Well, it’s Spiderman! It has to be exciting!
The third installment of the Spiderman series opened in theaters today. I woke up this morning and said to myself, “I’m going to see Spiderman!” And I did. The movie was showing at least every half an hour starting at 3 a.m. at the theater near me (in addition to the midnight showing last night). The theater was pretty empty when I saw the movie. After all, it was 10:45 a.m. on a Friday, and most people are at work or at school. So I saw the movie with a bunch of unemployed people (myself included in that group), toddlers, and a baby who screamed through most of the movie. It was quite an experience.
I thought the way the director, Sam Raimi, opened the film was great. As the opening credits ran, we saw scenes from Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. It was a great way to remind the audience of the plots of the previous films.
Geeky Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gets a bit of a big head in this film. New Yorkers love Spider-Man, and Peter is enjoying all the glory. Unfortunately, it gets in the way of him connecting emotionally and relating to his girlfriend, MJ (Kirsten Dunst). And we’ve all been there. Well, we haven’t all been Spider-Man. But at some point or another, we’ve all been a little too absorbed in our own lives, and wound up hurting the people we love because of it.
And there are three bad guys in the movie! Venom, played by That 70’s Show’s Eric Forman (also known at Topher Grace) was very cool and scary. The Sand Man was played by Thomas Haden Church, who I remember as the dopey custodian on Wings. Plus Peter’s friend Harry Osborn becomes the New Goblin, played by James Franco.
Frankly, the plot is not that interesting. There are a lot of bad guys. They die; they come back, they die again, they come back again. The middle of the movie was even a little dull. And Peter Parker’s physical changes when the black suit symbiotic alien thing takes him over really amount to him having black hair and wearing black eyeliner.
What is really interesting is that despite the fact that it’s a movie based on a comic book, most of the emotions people go through in the film are very easy to relate to: Love, jealousy, anger, grief, competitiveness, vengefulness, loss, pride and shame. The characters deal with real psychological issues.
One scene reminded me of a friend’s description of the book “What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentine Achak Deng” by Dave Eggers. The Sand Man explains himself to Spider-Man. He explains why he needed to steal money. He explains how he accidentally shot Peter’s uncle. And Spider-Man is able to forgive him. “What is the What” discusses the idea that if we were all able to explain ourselves to each other, our personal histories, where we come from, what we have suffered through and what we have overcome, then we as a society would be able to relate to each other in much healthier ways. That we would be able to understand and relate to each other, instead of making assumptions and snap judgments about each other.
And in the end, Spider-Man talks about how we all have a choice. In the comic book world of Spider-Man, it’s all very black and white. There is good, and there is evil. In reality, there are many, many shades of gray. But that choice is still there. We have to make decisions that uphold our personal morals. We have to choose to be better people. Sometimes the need to make a decision is thrust upon us, but we are the ones who must choose which path to follow.
*******
As an added bonus, the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was shown. It looks so good! I can’t wait for July 13!
The third installment of the Spiderman series opened in theaters today. I woke up this morning and said to myself, “I’m going to see Spiderman!” And I did. The movie was showing at least every half an hour starting at 3 a.m. at the theater near me (in addition to the midnight showing last night). The theater was pretty empty when I saw the movie. After all, it was 10:45 a.m. on a Friday, and most people are at work or at school. So I saw the movie with a bunch of unemployed people (myself included in that group), toddlers, and a baby who screamed through most of the movie. It was quite an experience.
I thought the way the director, Sam Raimi, opened the film was great. As the opening credits ran, we saw scenes from Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. It was a great way to remind the audience of the plots of the previous films.
Geeky Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gets a bit of a big head in this film. New Yorkers love Spider-Man, and Peter is enjoying all the glory. Unfortunately, it gets in the way of him connecting emotionally and relating to his girlfriend, MJ (Kirsten Dunst). And we’ve all been there. Well, we haven’t all been Spider-Man. But at some point or another, we’ve all been a little too absorbed in our own lives, and wound up hurting the people we love because of it.
And there are three bad guys in the movie! Venom, played by That 70’s Show’s Eric Forman (also known at Topher Grace) was very cool and scary. The Sand Man was played by Thomas Haden Church, who I remember as the dopey custodian on Wings. Plus Peter’s friend Harry Osborn becomes the New Goblin, played by James Franco.
Frankly, the plot is not that interesting. There are a lot of bad guys. They die; they come back, they die again, they come back again. The middle of the movie was even a little dull. And Peter Parker’s physical changes when the black suit symbiotic alien thing takes him over really amount to him having black hair and wearing black eyeliner.
What is really interesting is that despite the fact that it’s a movie based on a comic book, most of the emotions people go through in the film are very easy to relate to: Love, jealousy, anger, grief, competitiveness, vengefulness, loss, pride and shame. The characters deal with real psychological issues.
One scene reminded me of a friend’s description of the book “What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentine Achak Deng” by Dave Eggers. The Sand Man explains himself to Spider-Man. He explains why he needed to steal money. He explains how he accidentally shot Peter’s uncle. And Spider-Man is able to forgive him. “What is the What” discusses the idea that if we were all able to explain ourselves to each other, our personal histories, where we come from, what we have suffered through and what we have overcome, then we as a society would be able to relate to each other in much healthier ways. That we would be able to understand and relate to each other, instead of making assumptions and snap judgments about each other.
And in the end, Spider-Man talks about how we all have a choice. In the comic book world of Spider-Man, it’s all very black and white. There is good, and there is evil. In reality, there are many, many shades of gray. But that choice is still there. We have to make decisions that uphold our personal morals. We have to choose to be better people. Sometimes the need to make a decision is thrust upon us, but we are the ones who must choose which path to follow.
*******
As an added bonus, the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was shown. It looks so good! I can’t wait for July 13!
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