“Spiderman” Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe
All doubts from before have now been nullified as the
soft-spoken, somewhat dorky Maguire has proven that he can be
Spiderman, in “Spiderman,” opening today. The very,
very basic synopsis is that Peter Parker (Maguire) was bitten by a
radioactive spider, after which he develops special spider-like
powers. His best friend’s father, Norman Osborne (Willem
Dafoe), turns out to be an Spiderman’s arch nemesis, the evil
Green Goblin. Sam Raimi has done an excellent job in converting the
comic book to the big screen, and what really shows through in the
film is his emphasis on character development. Other specific
qualities of the film involve the camera-work, where quick cuts and
slow-motion effects show off the amazing mid-air agility of
Spiderman, where he hits some of the classic poses in the comic
books. What worked was that the casting was right on point. Maguire
shows that he can be both the big nerd (that he is), and the
confident superhero, Spiderman. Dunst shines as the girl next door
(literally, she lives next door), and Dafoe makes a treacherous
Green Goblin. His performance stands out, and can almost be
considered on par with Jack Nicholson in “Batman.”
“Spiderman” itself is on the same level as
“Batman” and “Superman,” and it certainly
surpasses the cool factor of “X-Men.” What sometimes
didn’t work was the CGI. For the most part, it fit into the
film perfectly ““ at times it was simply amazing, but
sometimes it was over the top, and other times, looked like
primitive experiments in computer imagery. There have been few
movies converted successfully from comic books to the big screen,
but “Spiderman” does it with no problem. Furthermore,
there have been few movies worth seeing this year, so
“Spiderman” should definitely be one to pursue. –
Kenny Chang Â
“Deuces Wild” Directed by Scott Kalvert
Starring Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, Fairuza Balk, Vincent Pastore,
Franie Muniz
It’s frightening how soon a movie has come that threatens
“Rollerball” as worst film of this year. Yes,
that’s right. This movie is as bad as
“Rollerball.” Cool concept ““ gangs fight it out
in 1958 Brooklyn. It’s “West Side Story” for
people who hate song and dance. But instead of a smart homage to
Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” all
that’s delivered here is a constant slugfest that leaves
audiences numb to a supposedly action-packed final rumble. The plot
is so simple that if it were related here, there would be
absolutely no reason to see it. Maybe that would be a good thing.
Just know that gangs from the ’50s apparently liked to fight
each other. And posture. And hold each other back. And then punch
each other in the face. A lot. The script … was weak. It gave
away any mystery it may have had too quickly and unrealisticly.
It’s always unfortunate to see scripts this way. Director
Scott Kalvert, who also managed to sap the life out of Jim
Carroll’s written masterpiece in his 1995 adaptation of
“The Basketball Diaries,” attempts to hide the
simplicity with awkward camera angles and quick edits. The result
is just confusing; everybody’s got a pompadour so you can
never really tell who’s kicking who in the ribs. And
there’s a lot of that too. But wait ““ isn’t that
Johnny Knoxville beating the bejesus out of somebody? Yeah, for
like fifteen seconds. Please Johnny, hurry up with “Jackass:
The Movie.” Hold on ““ isn’t that Blondie’s
Debbie Harry incoherently singing Jingle Bells? Yes, and
don’t ask. Hey ““ why did that deaf kid get punched in
the face? Honestly, no one knows ““ it doesn’t make
sense. Those who happen to be Interior Design or Fashion Design
students may want to give this movie a look. The world created,
although not 100 percent accurate, is kind of fun. Just don’t
forget to bring some earplugs. Please. –
Chris Cobb