Spidermans One, Two and Three
Over the past few weeks, Si and me have watched the Spiderman movies from (oh no!) the last decade. We've really enjoyed them, even the third one which was supposed to be the worst of the trilogy.
The films followed a simple formula. There'd be villains with a personal connection to Peter Parker, but the main thrust of each film was Peter's love-life. Every positive move that Peter makes brings him closer to Mary-Jane, but he keeps fouling up and pushing her away. In the first film he barely talks to her. Becoming Spiderman doesn't particularly help either. After battling Doctor Octopus, it's Mary-Jane who takes charge and decides that she wants to be with Peter. Everything seems set, but Peter nearly blows it by giving in to his aggressive urges, with a little help from the Alien Symbiote Black Suit Thing From Space (ASBSTFS). By the end of the third film it's unclear if their relationship will carry on, or whether they'll just decide that it's way too much effort. They have a hug though, so that's good!
The villains appear to follow one of two paths. There are the sympathetic ones who get redeemed at the last minute, such as Sandman and Doctor Octavius. Then there are the absolute psychos who seem to be beyond help. Eddie Brock and Norman Osborne fall into this class. These are the monsters who let their strength and power get the better of them. It's interesting that every super-powered character in the trilogy has the choice to make of what to use their powers for, yet only Peter Parker decides to help other people. Even then, this can only be traced back to what his Uncle, Ben Parker told him and taught him. So you could say that the only real hero of these films is Ben Parker.
You could also argue that these films secretly belong to Harry Osborn. Throughout the trilogy he's simmering away in the background, first as Peter's friend and then as his enemy. It's Harry's story that's brought to a conclusion in Spiderman 3, which is where the trilogy ends. When Harry finally makes the decision to help Spiderman rather than try to kill him it costs Harry his life. Peter Parker may lose his best friend, but Harry is well and truly dead.
It's the action sequences that stick in the mind from these three films, mainly because these are the trailer and publicity moments, but they account for a minimal amount of the film's run time. In terms of screen time, Doctor Octopus barely appears in Spiderman 2. The majority of the film is taken up with Peter losing his powers and freeing himself from the curse of being Spiderman.
And J. K. Simmons playing Jonah J Jameson was wonderful too. His finest moment came in Spiderman 2.1, where he was dressed up in Spiderman's outfit and doing the web-spinning moves on his office desk, while the staff of the Bugle looked on in bewildered horror.
And Rosemary Harris was astonishingly good as Aunt May. There's a raft of iconic supporting characters in these films. Her finest hour was bashing Doc Ock on the back of the head with her umbrella.
Finally, Bruce Campbell is outstanding in his three different roles. In fact, these films would be nothing without Campbell. I think I slept through most of the bits where he wasn't on the screen. Whether as a Ring Announcer, Snooty Usher or Maître d’, he lit up the screen like nothing else. They should have put his face on the cover of the DVD. Bruce!
The films followed a simple formula. There'd be villains with a personal connection to Peter Parker, but the main thrust of each film was Peter's love-life. Every positive move that Peter makes brings him closer to Mary-Jane, but he keeps fouling up and pushing her away. In the first film he barely talks to her. Becoming Spiderman doesn't particularly help either. After battling Doctor Octopus, it's Mary-Jane who takes charge and decides that she wants to be with Peter. Everything seems set, but Peter nearly blows it by giving in to his aggressive urges, with a little help from the Alien Symbiote Black Suit Thing From Space (ASBSTFS). By the end of the third film it's unclear if their relationship will carry on, or whether they'll just decide that it's way too much effort. They have a hug though, so that's good!
The villains appear to follow one of two paths. There are the sympathetic ones who get redeemed at the last minute, such as Sandman and Doctor Octavius. Then there are the absolute psychos who seem to be beyond help. Eddie Brock and Norman Osborne fall into this class. These are the monsters who let their strength and power get the better of them. It's interesting that every super-powered character in the trilogy has the choice to make of what to use their powers for, yet only Peter Parker decides to help other people. Even then, this can only be traced back to what his Uncle, Ben Parker told him and taught him. So you could say that the only real hero of these films is Ben Parker.
You could also argue that these films secretly belong to Harry Osborn. Throughout the trilogy he's simmering away in the background, first as Peter's friend and then as his enemy. It's Harry's story that's brought to a conclusion in Spiderman 3, which is where the trilogy ends. When Harry finally makes the decision to help Spiderman rather than try to kill him it costs Harry his life. Peter Parker may lose his best friend, but Harry is well and truly dead.
It's the action sequences that stick in the mind from these three films, mainly because these are the trailer and publicity moments, but they account for a minimal amount of the film's run time. In terms of screen time, Doctor Octopus barely appears in Spiderman 2. The majority of the film is taken up with Peter losing his powers and freeing himself from the curse of being Spiderman.
And J. K. Simmons playing Jonah J Jameson was wonderful too. His finest moment came in Spiderman 2.1, where he was dressed up in Spiderman's outfit and doing the web-spinning moves on his office desk, while the staff of the Bugle looked on in bewildered horror.
And Rosemary Harris was astonishingly good as Aunt May. There's a raft of iconic supporting characters in these films. Her finest hour was bashing Doc Ock on the back of the head with her umbrella.
Finally, Bruce Campbell is outstanding in his three different roles. In fact, these films would be nothing without Campbell. I think I slept through most of the bits where he wasn't on the screen. Whether as a Ring Announcer, Snooty Usher or Maître d’, he lit up the screen like nothing else. They should have put his face on the cover of the DVD. Bruce!