Spider-Man 2 (2004) Review

SPOILERS

“I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.”

    Spider-Man 2 is the perfect superhero film and probably the best Marvel film period. To be honest I didn’t think that the sequel was going to surpass the original film. Boy was I wrong. To me this is the first film with an imperfect hero that has his problems just like everybody. He barely makes enough money to live on, he can’t be with the girl that he loves, his apartment complex is run down, his only friend despises him because of Spider-Man, and his aunt can’t live in her house any more due to financial difficulties. The only thing he has going for him is being Spider-Man and even he’s messing that up from all his exhaustion. So he decides it’s time to stop being Spider-Man and permanently be Peter Parker. There’s this touching scene when Peter tells Uncle Ben that he can no longer be Spider-Man. It’s a big deal for a superhero to put his wants and needs before the “greater good”. He no longer helps anyone like the person who was getting beat up in an alley; he simply turns the other way. Or when the cop cars fly past him with their sirens on, he simply bites into his hot dog. Simply put, Peter has become your average citizen.

    While Peter is having his crisis, we see the birth of a new villain. Doctor Octopus is one of the most complex antagonists in any Marvel film. He’s truly a sympathetic villain. Octavius had spent his entire life fantasizing about the creation of a fusion reactor, which would sustain enough energy to power entire cities just from one device. As Octavius says, “the power of the sun in the palm of my hand.” The fusion reactor malfunctions, he tries to correct the problem, but everything is going wrong and his wife ends up dying in the process. Dr. Ock’s mechanical arms start talking to him corrupting his mind. The AI that governs his mechanical arms pushes him to murder, robbery, and even kidnapping. During the final fight with Spider-Man his mechanical arms malfunction just enough for him to realize that sometimes we have to give up what we want the most. He reclaims control over his actions and sacrifices himself to save New York from his creation. Doctor Octavius demonstrated what Aunt May told Peter about there being a hero inside of everyone. Fighting Dr. Octopus reminded Peter that he couldn’t have the life he really wanted. That there will always be evil that only Spider-Man can defeat because with great power comes great responsibility.

   I remember after the first Spider-Man there were tons of rumors that there were going to be two villains in the sequel: Dr. Octopus and the Lizard. For the longest time the rumors were that Sam Neill and Bruce Campbell were in talks for the roles. Then it was announced that Dylan Baker would play the Lizard. I’m glad that only Doctor Octopus was the villain because it would have been too congested like the crapfest we call Spider-Man 3 and the Amazing Spider-Man 2. Well it was a half-truth about Dylan Baker since he did play Dr. Connors. After Spider-Man 2 the rumors were that Dr. Connors would become the Lizard and the John Jameson would become Man-Wolf. Sounds more interesting than the next installment.

   The characters are so well done and have so much depth in this film. The performances were spot on, especially on Alfred Molina’s portrayal of Dr. Octavius. Tobey Maguire has the same natural ability as he had in the first film. He really sold it as Peter having to make an enormous decision on how he wants to live his life. James Franco also gave a stellar performance as Harry, who is a young millionaire trying to cope with the death of his father. His father’s death continues to fill him with hate. He wants and needs to kill Spider-Man.

   The film blew me away when I first saw it in IMAX thirteen years ago and to this day it still blows me away. I believe it’s the first superhero film that really explored the human condition of the hero. The arc was very well done and has the best story out of the Spider-Man trilogy. Not to mention the action sequences were fantastic. The film even includes one of my favorite fights: the train fight between Doc Ock and Spider-Man. I highly recommend this film.

5 out of 5

Spider-Man (2002) Review

“Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility." This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I'm Spider-man.”

    “Batman and Robin” put a sour taste in people’s mouths with the superhero genre. They wanted to stay away from that genre. Then it happened the superhero craze resurfaced with Bryan Singer’s little film called “X-Men”. It got people excited for superhero films again. Soon it was announced that Sam Raimi would be directing Spider-Man. Film goers were ecstatic and it showed when the film became the first to hit pass the $100 million mark on an opening weekend. Spider-Man truly is an amazing film and is probably my favorite superhero origin story.

   In the beginning of the film Peter states the story is about a girl, but the film is essentially about change and growth that I will dwell later on in the review. The film starts out like a teenage drama movie. The cute girl has a jerk boyfriend, they break up, and then she starts dating the protagonist’s friend. Sounds like something out of “My So-Called Life” or some “degrassi” type thing.

  The characters are great. MJ is desperate to chase after her dreams. She’s in a relationship with Peter’s friend Harry Osborn. Harry struggles with his relationship with his father Norman who likes Peter more than his own son. Norman is more in love with keeping his job than anything else. Lastly, there is Peter who is just trying to do the right thing.

   The best part of the film for me was the final fight between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. Unlike in Spider-Man: Homecoming there is hand-to-hand combat. The Green Goblin beats Peter to a pulp. The whole scene is extremely suspenseful since Peter has his costume torn, he’s bleeding everywhere, and it looks like he’s going to die. Then it’s exhilarating when Peter starts fighting back as hard as he can. (Spoilers here) The scene ends in an extremely satisfying tragic death of Norman. Peter finds out the true identity of the Green Goblin, which will set up conflict for the future films. It was a satisfying ending.

     As I stated earlier the film is essentially about change and growth. Both Peter and Norman experience a change and they embrace the change, but in different ways. Their change happens inadvertently at the same time. Peter is driven by his emotions. When the spider bites Peter, MJ starts to notice him more. He wants her to admire him so he decides a new car would do the trick, so with his newfound powers he enters into a wrestling match to get some money for it. He gets upset at the man who refused to give him his winnings so he didn’t stop the robber because he got what he deserved. So in letting the robber get away uncle Ben is shot in the process. The consequence of his actions helps him understand responsibility and to always rethink what action to take. So he grows because of this. “Just be careful who you change into…with great power, comes great responsibility”. Norman on the other hand is driven by knowledge and power, which is what makes him lose his mind. He has the Jekyll and Hyde persona. Much like Dr. Jekyll, Norman is a respectable man of science. When Norman is pressured the Green Goblin appears and at first Norman isn’t aware of what is happening. Norman’s first lines in the film was “don’t ever be ashamed of who you are”. While Peter isn’t ashamed of who he is, Norman is struggling with who he is now.

   I only have a few complaints with the film. The first is the Green Goblin’s reason for killing Spider-Man. He’s already killed the men who wanted to let him go. Since they were gone Norman still had his job and there was no need to kill Spider-Man. He doesn’t really say why he wants Spider-Man dead and that has always bugged me. I’ve heard some people complain about the Green Goblin suit. I didn’t mind it because it captured the silliness of the older comics. Second is that it feels dated in some parts, but for the most part it holds up really well. Like Nickelback, why that band was ever popular I will never know, that’s extremely dated. Then there’s the climax on the George Washington Bridge. At times you can really tell that it’s CGI. Spider-Man does have its flaws, but it is a really great film.

4.9 out of 5

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) Review

“You need to understand, I will do anything to protect my family. I know you know what I'm talking about.”

   I remember back in 2002 I was overly excited that I got a seat at the sold out midnight showing of Spider-Man. I was blown away and happy that Spider-Man was finally on the big screen. Then two years later I was even more blown away by the sequel and I will always consider it the dark knight of the Marvel films. After Spider-Man 2 the later films just became bleh. Then Spider-man showed up in Civil War and the Spidey craze resurfaced. Afterwards they announced Spiderman: Homecoming. I was hesitant, but excited. Now Spiderman: Homecoming isn’t bad, but it isn’t fantastic either in my opinion.

   I’ll start with the good. Michael Keaton as Toomes AKA the Vulture was the best part of the film. He was a salvage operator trying to make money off cleaning the alien debris from the alien invasion that occurred in “The Avengers”. He’s the little guy trying to keep a roof over his family’s heads. A guy we can root for, but he’s tossed aside by none other than Tony Stark who created the Department of Damage Control. Toomes is a man that doesn’t have any other options left. He’s deep in debt because he put tons of money in this job that he no longer has.  So in a way society forced him into a life of crime and he will do everything he can to provide for his family. So I don’t think he’s a forgettable villain like most of Marvel’s villains. The Vulture is a well thought out character and his motivations are interesting. The other good thing about the film is the final fight between Vulture and Peter, but I noticed there wasn’t really a lot of hand-to-hand combat between the two.

  Now onto the bad bits. Spider-Man at times doesn’t feel like Spider-Man. The character felt downgraded to an Iron Man wannabe. Peter spent most of the film sucking up to Stark and Happy. Peter just seemed too needy and childish. Iron Man’s tech even dominates the film, I don’t really like the idea of a Jarvis type of Spider-man suit. I was also expecting some “Spidey-sense” to happen because I mean come on it’s a Spider-Man film. So he has no Spidey-sense because well now he has Karen to do everything for him.

  Then there are the minor characters. This is where I will say… “What the hell man?! That’s not Flash Thompson. That’s some wimp that simply says a few cruel things!” Lots of the audience walking out laughed about Tony Revolori playing Flash. Flash is supposed to be a bully and him repeatedly saying “Penis Parker” isn’t really intimidating. Don’t get me started Zendaya’s character. Some of the acting is horrendous and at times I thought I was watching a B movie version of a John Hughes film.

   I wanted to love this film like I did Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films and I’m surprised people say this version is better than Spider-Man 2 since that film had everything you look for in a superhero film. Spider-Man: Homecoming doesn’t even come close to Spider-Man 2. It’s full of forced jokes, bad dialogue, decent acting, and way too much Stark tech. Just feels like Marvel Studios sees Spider-Man as a replacement for Iron Man since Robert Downey Jr. can’t stay Iron Man forever. All-in-all the film is decent.

3.9 out of 5

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

(VERY MINOR SPOILERS)

“When you’re ugly and people love you, you know they love you for who you are.  Beautiful people don’t know who to trust.”

    Marvel Studios has a mixed record for its sequels. “Iron Man” was a great, but then the sequels were such a downgrade. “Thor” was a decent film and then its sequel was just plain awful. “Avengers” brought together the best of the best then the sequel was simply a generic copycat. Then there’s the Captain America trilogy, which kept getting better with each film. Many regard “The Winter Soldier” and “Civil War” as the best Marvel films. So where does “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” land on the sequel spectrum… well let’s find out.

    “Guardians of the Galaxy” was one of those movies people thought from the trailer wasn’t going to be a box office hit, but it was indeed a hit. Many people regard it as the biggest surprise hit Marvel ever had. It was a breath of fresh air compared to all the seriousness of the superhero films. It brought nostalgia to some and many laughs to all. The characters were lovable from Groot to Drax. So people knew what to expect with the sequel.

   As soon as the film’s opening credits played people began laughing hard at the ever-adorable baby Groot dancing in the middle of the guardians battling an inter-dimensional monster. All the characters have their moments, but the characters that truly stood out in the film for me were baby Groot (of course), Drax, and Yondu (who is my favorite in the film). Baby Groot steals every scene he’s in, Drax has more funny one liners (especially when he talks to Mantis), and Yondu has a more emotional part in the film that I will get into later.

   The film is split up in three acts. The first and third acts are great, but the second act is somewhat drawn out and quite disjointed. The second act was the main problem for me. It felt like a mess and sometimes misplaced sight of its characters and their chemistry. The characters split up and went into two groups. Peter, Gamora, and Drax go with Peter’s father, while Rocket and Baby Groot stay behind to repair the ship and keep an eye on Nebula. Now they all do come together again for an emotional third act. I do think that it is probably one of the most emotional endings Marvel has done to date, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the second act was rather boring.

    It’s a known fact that Marvel films don’t have the best villains. For the most part they are very forgettable. Just name 3 villains that aren’t Loki or Iron Man from “Civil War”. Marvel just has many throwaway bad guys like the elf thing in Thor 2 or whoever the villain was supposed to be in Iron Man 3. DC will always dominate in that arena.  There’s simply no high stakes for the heroes to face in Marvel films. The stakes do seem higher in this film than most and there is actually somewhat a memorable villain in here too. Of course the villain plans on domination but there is a reason behind it, “I wanted more… I desired meaning”. The villain has a complete emptiness and craves to consume everything in order to do away with the emptiness. I can see the villain still be talked about in future films.

   The main theme for the film is family. It’s brought up throughout the whole film. Peter meets his biological father Ego who has been absent Peter’s whole life. During the second act Peter is questioning whether or not being with Ego will heal that emptiness he’s felt his whole life or if the guardians and Yondu have already healed the emptiness and he just doesn’t realize it yet. Yondu even tells him, “He may have been your father, Quill, but he wasn’t your daddy.” The reason why Yondu keeps Peter as a kid and has always had a soft spot for him is reason enough to make him your favorite character. Not to mention his big scene on his ship.

   All-and-all the film works, even though at times it’s a bit more disjointed than the original. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2” has more than just humor and great music it also has heart. It’s most definitely a solid follow-up. Chris Pratt sure has come a long way since his days on Everwood and Parks and Recreation.

4.6 out of 5