Spider-Man has always been my favorite super hero. Always. I'm pretty sure I was born with an awareness of Spider-Man that persisted throughout my life. Sure, I watched Super Friends when I was a kid, but it was nothing when compared with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends or any of the other Spider-Man cartoons. And nothing beat the theme song from the original animated series from 1967. I even loved the cheesy, live action, TV series from the 70s. Why? Because it was Spider-Man. At 7, I just didn't care how bad it was.
And, then, I waited... and waited... and waited for the movie. I grew up with the promise of the movie always. Seriously. The Spider-Man movie went into pre-production in the late 70s and just stayed there and stayed there spinning and churning, but something would happen every time they thought they were going to get started on it.
Superman had a movie. And then more movies. And they all sucked.
Batman got a movie, and it sucked, too. Not like Superman, but Burton butchered it. And those movies just got worse and worse.
And, still, Spider-Man didn't get made. It was horrible.
I'd waited nearly my whole life for the announcement that production was actually slated to begin on a Spider-Man movie in 2001 (after hiring Sam Raimi as director in 2000). I was more excited for it than I had been about the Star Wars prequels, if you can imagine that, although I was more than a little concerned over the choice of Raimi as director. I mean, when you look at what Raimi did before Spider-Man, it doesn't inspire the greatest confidence that he'd be able to handle a super hero movie. So, metaphorically speaking, I held my breath and waited.
Spider-Man was my first favorite super hero movie. That sounds a bit wrong, because if there are super hero movies, by default, you have to have a favorite, but, trust me, it's not the same thing. As much as I loved the first X-Men movie (and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (he was/is perfect for that role)), it didn't quite rise to the level of what I would call a favorite even if it had been my favorite. Yeah, see, just trust me.
Here's the thing, Raimi made a near perfect adaptation of the Spider-Man comics and everything I'd always loved about Spider-Man. It took me back to being 4 years old and reading The Amazing Spider-Man #15 for the hundredth time (that was the first appearance of Kraven the Hunter, for those of you that don't know, and it was my favorite issue for years and years (a near-mint copy is currently worth $2000, and my copy was "donated" to something or other without my permission when I was kid (not that mine was mint, but, still...))). Raimi captured the essence of Spider-Man and put it up on the movie screen for us to see. Even though not quite all the facts were correct (there was Mary Jane instead of Gwen Stacy, for instance), he bounded up the heart of Spider-Man and made it into a movie.
In making adaptations, that's a difficult thing to do. It just doesn't happen all that often, and I can name the movies on one hand that have pulled it off: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers, and The Lord of the Rings (yes, I know it was three movies, but it was only three movies for the same reason that it was three books). So, even though everyone says Spider-Man 2 was the best of the Spider-Man movies, I don't believe it, because Spider-Man came to life in the first one.
As you might have guessed, all of this is leading to the newest Spider-Man offering. I finally managed to go see The Amazing Spider-Man this past weekend (actually, the weekend before (this review got delayed a week)). I was... unimpressed.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie, and I loved (finally!) seeing The Lizard onscreen. I've been waiting for him to show up for, well, years, especially since Connors has been bouncing around in the background of the other Spider-Man films. However, it should have been Spider-Man 4, not a re-boot. In starting over, they failed to recapture the essence of what is Spider-Man, instead giving us some new version that gets (most) of the facts straight but doesn't give us the heart and soul that Raimi did. In short, they gave us a good movie but a poor adaptation.
And, for the second time in one weekend (see my review of Brave), I walked out of the theater from a good movie completely unsatisfied.
I hear people saying that this new one is better than the other one, but I don't think I believe that even just measuring them movie for movie. Sure, the special effects are slicker in this one. The movie is flashier. The Lizard looks great. But, beyond that, the movie is just formula. I think people are tricked into believing this one is better because it's darker and prettier, so to speak. But the characters, with the exception, maybe, of Gwen are less developed, so it's a story that's hard to get involved with.
I didn't care when Ben died because we don't really see Peter care. We know, intellectually, that he cares, but we never feel it. And the way that he died felt pretty contrived. The whole movie is like that. We know how we're supposed to feel about various things, because we know the Spider-Man mythos. The producers or the director or writer or some combination of them know we know these things, and they rely on our pre-knowledge to give us access to the feelings that the movie ought to be evoking so that they can actually gloss over all of that stuff. In truth, I feel sort of gypped.
Perhaps the movie's biggest failure, however, is the reduction of Peter's motivation to being Spider-Man to one of revenge (or "getting even" as Uncle Ben says) and guilt. This is the same thing that Nolan did with Batman in Batman Begins. It's as if there can be no other motivation for a super hero. This is where the heart of Spider-Man is lost in this new movie. Spider-Man is not about revenge. It's all about "with great power comes great responsibility," and it's the absence of this one line from the movie that may be it's most egregious error.
The reason for the success of the comic book was that it asked the question of what a normal kid would do if he got super powers and answered it in a realistic way. Peter's first motivation was to use his new power for fame and fortune. The introduction of tragedy into his life becomes not a motivation for revenge but a reason to look at himself, see where he failed, and become a better person. Spider-Man becomes a character that is motivated to do good because it is the right thing to do not because he's seeking revenge against criminals or wallowing in guilt. Sure, those things come up, but they are not the motivating factor. [Later, Marvel would decide to give us a character motivated by revenge, so they gave us the Punisher.]
The new Webb movie (I know, ha ha, right?) reduces all of the complicated emotional trauma of being a teenager into one driving emotion, getting revenge against the people that have done Peter Parker wrong. Starting with Flash and moving through his vendetta against long-haired, blond criminals. He morphs that with guilt over the fact that Peter feels like he created The Lizard, and that whole thing about the heroes creating their villains is also something I'm rather tired of seeing used; it gave me flashbacks to Burton's Batman, "You made me!" So, yeah, I came away unimpressed.
Which is not to say, again, that it's not a good movie. It's totally enjoyable and exciting. The Lizard looks awesome and the CG work is excellent. They use a number of iconic Spider-Man poses in the movie, which was nice to see. Denis Leary and Emma Stone are both great. Sally Field was out of place, although Martin Sheen was pretty good. There was nothing to distinguish Andrew Garfield other than his build, though. He did an adequate job, but he didn't really pull off the nerdy, awkward teenager thing. If you like exciting super hero movies, it's certainly worth seeing in the theater.
But it's not my Spider-Man movie. Sam Raimi made that one 10 years ago, and Sony would have done better to just carry on with the new cast and director building off of what Raimi started rather than trying to start over.
Showing posts with label Super Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Friends. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Smurftastic!
Are Saturday morning cartoons still a thing? Not having TV, I have no way of knowing. Even if they are, they can't be the same, mean the same, as when I was a kid. Back when, basically, with the exception of a couple of after school shows, cartoons were really only available on Saturday mornings. We'd wait all week for those few hours of cartoons on Saturday mornings.
I used to get up early for them, too. Looney Toons came on at, like, 6:30am, and I didn't want to miss any of it, so I'd get up to watch it. Unlike my friends. I'd spend the night at my best friend's house, and I would be the only one up on Saturday morning. The rest of his family (and it was a big family (Cory was the youngest of 8 kids) would start getting up around 8:30-9:00, and there I'd be sitting on the floor in the family room watching cartoons. Cory was always one of the last ones up, too.
One of my favorites was Thundarr the Barbarian. Thundarr was created by the same guy that came up with Space Ghost, which I also loved. These were the 'toons that were at the tail end of my Saturday morning addiction, though. My real childhood cartoons were shows like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Super Friends, and Tom & Jerry. The cartoons of my childhood, my actual childhood, were decidedly "old school."
I was 11 when The Smurfs came out. Still into Saturday morning cartoons but focused on super heroes and the like. I never really got into any of the cutesy cartoon series that so marred the Saturday mornings of the 80s. But I had a 5-year-old brother, and he loved The Smurfs. No, I mean he really loved them. Generally speaking, I ruled the television set, but I wasn't able to override the watching of The Smurfs every Saturday morning. I hated them.
In fact, it may have been my dislike of the Smurfs that caused my initial break from the cartoons I loved so much. At some point not long into the run of that show, it's air time marked the time that I would go outside. I just couldn't sit through it to wait for whatever came after. Not that the stuff that came on after The Smurfs was really any better. My brother watched all that 80s stuff including Jem and Strawberry Shortcake. Thankfully, the stuff I most wanted to watch came on early in the morning before my brother was even awake.
It was with some amount of dread that I greeted the first trailer for the Smurfs movie. And, then, horror as my kids announced that they really wanted to see it. They didn't understand my antipathy toward those little blue... things and that horrible "song" they sang.
I knew I couldn't deal with taking them to see it in the theater. There was just no way I was going to pay money for that. But they didn't know that. And I didn't tell them. Instead, I allowed the movie to come and go without ever bringing it up. It came out at the tail end of the summer movie season after we'd already seen all of the "necessary" movies like Thor and Captain America, so I managed to get away with it.
My daughter saw the dvd on the shelf at Target while we were out Christmas shopping. Despite having been forewarned about asking to buy things for herself, she asked for that. I told her I'd rent it for them, but I was in no way going to buy that movie, so I set it into our line up on Netflix, and it came last week. I had no intention of watching it.
But that's not the way my kids like to do things. They like for me to cuddle on the couch with them and watch movies together. But I had a plan!
See, everyone else is on vacation. That doesn't extend to me. Not really. If a vacation is where you take a break from your regular routine, I was certainly not on one. I still had writing that needed doing, including the blog, food that needed cooking, and a dog that still needed to go out at 6:00am every morning. Vacation, however, means that everyone stays up later and sleeps in longer. Except me. Well, except me on the sleeping in bit. I'm sort of obligated to stay up later, but I still have to crawl out of bed (more like fall out and, then, crawl across the floor) at the same time that I always do. So I've been a little more tired than normal since I've been going on about 3 hours less sleep every night than I usually get.
Do you see the plan? Do you? It was sheer elegance in its simplicity. [Bonus points for anyone that can name the source of that quote/paraphrase without looking it up. Hint: I've talked about the origin of it sometime or other on this blog.] I would just put the movie in, cuddle up on the couch with them, and go promptly to sleep.
It almost worked.
I was asleep before we'd finished getting through the opening credits, which included a couple of smurfs riding on the backs of some birds with loads of smurfberries. It felt sooo good.
And, then, something happened.
I don't even know what it was, but something woke me up. And not far enough into the movie to be able to excuse myself from it because I didn't know what was going on. No. I woke up just in time for the actual plot to get going. Gargamel was rampaging through the smurf village which lead to a group of the smurfs going through a portal into New York City with Gargamel hard on their heels.
I really didn't want to watch that movie, but I couldn't get up. I was preparing myself for an hour of torture. Not that I haven't subjected myself to that kind of thing in the past to appease my children (see Happy Feet, or, rather, don't. Horrible, rotten movie. (I'm glad the sequel did so pathetically poorly)).
Something amazing happened. I enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed The Smurfs! It made me laugh! A lot!
First, there was Neil Patrick Harris. I was never a watcher of Doogie Howser, so I have no nostalgic liking of NPH; however, I greatly appreciate his ability to not just allow but to participate in people laughing at him. But he really got me with his portrayal of Dr. Horrible. [I was going to give you a link to go watch it, but, evidently, it is no longer available to watch free online. If you haven't seen it, though, I would strongly encourage it.]
There was also Jayma Mays. To be honest, she didn't bring anything unique to her part other than being cute, and that's not really all that unique. Especially in Hollywood.
But! But!
There was Hank Azaria. OH MY GOSH! I love Hank Azaria. He's like the Alec Guiness of this generation, but the funny version of Alec Guiness. In fact, I bet Azaria could do Guiness. At any rate, he was so good as Gargamel that I couldn't figure out who was playing the part. I had to look it up (well, have my wife look it up, because, as I said, I was stuck under two kids and a dog on the couch). Azaria's been in some... let's just say "not good" movies, but Azaria is always good. And he was awesome as Gargamel.
And I sat there on the couch with my kids, and I loved that movie. Not as much as they did, but still... it was a huge step for me and a reminder of the lesson to not have preconceived notions about things. My daughter is still on me about buying it for them. I'm even considering it. After all, she does have a birthday in the not too distant future.
I'm not saying that everyone out there should run out to see The Smurfs. I have a much greater ability to appreciate kids' movies than the average adult. Especially the average adult without kids. And it did have a few problems. Like a completely dropped subplot that seemed a bit significant when it was introduced. However, you might just be surprised by it. If you can get over the fact that it's about litlle 6" tall blue people with tails.
I used to get up early for them, too. Looney Toons came on at, like, 6:30am, and I didn't want to miss any of it, so I'd get up to watch it. Unlike my friends. I'd spend the night at my best friend's house, and I would be the only one up on Saturday morning. The rest of his family (and it was a big family (Cory was the youngest of 8 kids) would start getting up around 8:30-9:00, and there I'd be sitting on the floor in the family room watching cartoons. Cory was always one of the last ones up, too.
One of my favorites was Thundarr the Barbarian. Thundarr was created by the same guy that came up with Space Ghost, which I also loved. These were the 'toons that were at the tail end of my Saturday morning addiction, though. My real childhood cartoons were shows like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Super Friends, and Tom & Jerry. The cartoons of my childhood, my actual childhood, were decidedly "old school."
I was 11 when The Smurfs came out. Still into Saturday morning cartoons but focused on super heroes and the like. I never really got into any of the cutesy cartoon series that so marred the Saturday mornings of the 80s. But I had a 5-year-old brother, and he loved The Smurfs. No, I mean he really loved them. Generally speaking, I ruled the television set, but I wasn't able to override the watching of The Smurfs every Saturday morning. I hated them.
In fact, it may have been my dislike of the Smurfs that caused my initial break from the cartoons I loved so much. At some point not long into the run of that show, it's air time marked the time that I would go outside. I just couldn't sit through it to wait for whatever came after. Not that the stuff that came on after The Smurfs was really any better. My brother watched all that 80s stuff including Jem and Strawberry Shortcake. Thankfully, the stuff I most wanted to watch came on early in the morning before my brother was even awake.
It was with some amount of dread that I greeted the first trailer for the Smurfs movie. And, then, horror as my kids announced that they really wanted to see it. They didn't understand my antipathy toward those little blue... things and that horrible "song" they sang.
I knew I couldn't deal with taking them to see it in the theater. There was just no way I was going to pay money for that. But they didn't know that. And I didn't tell them. Instead, I allowed the movie to come and go without ever bringing it up. It came out at the tail end of the summer movie season after we'd already seen all of the "necessary" movies like Thor and Captain America, so I managed to get away with it.
My daughter saw the dvd on the shelf at Target while we were out Christmas shopping. Despite having been forewarned about asking to buy things for herself, she asked for that. I told her I'd rent it for them, but I was in no way going to buy that movie, so I set it into our line up on Netflix, and it came last week. I had no intention of watching it.
But that's not the way my kids like to do things. They like for me to cuddle on the couch with them and watch movies together. But I had a plan!
See, everyone else is on vacation. That doesn't extend to me. Not really. If a vacation is where you take a break from your regular routine, I was certainly not on one. I still had writing that needed doing, including the blog, food that needed cooking, and a dog that still needed to go out at 6:00am every morning. Vacation, however, means that everyone stays up later and sleeps in longer. Except me. Well, except me on the sleeping in bit. I'm sort of obligated to stay up later, but I still have to crawl out of bed (more like fall out and, then, crawl across the floor) at the same time that I always do. So I've been a little more tired than normal since I've been going on about 3 hours less sleep every night than I usually get.
Do you see the plan? Do you? It was sheer elegance in its simplicity. [Bonus points for anyone that can name the source of that quote/paraphrase without looking it up. Hint: I've talked about the origin of it sometime or other on this blog.] I would just put the movie in, cuddle up on the couch with them, and go promptly to sleep.
It almost worked.
I was asleep before we'd finished getting through the opening credits, which included a couple of smurfs riding on the backs of some birds with loads of smurfberries. It felt sooo good.
And, then, something happened.
I don't even know what it was, but something woke me up. And not far enough into the movie to be able to excuse myself from it because I didn't know what was going on. No. I woke up just in time for the actual plot to get going. Gargamel was rampaging through the smurf village which lead to a group of the smurfs going through a portal into New York City with Gargamel hard on their heels.
I really didn't want to watch that movie, but I couldn't get up. I was preparing myself for an hour of torture. Not that I haven't subjected myself to that kind of thing in the past to appease my children (see Happy Feet, or, rather, don't. Horrible, rotten movie. (I'm glad the sequel did so pathetically poorly)).
Something amazing happened. I enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed The Smurfs! It made me laugh! A lot!
First, there was Neil Patrick Harris. I was never a watcher of Doogie Howser, so I have no nostalgic liking of NPH; however, I greatly appreciate his ability to not just allow but to participate in people laughing at him. But he really got me with his portrayal of Dr. Horrible. [I was going to give you a link to go watch it, but, evidently, it is no longer available to watch free online. If you haven't seen it, though, I would strongly encourage it.]
There was also Jayma Mays. To be honest, she didn't bring anything unique to her part other than being cute, and that's not really all that unique. Especially in Hollywood.
But! But!
There was Hank Azaria. OH MY GOSH! I love Hank Azaria. He's like the Alec Guiness of this generation, but the funny version of Alec Guiness. In fact, I bet Azaria could do Guiness. At any rate, he was so good as Gargamel that I couldn't figure out who was playing the part. I had to look it up (well, have my wife look it up, because, as I said, I was stuck under two kids and a dog on the couch). Azaria's been in some... let's just say "not good" movies, but Azaria is always good. And he was awesome as Gargamel.
And I sat there on the couch with my kids, and I loved that movie. Not as much as they did, but still... it was a huge step for me and a reminder of the lesson to not have preconceived notions about things. My daughter is still on me about buying it for them. I'm even considering it. After all, she does have a birthday in the not too distant future.
I'm not saying that everyone out there should run out to see The Smurfs. I have a much greater ability to appreciate kids' movies than the average adult. Especially the average adult without kids. And it did have a few problems. Like a completely dropped subplot that seemed a bit significant when it was introduced. However, you might just be surprised by it. If you can get over the fact that it's about litlle 6" tall blue people with tails.
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