Spiderman 2

The Amazing Spiderman, My Hero.

4th July 2004

I love him… I LOVE HIM… I LOOOVEEE HImmmm wheeoooooo…….. Who is he??? No, not Jerry McGuire… He’s SPIDERMAN!!! Yes, he didn’t disappoint me just as he never meant to disappoint MJ… no not Michael Jackson (who’s innocent by the way) but Mary Jane Watson! This show is superb - out of this world! Amazing! Forget the rest of the shows if you haven’t got the time to watch them all. This is a must watch!

Sam Raimi (director of Evil Dead) have done an excellent job in bringing out the best of Spidey (observe his movement and his poses) and his capabilities (spider-sense, strength, reflex and speed). And Raimi has also depicted Peter Parker’s turbulent life very well. Also developed all the characters very well, especially Aunt May to show that she’s a non-greedy (bank scene), fair (note the Spidey vs. Dr. Octopus with Aunt May fighting scene), kind-hearted, but lonely old lady. The cast were all great except for Kristen Dunst. Yes, no doubt she’s a great actress, but she’s just not suited for the role! The Mary Jane that I know had a thin oval face and perfect red hair that flows in soft bouncy curls (much like Nicole Kidman’s in Batman Returns but it is red instead of blond). Well, they could’ve made her hair red as in the first episode!!

The Marvel Comic Mary Jane	Kristen Dunst in Spidey 1	Kristen Dunst in Spidey 2

Ok, my reviews may be a little biased as I read a lot of his comics in my adolescence years. I will recommend this Marvel Comic to kids anytime as it promotes all the good moral stuffs (with parent guidance for kids below 18 as it contains some violence). It tells you to be kind and do the right thing even though it doesn’t bring any rewards and may even land you in trouble or kill you (as you can see in Uncle Ben’s death in Spidey 1). Kind of apt especially in this time and day when crimes have become so rampant that villains have become so bold due to the lack of a Superhero!

Actually, the show made me realize that we are indeed living in a selfish and cruel world with crimes happening even now as you read this! Where have all the Superheroes gone??? Perhaps they have all “chosen not to give up their dreams and not to do the right thing”? Well, Spiderman creates hope especially for those who think that they are “losers” or “wimps”. Hopefully it rekindles the unselfish superhero in all of us so that we don’t turn a blind eye to the needy. As Aunt May said, “I believe there's a hero in all of us. Gives us strength, makes us noble. Even though sometimes, we have to give up the thing we want the most.”

Despite all of the good points of the film, some die-hard fans will find a few changes and flaws with the characters and story as compared to the comics. For one thing, the story revolves around Parker's obsession with Mary-Jane who in the comics he does not encounter until long after Gwen Stacy is gone. Mary-Jane's character has also changed and is not portrayed as the hot-chic-with-attitude from the comic books. Instead, what the writers decided to do was combine Gwen-Stacy and Mary-Jane's characters together to make the storyline work. Spiderman also shoots webbing directly from his wrists instead of from a web shooter. This is more convenient for the writers and still believable given the rest of his powers.

Well, all in all, it’s a really good movie made. Almost perfect CGI (Computer Graphics Interface). Can’t have enough of it – I think I will have to catch it again in THX (due to the difficulty in getting tickets, I make do with Dolby Sound System). The soundtrack is worth checking out too! Go catch him, before he gives up being Spider-Man.