I’ve been thinking about the Spider-Man reboot lately. The online community seems to be a little divided, should there be a reboot? Some bloggers are ready to rip into Sony/Columbia for dumping Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire (along with Kirsten Dunst, etc).
Unrelated to this train of thought, I went back to watch the first two SM movies again, I refuse to ever again see the travesty that was Spider-Man 3. At the end of SM1 I saw and remembered what I liked so much about the series. At the same time, I saw a lot of things that rubbed me the wrong way. I went to see this movie in the theater with all of my friends. I remember what an awesome experience it was. We all enjoyed every second of Maguire’s Peter Parker and Willem Dafoe’s Power Ranger inspired Green Goblin costume. Now though, I’m trying to figure out why I liked that shiny green suit. For that matter, what was so amazing about Tobey Maguire? He constantly has this goober expression plastered across his face, and his voice always seemed strained.
These are not characteristics of Peter that Maguire infused into his performance. The actor normally sounds and looks like this. It’s a wonder that he has won or has been nominated for so many Best Actor awards. I like him and his movies, but he’s not a great actor. I don’t feel bad that he won’t be in any more Spider-Man films.
Other issues that show up throughout the series is the downplaying of Peter Parker’s genius. At least in the first movie. They tried to recover in the second flick with his short scenes with Dr. Octavius. This sudden display of brain power makes no sense because they glossed over that in SM1. Someone mentioned that Parker’s bio web shooters replaced his mechanical shooters because it made more sense. A teenager shouldn’t have created a sticky formula for glue like substance that 3M would kill for. But that is what made Parker a genius! He is one of the smartest guys running around in the Marvel universe! Not like Reed Richards or Tony Stark, but he was in the same ballpark at least.
Jumping back over to actor’s portrayals, J.K. Simmons is a great actor, but he was horrible as J. Jonah Jameson. JJJ is a mean guy that you shouldn’t cross; Simmons came off as campy. Considering the actor, this camp is mostly like attributed to director Sam Raimi.
Raimi, again another person that I like. I also realize that without Raimi doing Spider-Man, we most likely wouldn’t have other comic book movies. On the other hand, Raimi’s SM series is extremely campy. There’s funny, and then there’s campy. Spider-Man 3 is what happens if that goes unchecked.
Finally I come back around to the original topic: the Spider-Man reboot. Marc Webb has a unique style to his filmmaking, and he has a nice eye for what looks good. Andrew Garfield is an amazing actor, if a little old for the usually younger Peter Parker. It’s a good thing he kind of has a baby face. The interwebs ran wild with the rumor of Emma Stone getting the Mary Jane Watson role, but then we finally got the confirmation that she was cast as the main love interest Gwen Stacy. This isn’t a bad thing, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Stone is cute and has a fun personality. Watch Zombieland, you’ll see. Although, because of this, maybe she would have been better off as Mary Jane instead of the prim and proper Gwen.
One of the biggest improvements with this project is the inclusion of Marvel’s talent, aka the writers. DC movies keep the comic books they’re based on at arm’s length, and have little to no communication with the comic guys. Iron Man, Thor, this Spider-Man movie, they all asked the writers to be a part of the filmmaking process. This puts the Marvel crew as advisors to the film.
Why can’t DC do that? That will cut down on the whole muscle look to the Green Lantern’s costume, the red velvet look of Superman’s cape, the illegitimate child of Superman and Lois, the “no powers” approach to Nolan’s Batman world. If the people that make the comic books are more involved with the movies, maybe we would end up with better comic book movies.
Going back to Spider-Man. Overall, I wish Sony/Columbia was not rebooting Spider-Man. I would rather they just progress the story, but with a new cast and crew. On the other hand, with a reboot, they get the love triangle of Gwen, Peter, and Mary Jane. They get another crack at Dr. Octopus (not that stupid Doc Ock). Another chance of a beefier Venom, not the slim and awkward Topher Grace, who would have been better off as Peter Parker. They can get a more goblin-like Green Goblin, along with the pivotal character development of Peter with the death of Gwen at the bridge.
That sounded more morbid than I intended. I just mean that a reboot is not a horrible idea. It will be nice to see what a new crew can do with the web head.
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