing and directing from self-proclaimed Spider-Man fan Sam Raimi, who single-handedly destroys all aspects of the known character and retcons his entire existence comparable only to that of Marvel messer-upper, Joe Quesada.

STORY

The movie starts out with a geeky Peter Parker attempting to catch the bus to Midtown High, where he goes to school. He narrates an unnecessary account of how everything he does is for a special girl named Mary Jane Watson who has lived next door to him his whole life and currently has no idea he exists. During the first few minutes of the film, Sam Raimi bunked the fans right over the head. As comic aficionados all rightly know, MJ was introduced slowly to readers over time, with flower pots and other obstacles placed in front of her face in order to lead up to her reveal when Peter meets her for the first time, and the most widely known words out of her mouth are spoken: "Face it, Tiger, you just hit the jackpot!" She was introduced to those readers by connection through Aunt May's friend Anna Watson, also an elderly lady, who lives on the other side of town with MJ. Therefore, Pete and MJ never lived next door (during the origin period). These petty little details completely throw me off as a Spidey fan, and almost make me not wan to watch these films, as it's comparable to reading an Ultimate comic or watching a series with an alternate universe concept. I said almost.

Along the way we meet Harry Osborn, played incredibly by James Franco, I might add, and his father, Norman, the psychopath who becomes the infamous Green Goblin (the original gobbie). Instead of Parker having an amazing blonde bombshell of a high school girlfriend named Gwen Stacy, like the real story goes, we are meant to believe that Pete can't pull chicks and is a total social outcast. Plus Tobey Maguire is totally NOT the right casting choice for this role. He's a watered-down, kiddie-targeted version of Parker, meant to appeal to kids watching this movie than fans. So Pete's a loser, never had a girl, and his only friend is Harry. Needless to say, I would not want to be this kid in high school. He meets Harry's father while gathering with classmates outside Columbia University (not much of an homage to Empire State University, a rip-off of NYU) preparing for roll call before taking their field trip inside. Norman is a scientific genius, but alas, so is Peter, who is majoring in science. We get an idea of the two alike minds here, which set us up for the later half of the flick.

Once inside, we see a total revamping of the classic "radioactive spider" sequence of events. In this new digital age, no longer is radioactivity necessary nor practical an explanation for a human developing powers, therefore the film brilliantly goes in the direction of genetic engineering spiders from all around the world with different traits, to create fifteen new species of spider. That's what the book's origins should have been IMO. Long story short (of course we all know the story), Parker's bitten by a said gene-spliced spider and inherited its traits. Not right away, of course, also different from the book, but a welcomed difference. It makes more sense this way. He wakes up the next day, realizing he can see with perfect vision without his dorky spectacles, he's built like a weight-lifter, and his confidence has sky-rocketed. One thing that I absolutely hated was the fact that Raimi decided that Spidey's web-shooters would be nonexistent, and instead, Peter somehow spins webs organically within his wrists (ahem, not possible).

When he figures everything out and finally decides to use his powers to make money wrestling, in order to impress MJ no doubt, this is displayed beautifully on screen. I have to say that I love the costume, well, the shirt and gloves anyway. Impressive graphic design work. The mask is pretty sweet, too. And the cage match with Randy Savage is really the only time I was thinking, "Now that's the way that the web-slinger should be moving!"

When we get to Act III with the George Washington bridge scene (or was it the Brooklyn or Queensboro bridge? contradictions exist), I was displeased to find out they kept this part of Spidey's origin without detailing the most important aspect of it: his girlfriend gets thrown off of it by Gobbie. And even though it happens by substituting MJ for his girl, her neck isn't snapped and Spidey catches her along with a skycar filled with kids.... Say...what???!?! I think it might've worked if Kirsten Dunst wasn't asked to play Mary Jane. If she wasn't wearing the red wigs. My personal opinion is she would have played the perfect Gwen Stacy. Peter wouldn't have been such a dork in high school. They wouldn't have had to kill her off in the end, just make it to where she is critically injured, is in the hospital at the end, and Spidey decides to break up with her as Peter because of the "ones I love will always get hurt" thing. Then MJ could have been introduced in Spider-Man 2 the right way, and became his girl then. Then we wouldn't have the mess of a Johnny-come-lately Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3. Which, by the way, I'm interested to see how her arc ends up in Spider-Man 4, or if the writer neglects her and if she's even in it at all.

ACTING

Tobey Maguire plays a wussy Peter Parker, who also doubles as a walking Spider-Man during the last half of the film. Whom, by the way, never cracks a perfect wise once. I think I speak for all Spidey fans when I say: WTF?!?!??! Come on! As I have previously stated, his acting appeals to the kids more than to actual fans of Spider-Man. Wrong direction.

James Franco is a debonair Harry Osborn. He displays the best acting in these films by far from the core three. I actually was introduced to Franco in this flick and ever since I've liked him, except as a stoner (even though I know he probably IS one or was at some point) in the lackluster Pineapple Express. His arc starts in this one and continues through all three films of the first trilogy.

MJ has (how many again?) boyfriends in this movie, and even more hair styles. Played by Kirsten Dunst, one of my favorite actresses I have come to adore. I remember reading that before this movie came out, Dunst was still doing 2001's The Cat's Meow, and Raimi wanted the girl cast as MJ to click with Tobey. He wanted a chemistry between the two. Well, Tobey and Kirsten showed that chemistry after meeting for the first time, and Raimi got more than he bargained for, when the two began a discreet, off-screen romance, much to the displeasure of Kirsten's then-on-again-off-again beau, Jake Gyllenhaal. Which basically just meant that they were screwing each other. The fact is, they displayed better chemistry overall in this first film. However, I must say her skills in this flick are nothing more than lousy. What, all she has to do is pretend cry, read a few lines and scream a lot, and she's got the gig. Not to mention sport a bunch of red wigs. Which look better in my opinion than the sequels where she actually dyes her naturally dirty blond hair to burgundy. The poor acting is not her fault, however, it's on the writers. Namely, Raimi. Just another one of his faults. She can only do with the character what's been written on the page. What makes up for it must be the famous upside-down kiss scene in the rain, where Kirsten's pokey headlights say hello to everyone.

Willem Dafoe is brilliant as Norman Osborn AKA The Green Goblin. I like how they set up OsCorp wonderfully, although not as triumphant a company as Stark Industries. Still, the psychotic character is portrayed to a tee by the great Dafoe. The scene where he is talking to himself in the mirror reminded me of the cartoons and comics where Norman sees the Goblin's mask/face talking to him while everyone else does not. Which awesomely displayed schizophrenia to me.

J.K. Simmons is just as brilliant and plays the part of J. Jonah Jameson so well. I would have liked a version of JJJ like one portrayed in the 90s cartoon series, but tit for tat. Another good casting choice is Rosemary Harris as Aunt May. I didn't enjoy the film version of Uncle Ben, though.

Wow, 3 discs chock full. I love my Deluxe Edition. I must say, this is the prime DVD example when referring to special features (Widescreen 2-disc Special Edition).

Disc One

Weaving the Web: Subtitled Factoids

Pop-ups revealing historical comic book facts.

Commentary 1: Sam Raimi, Kirsten Dunst, Laura Ziskin, & Grant Curtis

Commentary 2: John Dykstra & Visual FX Crew

Web-i-Sodes

Music Videos: Chad Kroeger ft. Josey Scott's "Hero," and Sum 41's "What We're All About"

TV Spots

Theatrical Trailers

Although mysteriously missing the most famous one, the banned Internet teaser trailer featuring the World Trade Center towers and the unused helicopter scene, which debuted prior to the bombings of 9/11.

Filmographies & Character Files

DVD-ROM content: Comic/Feature Comparison, Record Your Own Commentary, Countdown to Spider-Man 2, and Weblinks

Disc Two

HBO Making Of Spider-Man

Spider-Mania: An E! Entertainment Special

Director Profile: Sam Raimi

Composer Profile: Danny Elfman

Screen Tests: Tobey Maguire, J.K. Simmons & CGI Spidey

Costume and Makeup Tests

Gag Reel

Conceptual Art & Production Design Gallery

Historical Doc*mentary - Spider-Man: The Mythology of the 21st Century

The SPIDER-MAN Comic Archives

Rogues Gallery

The Loves of Peter Parker

Comic Book Artist Gallery

Activision Game: Hints & Tips

DVD-ROM content: 2 playable levels of the Activision PC game, 3 exclusive Marvel Dot.Comics (Spider-Man: Blue #1, Felicia Hardy: Black Cat #1, and Peter Parker: Return of the Goblin), and the Spider-Man Visualizer

All amazing comic books, if I may say so myself!

Disc Three

Containing Special Appearances from the set of Spider-Man 2

and Spider-Man 2: Theatrical Trailer

Costume Design

Designing the World of Spider-Man

The Spider Wrangler

Wrestling Match

World Unity Festival

OsCorp Lab

Goblin's Arsenal

Activision Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 2 Game Teaser Trailer

DVD-ROM content: Multiple playable levels from the Spider-Man 2 Activision PC Game

The look is amazing. The special effects blow this movie away. Out of the entire series, this first installment has the greatest visual elements, the most realistic-looking. With each sequel, the effects got faker and more unreal. The SpyderCam developed in "2" was both unimpressive and unnecessary. Too bad they didn't keep with the original formula. Quote from my friend when he first saw the end visual: "Dude, I would've paid for the whole movie just to see that part. Look at the attention to detail! Rewind that!"

The sound mixes could have been better as there is no DTS track or Dolby Surround 5.1 or higher. Only the standard, Dolby Digital English, which is okay.

My package is the Spider-Man: Deluxe Edition, which is 3 discs and is awesome. Comes in a book-like box case, with two DVDs stuffed in there, one is the 2-disc Widescreen Special Edition DVD, and the other is titled the "All-New Special Features Disc," which is a Sneak Peek at Spider-Man 2 and a few cool new features.

I cannot give many stars for the story as this is an incorrect arc that never happened in the Spidey mythos. Therefore, it should be treated as such. Too many cons than pros in this one. What self-proclaimed "righteous fan" would retcon their favorite character and completely destroy its aspects and characteristics, and anyways who in the hell gave Raimi the right to do so? No, this film fails at living up to the hype surrounding it, and even worse, to giving justice to its inspiration. Spider-Man could have been better. He deserved better.