Mattlog

Spiderman 2

I just arrived back from my screening of Spidey 2. I went and saw this with Jeff and couple of other guys... all movie buffs. And we walked out... all of us avid, AVID movie buffs that this movie ranks in the top 10 of all time.

It's just great. I can't wait to see it again.

What this movie does for action films is something to take note of. You remember when Die Hard came out. And we're invested in the story of NY cop who gets stuck in a terrorist situation and has to save his wife despite being estranged and from there on every movie tried to be Die Hard in a (whatever.) Well I hope everyone's taking notes. Because the emotional depth this movie reaches is amazing. I want to give nothing away but there's probably three scenes in the movie that make you tear jerk.

But let's not overlook the FX in this film. Cause they're there. In spades. Doc Oc was one of my favorite Spidey villians since the Saturday morning cartoons. A real villian. And what Alfred Molina has done in this pic to this great character is spectacular. Almost (dare I say it) outshines Willem Dafoe in the original. But what FX allow him to do with his massive arms is amazing. Clearly one of the best villians of all time.

And all this due to Sam Raimi. This guy has been a Spidey lover for years and truly understands the character. What Spidey goes through in this film is almost hard to watch because ... well, I've been there. Everyone has been through the tough shit that Peter Parker has to deal with like rent and girls and figuring out one's place int he world. And this is what Spidey has always been about it. It's as if every film he's done before has lead to this trilogy. Darkman, Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, The Gift, and A Simple Plan. EVerything in these films almost feeds this film as some kind of undercurrent. Raimi's a director who actually learns as he goes. It almost makes you wonder if Lucas shouldn't learn something about honing one's craft. (Can't believe I said that.) I mean, Raimi actually uses the FX to tell a story including some central themes of the film, where, as I keep pointing out, the droid factory scene in Ep II almost seems a showcase piece.

Fear not, true believers, this film will knock your socks off.

Matt

Posted by matty at July 3, 2004 01:30 AM