I don't leave the house often, but when I do! Whoo :)
June/2004: Movie-going - For quite a while now, I've touted the movie Unbreakable as the best comic book movie of all-time, despite it not being a de facto comic book before the genius of M. Night Shyamalan brought it to life. While I still consider Unbreakable a better movie than Spider-man 2, there is no doubt in my mind that Spider-man 2 is now the greatest comic book movie ever done.
For that don't know who Spider-man is, let me backtrack and bring you up to speed...
Get out. Just get out.
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Now that we have the morons out of here, Spider-man 2 is the goodness. As much as I liked Spider-man 1, it is simply outshone on every level by the sequel. Spider-man 1 got the ball rolling by staying TRUE TO THE CHARACTERS and Spider-man 2 picks up the ball and runs the rest of the way.
I grew up reading Spider-man. The guy is supposed to be a tragic hero that wrestles with his confidence and fears about doing the good work he does. He eschews life, friends, family to sub-merge into the life he has been thrust into, due to his sense of responsibility. No other media form of Spider-man has captured this important essence of the character, but Spider-man 2 did. Peter goes through crisises of confidence throughout the film, and his redemption is stellar. The most important thing to me though, is the characters.
When you have established properties like Spider-man and other comic characters, a movie-maker has to understand that they're established for a good reason: People like them. Don't change them. Just don't do it. Don't make Catwoman a black version of "The Crow." Don't take Bullseye and make him a psychopath, he's a sociopath. A funny sociopath. Don't carve shit on his head. In other words, don't make the movie Daredevil at all. Nor the last three Batman movies. Or any of the Superman (He gives up his powers for Lois, and then gets his ass kicked in a bar? BULLSHIT) movies. Don't do that. These characters became loved for a reason! They were already well written!
Sam Raimi and the screenwriters GET Peter Parker. Furthermore, they GET Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson, Harry Osbourne, Otto Octavius...
Speaking of Otto Octavius, what a performance! Alfred Molina IS Doc Ock. He's perfect! The origin is perfect! The casting is perfect! The performance is perfect! The powers are perfect! The attitude is perfect! The lines were perfect! The special effects were perfect! FUCKING CHRIST IT WAS PERFECT. His end was perfect! PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT!
PERFECT!
I can't say enough about what they did with Doctor Octopus. They didn't bitch-out and make him a psychopath. They made him the complex character he is. He has to come back. Has to. HAS TO!
oh, and J. Jonah Jameson! PERFECT!
Mary Jane Watson? PERFECT!
Ben Urich? PERFECT!
Aunt May? PERFECT!
PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT!
Hollywood has never, ever done a comic book movie better. Ever. Never. Ever. The acting was top notch. It wasn't JUST a fucking action movie. It wasn't a bunch of fight scenes strewn together. Why? Because Spider-man the comic book was never that. Half of the series is Parker's problems in life. That's the series! And it's in the movie! Valhalla! The scene at the party where he can't get the party food, and he has terrible luck throughout is simply Peter Parker. Nothing more can be said.
Fuck Peter Jackson, he has nothing on Sam Raimi. Sam Raimi doesn't know how happy he made us true comic book fans. The guy just ripped a bunch of classic Spidey stories and made a movie out of them. That is how it SHOULD work. The humor, drama and characters just can't be beat. A great ending that even I inwardly cheered at, and it set up the sequel nicely.
I was going to do some stupid review, but fuck that, just go see it. It's perfect! The perfect comic book adaptation.
PERFECT!
For that don't know who Spider-man is, let me backtrack and bring you up to speed...
Get out. Just get out.
Now that we have the morons out of here, Spider-man 2 is the goodness. As much as I liked Spider-man 1, it is simply outshone on every level by the sequel. Spider-man 1 got the ball rolling by staying TRUE TO THE CHARACTERS and Spider-man 2 picks up the ball and runs the rest of the way.
I grew up reading Spider-man. The guy is supposed to be a tragic hero that wrestles with his confidence and fears about doing the good work he does. He eschews life, friends, family to sub-merge into the life he has been thrust into, due to his sense of responsibility. No other media form of Spider-man has captured this important essence of the character, but Spider-man 2 did. Peter goes through crisises of confidence throughout the film, and his redemption is stellar. The most important thing to me though, is the characters.
When you have established properties like Spider-man and other comic characters, a movie-maker has to understand that they're established for a good reason: People like them. Don't change them. Just don't do it. Don't make Catwoman a black version of "The Crow." Don't take Bullseye and make him a psychopath, he's a sociopath. A funny sociopath. Don't carve shit on his head. In other words, don't make the movie Daredevil at all. Nor the last three Batman movies. Or any of the Superman (He gives up his powers for Lois, and then gets his ass kicked in a bar? BULLSHIT) movies. Don't do that. These characters became loved for a reason! They were already well written!
Sam Raimi and the screenwriters GET Peter Parker. Furthermore, they GET Mary Jane Watson, J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson, Harry Osbourne, Otto Octavius...
Speaking of Otto Octavius, what a performance! Alfred Molina IS Doc Ock. He's perfect! The origin is perfect! The casting is perfect! The performance is perfect! The powers are perfect! The attitude is perfect! The lines were perfect! The special effects were perfect! FUCKING CHRIST IT WAS PERFECT. His end was perfect! PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT!
I can't say enough about what they did with Doctor Octopus. They didn't bitch-out and make him a psychopath. They made him the complex character he is. He has to come back. Has to. HAS TO!
oh, and J. Jonah Jameson! PERFECT!
Mary Jane Watson? PERFECT!
Ben Urich? PERFECT!
Aunt May? PERFECT!
PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT!
Hollywood has never, ever done a comic book movie better. Ever. Never. Ever. The acting was top notch. It wasn't JUST a fucking action movie. It wasn't a bunch of fight scenes strewn together. Why? Because Spider-man the comic book was never that. Half of the series is Parker's problems in life. That's the series! And it's in the movie! Valhalla! The scene at the party where he can't get the party food, and he has terrible luck throughout is simply Peter Parker. Nothing more can be said.
Fuck Peter Jackson, he has nothing on Sam Raimi. Sam Raimi doesn't know how happy he made us true comic book fans. The guy just ripped a bunch of classic Spidey stories and made a movie out of them. That is how it SHOULD work. The humor, drama and characters just can't be beat. A great ending that even I inwardly cheered at, and it set up the sequel nicely.
I was going to do some stupid review, but fuck that, just go see it. It's perfect! The perfect comic book adaptation.
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