Spider-Man (2002)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by David Koepp, based on the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, and Rosemary Harris

Features:

Anamorphic: Yes
My Advice: Rent it.

Peter Parker (Maguire) is just an average high school geek who is desperately in love with the girl next door, Mary Jane Watson (Dunst). However, on a field trip to the local science lab during his senior year, his life changes forever...and I don't just mean puberty. He is bitten by a genetically altered spider who somehow transfers some of its spider-powers into his body. He wakes up the next day able to climb walls and spin webs (not to mention the instant Tae-Bo workout look of his new and improved body). When he finally figures out how to use his new powers for the good of mankind (or, at least, New York City), he stumbles across an evil villian called the Green Goblin (Dafoe) who, it turns out, to be a lot closer to Peter than he ever could have imagined.

Well, I'm sure most everyone has seen this movie by now. It seems that I was one of the last ones to see it, since I waited for the DVD (I'm a bit of a recluse). However, I would have to say that this tribute to Spider-man is average at best. Watching this movie, I felt like I could glimpse the future of this franchise, watching other directors stepping in to helm the upcoming features and just destroying everything that was wonderful about the comic book in the first place. You know, just think of what happened to Burton's vision of Batman. I must say that having Danny Elfman pen the score for this seemed to add to the mood of forboding that I got.

Enough about that, let me tell you what I thought of the movie itself. It has the same problem that most movies about superheroes have: there just isn't enough time to have our hero find his super powers, figure out how to control them, and save the world from a fate worse than death. That is one of the reasons that the comic books work so well, they can take the time to really develop characters and have the hero go through all kinds of transitions. Maguire is a bit subdued as the nerdy Peter Parker, but he somehow makes the leap from Parker to Spider-Man believable. Dunst seemed to be missing the mark with her character a bit, mostly in that she seemed older and more mature than a high school student.

If there is one actor who stole the show, it was Dafoe. He seemed to navigate his way throught the dichotomy of his dual roles with the greatest of ease. And, I don't think it's any surprise to anyone that the CGI shots in this movie are some of the best that have been put on screen in a long time. If there is one thing that Raimi got right with this movie, it was to realize that the most powerful CGI effects are the ones that focus on bettering the story, not just wowing the audience with special effects.

The DVD is package is very well conceived. The first disc provides you with the feature and the commentary tracks in addition to some other stuff. The first commentary is with the cast and crew, including Raimi, co-producer Grant Curtis, Dunst and producer Laura Ziskin. As soon as the track begins, I got the idea that this was essentially a compilation of two different tracks edited together. So, Raimi and Curtis are separate from Dunst and Ziskin. Interestingly enough, the Raimi/Curtis section of the track is not as informative as the Dunst/Ziskin section. Unfortunately, there is really nothing on this track that you don't get from watching the other special features on the disc--it's just a repeat of a lot of the same information. The second track features the special effects team, and unfortunately, you don't get a lot from them unless you're watching one of the special effects sequences. The time that they try to fill between these scenes is really boring and, again, doesn't really tell us anything worthwhile.

Then there is a Matrix "Follow the White Rabbit"-ish feature that allows you to click on a Spidey-icon while watching the film. This will show you a behind-the-scenes mini-featurette about the scene in question. Some of these are pretty good, but again, mostly it is just the same information all over again. The most interesting feature out of all of this, though, is the Pop-up style factoids. They provide little snippets of information throughout the movie and are relatively unobtrusive...perhaps even better than the commentaries. The rest of the features on this disc are pretty simple and standard fare: selected filmographies, trailers, music videos, etc.

Disc Two is where the real meat of this DVD is. It starts out with the main menu which presents you with two options: "Web of Spider-Man: The Comic" and "Goblin's Lair: The Movie". The stuff about the comic is fairly well done and thorough. All of the graphics for the menus under "The Comic" section look like a comic book, natch. There is a submenu which presents you with three options: "The Evolution of Spider-man," "Activision Game: Hints and Tips," and "DVD-ROM." This is where you can find "Spider-Man: The Mythology of the 21st Century," the documentary about the history of the comic book itself. It is chocked full of interviews with several of the artists and story writers from the various renditions of the story from over the years. Under this menu, this is where the really cool stuff trickles off. The rest of what you get here is a gallery of various images from the Spider-Man comic book. They are broken down into various submenus like "Spider-Man Archives," "Rogue's Gallery," and "The Loves of Peter Parker" just to name a few. The Activision Game Hints and Tips are obviously only good if you play the computer game. Well, have no fear because a teaser version of the game exsists on the DVD-ROM section of this disc, too. Just pop it into your computer and play away. More on that later.

Moving on to the Goblin's Lair section of Disc Two, we start off with the HBO Making Of segment. I hate to say it, but this is the pretty common stuff that you get on these Making Of features. It's really just the actors talking about how great it was to work on this film and how closely their script stuck to Stan Lee's original vision of the character and blah blah blah. One thing I did notice was that once you started some of these featurettes, you could not return to the main menu. I have to say that the E! Entertainment featurette is one of the best that I've seen. It is a broadcast hour long and goes into a little more depth than the HBO featurette did. The interviews with the actors go into more detail about how they came to be cast in their respective roles as well as why the producers decided to go with them in the first place.

The Profile of Sam Raimi is nothing more than some of the cast and crew of Spider-Man telling us what a great guy and director he is. What I was hoping for was a little bit of background on him...you know, maybe something about some of the other films that he has done (Evil Dead, anyone?). To be fair, there is a bit of this, but not enough to really call this a "profile". The profile on Danny Elfman is still pretty much the same thing. Rather than focusing on his life and work, it focuses on his score for Spider-Man...again, I don't think I would have called this one a "profile," either. One a positive note, the screen tests are a really nice addition to the DVD. I just wish there were more to them. Each of them lasts only a couple of minutes at best, and the one for the CGI Spider-Man is almost not worth including on the disc, it's so short. And finally, rounding out disc two, is what normally constitutes my absolute favorite: the gag reel. I must say, that I was a little disappointed with this one. The shots of Dafoe are quite funny, but the other outtakes are really quite boring.

There is also DVD-ROM content on both discs. Disc One provides you with an opportunity to record your own commentary track. I'm not sure what purpose this is supposed to serve, since I know jack about the movie, but I guess someone might get off on it. The other feature on disc one, however, is very cool. It's a side-by-side comparison of the feature film and the pages from the actual Spider-Man comic book that they referenced. The format is very nice and it is self explanatory; very elegant. Disc Two has some interesting ROM features, beginning with the demo of the Spider-Man computer game. There are also three online-based comic books that are available on the DVD. This, too, is a neat idea. My only problem with it is that I didn't want to sit in front of my computer to read a comic book. It is presented in a really nice interface, but it just didn't capture my attention for long. There are also the obligatory weblinks and screen savers available here, too.

I must admit that I was enthused by the list of bonus material on this DVD, but the quality of the material didn't outweigh the quanitity. So, my advice is rent this one, and of course, do so in widescreen.

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