Taking the Good with the Bad: My Thoughts on Spider-Man 3 - May 09, 2007 - 02:01pm
I loved Peter's "pimp strut." It made me laugh hard precisely because it was so exaggerated and cheesy. As far as him being a dick, the symbiote does have a function there. Peter would've never had those fits of anger and violent aggression if he weren't under its influence. The inclusion of the Venom storyline (which would've been great on its own) does bring the film down for me. I could accept the fact that Raimi intended to stick with the Spider-Man villains he liked from the 60s, but he just had to insert arguably the most popular villain in the Spider-Man mythos at the behest of Avi Arad and the fans. It's a shame. I will say that Topher Grace made a believer out of me. When I first heard he'd been cast to play Venom I decried the decision. However, he actually managed to elevate Eddie Brock beyond his character in the comics. This is a rare feat. Reviewers have been ripping on Mary Jane left and right and I have to disagree. I intend to go more into this on my blog, but I'll make a few points here: - Any misunderstanding which involves the boyfriend KISSING ANOTHER WOMAN is hardly "idiotic." In fact, I'd be hard-pressed to call it a "misunderstanding." - It isn't wrong that MJ would be jealous of the public adoration Peter receives as Spider-Man. Everyone has insecurities and fears, and most of us don't always handle them gracefully. This is especially true with women. When you add Mary Jane's painful relationship with her father and Peter's egoistic blindness to her emotional needs, it's even worse. She put a lot of effort and hope into her career. To have it deteriorate like it did was horrible for MJ and you can't just say, "Well, shit happens. Deal with it." It isn't that simple every time; her success was very important to her. - The scene in the restaurant is about what I would expect. It's pretty silly and unrealistic to claim that two adults in our world would surely work it out on the spot. That doesn't really happen in the heat of negative emotions like neglect, frustration and anger. That's enough for now. Overall, I was satisfied with Spider-Man 3 even though it suffered under its own weight.

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One Comicscape About Many Things - Apr 25, 2007 - 09:10pm
I enjoyed Ang Lee's "Hulk", save for the scene in which the jade giant does battle with a giant mutated poodle. I also like Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Begins equally. They both have their unique strengths and while people can argue that the first Batman film was more of a Burton showcase, his visual style and tone suited the Batman world excellently in my view. As for Galactus, I guess I have to be the one to blaspheme and call out the brilliance of Jack Kirby as irrelevant to Galactus's representation in the Fantastic Four sequel. Look, Kirby's design of the character is magnificent in the context of a comic book. However, in a film, it would be downright laughable. The FF film franchise has so far aimed at being taken seriously in terms of story and character behavior. If that's what you're going for, you cannot possibly get away with a purple-helmeted man suffering from what seems to be an astronomical pituitary disorder. Something that goofy may work in comics where the nature of the medium is more conducive to fantastical depictions, but it won't fly in a motion picture trying to portray some seriousness in its world. If (God forbid) this movie did incarnate the Kirby Galactus, it would only be to indulge comic fans while the larger audience is ignored and given something to poke fun of. Commercial movies are about reaching mass audiences, and like it or not, some changes need to be made. What is most important is retaining the spirit of the character, not replicating every minute detail of his trappings. I'm sorry, but invoking The King's greatness is not a valid argument against a storm cloud, a swarm of space insects or a moon-sized orb floating around Earth. Great comic art does not automatically translate to great cinema.

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Throwing Gas on the Flames: Your Letters - Apr 05, 2007 - 03:21pm
I'm amused at the years-long dissatisfaction of readers with Marvel's absurd status quo, in which villains were never put down for good while heroes operated outside the law and public scrutiny...just to sell books. Then these questions are finally addressed via Civil War only to have the same people complaining about the "absurd" scenario constructed by the SRA and Tony Stark's actions...just to sell books. This clearly demonstrates the impossibility of pleasing everyone. Even if critics are correct about Civil War being flawed in its approach to resolving things (which I find debatable), the direction of the story was the most interesting reading that could've been produced and also conducive to high sales. Everybody wins.

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