Shrekerman II -- The poverty of contemporary screen writing

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 2004)

The following comments will no doubt be seen as controversial.
Did I like Spiderman II? Yes, I did. Is it better than the original? Indeed, it is. Would I recommend the movie? Of course. So why am I complaining?
Well, I feel bad about complaining. This is after all Spiderman II, not Days of Heaven or Vertigo. The movie probably takes the superhero format about as far as it can go. Indeed, I had some trepidation leaving the theater. How is
Spiderman III possibly going to top this? And yet for all my positive feelings for the film, I confess to being frustrated. Considering the following plot summary for Shrek II:
A humanoid hero, conflicted by self-doubt, has to rescue his sweetheart from the clutches of an incredibly power villain. Not only must he defeat this evil person, but in the meantime the heroine must free herself from the fate worse than death -- marriage to a perfectly decent white guy. In short, the overall plot of
Spiderman II and Shrek II are same.
I wonder if I was the only person who was bothered by the abominable way that Mary Jane treated her fiance (who had done absolutely nothing wrong to her -- perhaps the role should have been given to Britney Spears.) In a movie that
struggled to be sincere in its depiction of emotions (unlike Shrek which was
admittedly a farce) this left a nasty aftertaste. The movie cannot have it both ways: i.e. it cannot say when confronted by this and other problems, that it is only a comic book movie, while being praised for the rigorous care it gives its characters as a true drama.
This may be reflected in the complaints by others as well about much of the
character interaction seems to go nowhere. The action scenes between Doc Oc
and Peter Parker (might as well call him that because by the end of the movie everyone in NY knows his identity) are thrilling, but we really don't know what drives the man to his ultra-violent and all consuming life of crime. We have hints, but that is it. Aunt May apperas to forgive him, but does she? And why, other than the need for a hero stuff.
I praise the movie for its ambitions and its technical achievements. It has raised the bar substantially, and that is a good thing. But at the end, I felt
uncomfortable and wishing the screenwriters had the courage to go into a
completely a different direction. Part of me wishes, in fact, that the movie had ended in the delightful (to the tune of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head")
romantic interlude where Peter seems to get a grip on his life as a regular guy.
And this is why I am not a rich Hollywood Producer. :P