Posted by Maul at mach.ddisp.net on May 04, 2002 at 13:02:36:
In Reply to: Sam Raimi and Sony ruin Spider-Man posted by Killgore on May 04, 2002 at 12:31:42:
: Sam Raimi is dead to me! Is that too harsh of a statement to make to begin this review with…no, not if you consider that the once great director is responsible for ruining The Amazing Spider-Man. Before I go on, I have to tell you that I have always dug Sam Raimi’s style. This is the director that brought us the Evil Dead and more recently the wonderfully crafted A Simple Plan. I can’t for the life of me figure how he could have gone so wrong in bringing one of, if not THE most anticipated comic book heroes to life on the big screen. Through all the hype, Sam talked about what a huge fan of Spider-Man he is or was, but when you see this big studio debacle you’ll be scratching your head wondering how he could possibly call himself one. On every level he missed the mark, from character to story to just plain simple staples that make any comic book superhero. Sam decided to take an American icon and reduce his story to what my friend called a film for small children.
: Let’s get into it. This film sucked out loud from the opening credits; backed by what has become a tired self-parody of what Danny Elfman calls film score. Once again, I used to think highly of Elfman’s work, but it seems, as you get fat from big studio bucks you lose your edge and creativity. Sad to see any artist reduced to that, but this popcorn flick teems over with it. Early in the inception of the big screen Spider-Man movie we learned that Sam had decided to forgo the manmade webslinger for a mutation that enables him to sling them from his wrists. Why would the man that shot the scene where Ash cuts off his possessed hand in place of a chainsaw in Evil Dead 2 do this? Imagine all the cool little quirks and interesting scenarios that could come from a webslinger that may and occasionally would malfunction, as they always did in the comic. This is a good example of what is wrong with the movie. It seems that on every level Raimi forgot the story as it has been crafted for 40 years. How dare he assume the right to take the work of all these great writers over time and essentially wipe his ass with their stories. Does Sam Raimi think he’s above comic book writers? Sounds like Hollywood to me, they think because they make so much money that they are somehow above artists that actually care about their craft and make dick. I am shocked and ashamed at Sam and everyone involved in this stupid summer flick.
: Let me get back on track. The very idea of Spider-Man was that he was an apprehensive superhero. His guilt over his Uncle’s death drove him to pursue the right thing when at every turn he felt compelled to take a night off. Key word in that sentence…night! This stupid piece of crap was shot almost entirely during the middle of the day which even the simplest of photographers knows sucks for lighting. Peter Parker had a day job and crawled the buildings of Manhattan at night, when we all know all the creeps come out. Just as a director, Raimi should have been looking for night shots; instead the whole thing was too bright which certainly didn’t help the bad computer generated effects. Yes, I said BAD! They talked about how this movie couldn’t have been made a few years ago, due to the lack of technology behind effects, but they had it backwards. Instead of making every shot a badly computer generated image, why not hire a slew of circus performers to do the swinging and wall crawling in front of a green screen? What you have here is a piss poor CGI Spidey that actually goes out of focus and swings so frenetically that you can’t even appreciate the abilities he’s acquired. Whew, can you tell I’m upset?
: I guess the point of this endless rant is that they blew it! On every level, in everyway, they just ruined the Spider-Man story. Yes, I said story, something Mr. Koepp has forgotten how to write. I bet the screenwriter also felt above going to some of the great writers of the comic to get their take on what he should do. This big budget, big studio piece of crap has no story and even reduced the great city of Manhattan into a lifeless almost forgotten character. How do you do that with New York? Oh, you don’t show the Twin Towers. This flick could have been a tribute to them, but instead decided to play it politically correct and pretend they never existed. I am truly ashamed of Sam Raimi and Sony for reducing this great piece of American Literature into a poorly conceived children’s story. For God’s sake Hollywood, instead of raping a 40-year-old franchise and reducing it to crap for a first weekend box office blitzkrieg, try remembering why this movie will make you rich. The riches you don’t understand, the richness of story and character.
: Just Killgore’s opinion, but I feel it’s right!
: p.s. For the makers of this piece of crap, please see what Bryan Singer did with the X-men, a FILM as rich in story as the characters themselves.
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