This review should have been up a lot sooner, but the darn phone lines went dead and stayed dead at my place. Anyway, last Friday me and the guys caught Spiderman at The Podium. Again, I have to reiterate that I am hardly a Spiderman fan. I know the general storyline and the rogues’ gallery, I watched Spiderman and his Amazing Friends, but I have never really been an enthusiast in the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler.
That said, I have to say that after watching the second film in the franchise, I have to say that Spiderman 2 is so far without a doubt,the BEST superhero movie I’ve ever seen. And a damn great movie, period.
There are tons of stuff to rave about in this superior sequel; the performances of the now-familiar cast, with kudos to Tobey Maguire for playing hero Peter Parker note-perfect with the right amount of sensitivity, restraint and comedic timing. I also have to note the wonderful performance of Rosemary Harris, the actress who plays Aunt May Parker- if you don’t want to give this pure-hearted lady a brand-new toaster after seeing the whole bank scene, you have a heart of stone.
The rest of the cast is still in fine form- J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) is still as obnoxiously hilarious as ever. Harry Osborn (James Franco) looks like an Anakin Skywalker in the making, while Kirsten Dunst fills out her ‘damsel in distress’ Mary Jane Watson role with a nice bit of spunk.
In fact, I think the whole cast from the first movie (including a couple of guys who DIED in the preceding film) come back for repeat performances.
But of course, I have to say that the clincher performance belongs to the brilliantly-realized Doctor Octopus, played by character actor Alfred Molina. He invests the character with humanity and intensity, making the comic book villain more real than he’s ever been… and the awesome special effects that bring to life his fearsome, A.I. empowered tentacles don’t hurt either.
Speaking of special effects, the literally breathtaking action sequences and thrilling fight scenes in Spiderman 2 definitely surpass everything else I’ve yet seen for a film of this type. On one level, they truly capture the kinetic energy, ferocity and violence of the comic book battles… one another though, they TOTALLY blow the comic medium away. Damn magnificent.
I have to commend Director Sam Raimi for doing almost everything right this time around; from the relentless ordeals of Peter Parker to the dramatic scenes between him and the people he loves the most, to the way Spiderman is treated by the people he protects. Even a pivotal subway scene which could have been played with patriotic overacting (as in a parallel scene in the first film) was executed perfectly. So I think it’s great that Raimi gets to throw in a groovy homage to his Evil Dead films, complete with ‘Evil Cam’ and chainsaws. Hail to the King. Heh.
But I have to say that the best thing about Spiderman 2 is that, like another recent favorite film of mine, the action never takes over the movie. There’s a great story with a lot of heart moving behind it all. A story about an underdog (that’s sure to click with Pinoy audiences) who sacrifices everything for the good of his often uncaring world. It’s heartbreaking at times to see loveable loser Peter Parker get hammered AGAIN and AGAIN, but you’ll surely feel uplifted and satisfied when the film reaches its many pay-offs at the end.
Simply AMAZING.
Catch Spiderman 2 in theaters NOW. NOW NOW NOW!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment