The following is an in-depth story analysis. If you haven't seen this movie, you might want to before reading this review
So we all know there's a Spider-Man reboot, so I thought, since there were a few mistakes with it, let's see what it did right the first time, and what can be improved upon in the next attempt. This is going to be a different kind of review from the norm because I haven't seen the rebooted Amazing Spider-Man yet, so I'll be listing the things I would want in the reboot. Let's get started.
You've clicked on a review in a weebly website called faboyflicks, and considering this is one of the most popular superhero movies ever made, I'll assume you've seen it, and ax the plot synopsis. If you haven't, or it's been a long time, I suggest popping it in before you finish this review. Besides, it'll give you a reason to watch Dafoe be really creepy.
The Origin
First off, the origin. We all know Spider-Man's origin: he's bitten by a radioactive spider, his uncle gets killed because Peter doesn't stop the burglar who kills him. This leads Peter to become a superhero, and that's really all you need to know, but of course, the first third of this film is devoted to the origin, and it's done well for the most part. However, I've seen it six hundred times in the comics, the animated series, and this movie, and I don't need to see it again. I want Peter Parker, even if he's going to be in high school again, to have already been Spider-Man for a while before the film opens. Then, it can move on and tell a real story without forty five minutes of set-up. That's the issue for me, really. Origin stories are set-up. They inform us about the hero's past, so we buy their motivations in becoming a superhero. Sometimes that origin can be complex and interesting enough to warrant a story on its own, or be deeply integrated into another story, like Batman Begins, but most, like Spider-Man, are backstory, and that's all they really should be. This movie is severely lacking in story because it spends its time on the origin. This wouldn't be so bad if the plot told after was less obvious. If Green Goblin had more clear motivations, and if Peter Parker was more proactive, but we'll get to all that in a minute.
First, I'd like to mention a couple things about the origin that didn't work for me here. One, Peter Parker kind of looks like a murderer, and I don't like that. He tracks the burglar who killed Uncle Ben, and that's good; that's more proactive than he's going to be for the rest of the movie, but then he beats the crap out of him, and ultimately, the guy falls down a window into his doom. This death could've been more like Green Goblin's death at the end, where he does something foolish and it leads to his own demise, and whilst Peter doesn't exactly push him, it looks almost as if it was his intention. He has the same look Daredevil did when he hit that guy with a subway train, as if he's about to say something, like, justice is served. The last thing Uncle Ben said to him, while they were both together, as much as I get sick hearing this, was, with great power comes great responsibility. I didn't hear in case I get killed, please avenge my murder, even though those sentences have the same exact syllables. Maybe Peter heard him wrong.
There's another scene in the middle of all this that bugs me, and I can't help but bring it up. It's small, and pitily, but I can't help but mention it. Peter sees this ad on the newspaper, and decides to try his hand on wrestling, so he can buy a car and impress Mary Jane. Oh, and, word to the wise, if you think you need to buy a car to impress a girl, she's probably not the right girl. The ad says, three minutes on the ring, three thousand dollars. So, Peter wrestles, just like in the comics, and beats Bonesaw Mcgraw, a.k.a Macho Man Randy Savage. He goes to the manager to get paid. The manager gives him a hundred dollars, now here comes the most Bonesaw'd logic ever. Peter asks why he only got a hundred, the ad was for three thousand. The manager says three thousand for three minutes. You pinned him in two. For that, I give you a hundred, and you're lucky to get that. So, Peter does something no one else in that night can do: beats up this Bonesaw guy, and for that, he gets paid less than what the ad called for. I realize this guy is calling him a kid, and probably figures he can get away with it no matter what he says, but, consider that this isn't an underground operation; it's right next to the public library, the arena looks like WWE or something, and there's a full house of legitimate looking patrons; suddenly, Peter finds himself in a shady backroom, run by con artists who can't do math. If this guy paid people that way very often, his business wouldn't last very long. If you wanted to con him, you could've said two thousand for two minutes, instead of a hundred.
Keep It Lighthearted
Secondly, the reboot needs to keep it light-hearted. In a lot of ways, the tone of Spider Man should be lighter than Batman, and I realize the irony of that considering this film and Tim Burton's Batman were scored by Danny Elfman. Regardless with what problem he's dealing with, even if he feels he's the cause of them, the best Spider Man is the one who uses humor to deal with tense situations. In the animated series in the 90's, Spider-Man was making wisecracks, even when the whole world was crumbling down around him. There are people who do this in real life, too; people who work with their problems by making light of them.
This movie does have a good sense of humor, especially with J. Jonah Jameson, who's a spitting image of the character in the comics, and the film occasionally gives Spider Man something quick witted to say, like when he's fighting Bonesaw and says, that's a cute outfit, did your husband give it to you? The trouble is, I don't know where those kind of jives even come from. When he's out of the outfit, he doesn't talk like this, and when he's in the outfit, he doesn't do it very often. I'd be fine with the idea that he does whatever he wants when wearing the costume, because he's hiding beneath a mask, and is a different person, but I don't see enough of that. The joking Spider-Man comes out so rarely, and when it does, it's hard for me to see it other than fan service, like, they know there are fans in the audience that expect this, so it's in a few places to appease them, rather than making Peter Parker a more jovial character.
I don't want to go as far as to say that Tobey Maguire was a bad choice, but Peter is not often written the way I saw Spider-Man in the comics. It's always risky to show your protagonist crying, and he cries, a bit too much. I'll be more sympathetic to a protagonist who feels emotional pain but then resolves to do something about it, rather than one who mopes around and waits for trouble to come to him. Sometimes, this Peter Parker feels modelled off of Clark Kent from Smallville.
Also, about Jameson, whoever Marc Webb decides to finally cast as him, I hope his part doesn't turn to a cameo. In fact, I'd like him to be more involved to the main story. Jameson was directly involved in some Spider Man stories in the comics. I'd hate him to become like Perry White, where we see him less and less in every Superman movie, even when he gets recasted when we finally get another Superman film, Perry White gets replaced with a sign on his desk saying back in five minutes.
Also, about Jameson, whoever Marc Webb decides to finally cast as him, I hope his part doesn't turn to a cameo. In fact, I'd like him to be more involved to the main story. Jameson was directly involved in some Spider Man stories in the comics. I'd hate him to become like Perry White, where we see him less and less in every Superman movie, even when he gets recasted when we finally get another Superman film, Perry White gets replaced with a sign on his desk saying back in five minutes.
Proactive Peter Parker
When I watch the reboot The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2, I want a more proactive Peter. After Green Goblin attacks the festival, Peter later says to Harry Osborn, someone has to stop him, but he doesn't go try finding out about this mysterious supervillain. He has no idea what this guy's plan is, or if he will ever strike again. After all, his only real goal was to kill the members of the board of directors, and he managed that, so if it's so important that somebody stops him, why not do some research, and find out what you can? Spider-Man isn't a detective like Batman, but some detective work comes with the job. If all being a superhero is about is waiting around for someone to rob a bank, or kidnap a girl in an alley, you'd be lucky, at least in the real world, if you stopped three crimes in your entire life. What's worse is that he doesn't try to find out who or where Green Goblin really is, even when it become personal. Green Goblin attacks Aunt May, and Peter hangs out in the hospital with her and talks about how he doesn't have the spine to ask Mary Jane out. Before that, Green Goblin pretended to be an old woman in a burning building to bring Spider Man to him, and after they fight, he doesn't try to follow the Goblin or anything.
When Green Goblin finally kidnaps Mary Jane, Peter talks to him on the phone and asks where he's taken her. At least he was smart enough to ask. I'm imagining Green Goblin just hanging out, waiting for Spider Man to show up, but he's just at home crying because he's got her and with all his amazing superpowers, there's nothing he can do.
The Love Interest
I'd really like to see a Spider-Man movie without Mary Jane, not because I don't like Mary Jane, I just don't like this version of her. There are already people who'd like to see Gwen Stacy done right and be Peter's first girlfriend, just like in the early comics, and I think I'd like that too. Mary Jane, in the comics, is cooler than Gwen, but doing Gwen gives you the chance to see just how cool Mary Jane is in contrast, at least when she's the confident spit fire as opposed to the pathetic awkward girl who never quite got passed the high school view of the world. To be fair, she's closer to the comic book version in this movie, than she is in the sequels, and it seems like that was the direction she was going the first couple of scenes, up until we see that she's in an abusive home life. That abusive home life thing could have worked if she remained confident, always brushing off, and refusing to affect her attitude, but of course she doesn't do that. This just isn't the Mary Jane who would say face it, Tiger. you just hit the jackpot.
Also, I get Peter Parker is socially awkward, but why isn't he in a charming way? Every time he says something to Mary Jane, I get embarrassed for him. Really, like, I start writing down better lines, the kind that don't sound like he memorized them from a harlequin romance novel, and then I try to feed them to the TV screen so maybe just one time he won't come off as pathetic. I get that the dialogue is supposed to be realistic, and these are maybe the kind of things that guys in high school, or guys out of high school would say, but I just really don't care.
The many faces of Willem Defoe
The Villain
I don't think they should do Goblin again in the next movies, because this was one of the things that has been done well here, and it's too soon. I'd say to put Harry and Norman Osborn in the movie and leave the opening for Norman to become the Goblin, later. Willem Dafoe was by far the best casting choice in the movie for me. He plays multiple personalities well, and I love how many emotions he can play in a single scene. Doc Ock has always been talked about as a sympathetic super villain, and he is, but Norman is pretty sympathetic, too. He tested the serum on himself because he was desperate for his glider project to go forward. It's not necessarily a smart move, but I like that he uses himself as a human test. Not because he's crazy, or at least not yet, but because he really believes it'll work. This not only gives him increased strength, but it also gives him the Goblin personality. Norman doesn't know he's killing people at first, and when he does, it's mortifying. He tries to control the Goblin, but the Goblin ends up controlling him, almost completely. I like that sometimes Norman is in control and sometimes Goblin is, like in Peter Parker's apartment. This is a tense nuance scene, and you wonder what the psychotic Norman might do. Norman resists Goblin for a while until he finally gives in, exactly as he did in the comics. Once again, whatever villain is used, he has to have clear goals that don't all involve killing the superhero. All Goblin wanted to do at first was to kill the board of directors for turning on him, and Spider-Man fails to stop him from doing that. So, why is the Goblin so obsessed in getting Spider Man out of his way after this. He should think Spider Man is incompetent. He managed to do the only clear goal he ever had. After all, after this, all he does is try to hurt or kill Spider Man. He offers Spider Man a chance to join him, but judging from the pumpkin bomb he's holding behind his back when he makes that offer a second time, it's hard to tell how sincere he is. Besides, join him in doing what, exactly? What does he want after the board is gone? Let's see: we have two guys who have super strength, both have the ability to move through the air in various ways, one has spider sense, and they both seem very acrobatic, I guess they can join forces and become gold medalists in every Olympic sport there is, or stand on train tracks waiting for trains to show up and then jump out of the way in the last second, over and over again. I don't know, that's all I've got. Does he want to rule New York? The world? The guys filthy rich, and still will be after he's fired, and has technology a bit below Tony Stark's dad did in Captain America The First Avenger. He has zero motivation.
Spider-Man's Morality
This movie has a good grasp of what Peter's values are supposed to be, and that's something the next movie should definitely hold on to. Peter is too whiny in a few places, but he tries to do the right thing, except for that one scene where he looks like a murderer.
You can tell he's been brought up by an older, conservative couple, and with sometimes old fashion; the way he talks, and how he's super polite all the time. He's made very real dealing with his new abilities, trying to juggle so much at once. He feels guilty when he swings around New York all afternoon, and comes home realizing he was supposed to help his uncle paint the kitchen. He won't accept the job from Norman Osborn because he wants to earn things on his own. He refuses to make a move on Mary Jane because his best friend Harry is dating her. He always tries to build Mary Jane up when things aren't going so well. He's also a brainy nerd, but that isn't played up nearly enough.
You can tell he's been brought up by an older, conservative couple, and with sometimes old fashion; the way he talks, and how he's super polite all the time. He's made very real dealing with his new abilities, trying to juggle so much at once. He feels guilty when he swings around New York all afternoon, and comes home realizing he was supposed to help his uncle paint the kitchen. He won't accept the job from Norman Osborn because he wants to earn things on his own. He refuses to make a move on Mary Jane because his best friend Harry is dating her. He always tries to build Mary Jane up when things aren't going so well. He's also a brainy nerd, but that isn't played up nearly enough.
I want to see him do more science in the reboot. I think going with traditional webshooters than organic webbing would be a good step in that direction. After all, what's the point of Spider Man knowing science if he doesn't use it in his super heroic endeavours.
I also want a realistic reason for that costume this time. He makes this makeshift costume to wrestle in, but all of a sudden, he has all the means to make this suit. I bet it costed a hundred bucks, since we know that's about how much money he got at that point.
I also want a realistic reason for that costume this time. He makes this makeshift costume to wrestle in, but all of a sudden, he has all the means to make this suit. I bet it costed a hundred bucks, since we know that's about how much money he got at that point.
Other Stuff That Work
Now that I ripped this movie to pieces, here's what I think really works in it:
Peter and Harry's relationship is genuine. I want something like that in the reboot. I like the differences between them; Peter was raised with wholesome family values, and Harry's father was never around for him. Harry looks up to and respects Peter because he wishes he has a life closer to his, where family feels more like family, and there are answers to problems, besides throwing money at them.
In the comics, sometimes being Spider-Man makes things worse. Peter had to struggle between doing what was right and doing what was good for him. If a super villain was hurting someone, he has the ability to stop it, so he felt like he had to. However, there is always a risk if the villain finds out who he is, and would put his friends and family in danger. This movie uses that idea with the Green Goblin, who wants Spider-Man for some reason, and finds out he's Peter because Peter is careless, and that makes him vulnerable. I'd like this idea to go farther in a reboot, and once again have Spider Man to be proactive.
Some people like Spider-Man and some people hate him. This was always a big idea in the comics. Jameson isn't the only one who thinks Spider Man is a menace, so Peter has to struggle with the fact that even the good he does is sometimes misconstrued as bad, or he makes a mistake, and the question if he should even be on the job. This is handled a lot better than in the sequels. In Spider-Man 2, everyone hates him in the beginning, and in 3, everyone loves him in the beginning. This movie is more realistic in that respect.
Despite its problems, this movie is a lot of fun. We feel the thrill Peter feels in web swinging. Spider Man is acrobatic; it's fun seeing him jump around, saving people and beating up thugs. There are a lot of plot holes, as much as there isn't enough plot. I really did find myself invested in a lot of the characters in this film, I just want them to be smarter in how they handle things. It's okay for Peter to be emotionally invested in stuff, but the few places where he's just sitting there feeling sorry for himself are enough to make me like him less.