Product: Spider-Man: Triple Feature 3-DVD Set (Spider-Man + Spider-Man 2 + Spider-Man 3) (2007)
Rating: 4.0
Superman lite
"Spider-Man" was arguably the first modern super-hero comic book. It demonstrated how a fundamentally idiotic idea (attaining super powers from the bite of a radioactive spider has been mercilessly parodied) could work, if the story resonated with the readers. Lee and Ditko had the sense to make the hero a geeky teenager who has super powers thrust on him, without the experience or wisdom to know what to do. The parallel with the transition from puberty to maturity is obvious, but it works. "Spider-Man" was probably the biggest single influence in moving comic books away from melodrama and toward drama.Sam Raimi, a director notorious for over-the-top silliness, would seem the least-likely choice for such material, but he handles it perfectly. The focus is firmly on Peter's relationships with his family and Mary-Jane, even in the third film (which has too many villains, and too many plot lines to tie up). It's underplayed, with Maguire's performance convincingly shy without being sappy. He might be a geek, but he's no dork. Rosemary Harris is especially fine as everyone's idea of the perfect nuturing aunt. Her performance is much better than it has to be.The only unbelievable character is J Jonah Jameson, but then, he was over-the-top in the comics, too; no Perry White, he. J K Simmons (perhaps best-known as the bisexual Nazi murderer-rapist in HBO's "Oz") shows he's just as good at comedy, nailing the character. (No jokes, please.)If the Spider-Man films have a problem, it's that there's a limited number of feats a super hero can perform, and only so many emotional conflicts a human being can experience. Not surprisingly, their situations and story arcs are uncomfortably like those in the first three Superman films: Peter swings up to catch Mary Jane as she falls (he later repeats the act with his aunt). He abandons his super-identify because it interferes with what he most wants out of life. People "on the street" aid him when he's in trouble. He even loses and regains his super powers. And in the third film, Gwen Stacy's inevitable fall from a building is so close to Lois Lane's helicopter fall (with the mic cable replaced by a telephone cord) that it verges on plagiarism. Not to mention that, as in S3, a drastic change in the hero's personality is a central plot element. Whether or not this is conscious copying, it does give an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu, which is why I've awarded these well-done and entertaining films only four stars.I can't resist pointing out that, as with most super-hero films, there is an utter disregard for the laws of physics. Worse, the animators don't understand one of the most-basic: F = ma. Objects and people move almost instantly from rest to motion (or back), which is not only unrealisitc, but impossible. (Disney had a good grasp of this 70 years ago. Digital animators don't seem to have caught it. Note, for example, how Shrek moves as if his body is massless.) S-M3 also overlooks e = mv^2/2 -- there's no way a swinging crane could crack a building's girders.The Blu-ray transfers are of the high quality one expects. (They /ought/ to be -- Sony owns Columbia.) The second film includes the extended "2.1" version. I don't believe there's any supplemental material that hasn't already appeared on the DVDs.