Things I Like/Dislike About Spider-Man Trilogy
Things I Like/Dislike About Spider-Man Trilogy
So the Amazing Spider-Man is on tomorrow and its been compared with the 2002- 07 Trilogy. So here's one more! This is just my opinion and probably has no merit. But here it is- things I liked about the movies and the things I disliked.
Dislike:
1. Mary Jane and the love story- I really did not like Mary Jane. It wasn't Kirsten Dunst but more on how MJ was portrayed, especially in the 2nd film when she left her fiance at the alter. Funny enough, my animosity for her peaked at that point and did not mind her so much in the 3rd (maybe because I was tired of the hate or maybe it was that she and Peter were together finally, even though they really needed couples counseling). And the plot with her and Peter kept dragging and took up the movies' time, and why was it that every villain had to kidnap MJ to trap Spider-Man? She had to be rescued for I think 6 times in 3 movies.
2. Emo Peter- yeah, I, like everyone else, did not like Emo Peter in the 3rd film. He was so... stupid. I got into the conversation about this with friends and the logic was this- Peter can never be cool, but under Venom's influence tried to be aka John Travolta. But it was still stupid with the dark clothes and the hair style, when should have been about Peter letting out his anger, resentments and just going dark.
3. The Dance scene- I put this in right after Emo Peter because this is what resulted from Emo Peter and by god I hated it.
4. Topher Grace as Eddie Brock- do I really need to explain this?
5. John Jameson and Gwen Stacy- or rather, the cramming all these characters from the comics just to keep us happy. What was the point of having John as MJ's fiancee? And he never has a scene with Jonah, his father(would've loved more scenes of Jonah). And Mary Jane was Gwen (Peter met her first, she was his true love), so why was Gwen there? And if they were writing her as the girl that could tempt Peter, why didn't she play a bigger part? And what about Ursula (the landlord's daughter who had a crush on Peter)? And I'm putting Sandman in this too, because the was no reason he had to be Uncle Ben's killer- that was resolved in the first two with the robber with the bad dye job. Since the 3rd was supposed to be about Peter going to his dark side, why not addressed the fact he would've murdered the man? Not bring in some dude with a hard luck story.
6. Green Goblin's costume- this is low on this, because yeah, it was dumb looking and I didn't like it, but it was the last thing on mind while watching the film. The voice on the other hand was crazy and Gobby was crazy with his senseless killing and fixation on Peter.
7. Lack of Snark- After seeing the films, I felt that there was something missing, something important. And then it hit me- Isn't Spidey suppose to be a smart alek? Now, I have no big issues with this, which is weird since it was something of a defining trait of his. But Tobey McGuire's Spider-Man was goofy and all up-standing and it fit him. Maybe they could have worked the snark for the actor but I doubt it.
But despite all of that I still liked these movies- even the 3rd film because things got done and it was the end- so it was great and glad they were made.
Like:
1. The fact that it was made- when I saw the trailer (the robbers caught in the web between the Twin Towers) I was so happy and could not wait to see it, And I was not disappointed. It paved the way for Superhero films (it helped) and helped me for the Superhero genre.
2. William Dafoe as Norman Osborn- I keep getting different opinions on his portrayal; some thought he was good, others thought he was okay, and the rest thought he was really bad. I didn't mind him. Actually I thought that him as Norman Osborn nailed that character- a scientist, ambitious, morally grey, a hardass father, proud and intimidating. All the things Norman Osborn was, Dafoe was it. Him as Green Goblin, its bit more difficult to judge- but as I mentioned before, he did act crazy and Gobby is crazy, so it was all good.
3. J.K Simmons as John Jonah Jameson, Jr.- like with William Dafoe, Simmons nailed this character down the look. He was loud, brash, cheap and everyone scene with him was loaded with good lines and a good laugh. I was so happy when I finally saw him in the 3rd. The only downside was that he was underused, or that's how I felt, this was the guy who helped Peter and was a bane of Spidey's life and they never showed that.
4. The Fight Scenes- I loved the fight scenes, Spider-Man swinging and webbing all over. It was awesome.
5. Aunt May and Uncle Ben- these guys were Aunt May and Uncle Ben; my favorite scene with them is actually their introductory. Ben switching the light bulb and May's "just don't fall on your ass." I loved it.
6. The Soundtrack- I got the soundtrack as a gift and loved, listening to it for about a thousand times. It was a bit odd, a bit epic and was one of Danny Elfman's better works.
7. Tobey McGuire as Spidey- As already said, when the first Spider-Man movie came out, I was just excited that it was being made and I didn't care who was playing him (I didn't know a lot). Tobey was okay, and I got the idea where they were going- the whole most unlikely guy being a superhero (the unassuming polite nerd). And I mentioned before, he had goofy and incidental humor thing going, along with his sense of wanting to do right. There's thins one scene where he calling to a kid to run away from the danger and going to rescue him because the kid is an idiot.
So yes, I was glad the Spider-Man movies were made and I'm going to see the new one. So here's to more good adaptations for Spider-Man.