New Hobb trilogy

The cunningly titled Spider-man 2

Non-spoiler review:

Oh my bob that was so totally amazing! So perfect! Utterly divine. I felt sheer happiness and pleasure wash over me again and again until the awesome fight sequence when something punched into my chest and squeezed my heart. And then the adrenaline was running and I just wanted to hit pause and savour it. And then the ending was drawn out so bittersweet. Oh so sublime.

 

Totally spoiler ridden review:

Peter Parker

This film captured a different kind of Peter than I was expecting. I expected hapless and unlucky, life out of control and continuously questioning. I didn't expect to see Peter portrayed as a child. But it worked. Somehow he came across as incredibly immature. He couldn't make up his mind on how to deal with Mary Jane, he just knew that he didn't want anyone to have her. He gave up responsibility. For me the dream sequence with Uncle Ben (unexpected appearance number one) was about him acting a child. Somehow the childishness in the comics passed me by in a way it didn't here... I think because Mary Jane shone in this film as an adult with clear goals in life.

Mary Jane

Still a good screamer, alas but the contrast to the first film is great. Mary Jane was so the independant woman. The woman who sets her sights on acting roles and men and catches them. But somehow Pete is her Achilles heel... she gives up her dream for him. Sacrifice is the theme of this film and the ending was so touching, so bittersweet. Her final look at the camera was perfect, speaking of all that she was giving up as she let Peter run after the sirens. Despite the fact that John Jameson was an all-American hero, she was the power in that relationship and now she is giving up control and being the most important thing in her man's life. How great that the theme should finally reside with her.

Doc Ock

Visually superb- a magnificant villain for Spider-man on two levels. 1) He was a physical match in terms of speed, strength and most importantly the whole sticking to walls thing. This made the exhilarating fight sequence on the train possible. 2) He rivalled him in terms of sexiness. Well he did! Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin was a plastic action figure but Molina's Octavias was charismatic. And his motivations were explained better. The ending seemed fitting for him (forever the poor and frustrated scientist).

However he was nothing more than a back-drop for the real story and villains. Which is of course the point of Spider-man where RL and coping with it is more important and interesting.

Harry Osborn

Yes, the real villain of the piece and I have high hopes for S3. Unfortunately, in this film James Franco was given next to nothing to work with. Every scene was the same for him- the same anti-Spidey rant and sneer. Although there was also the joy of seeing him step up to his father's position in Oscorp. And then unexpected cameo number 2- his father himself. I am so glad that I didn't have this twist spoiled for me (other than of course knowing what was going to happen from the comics). I look forward to a villain that actually means something- that isn't just the provider of action sequences as a background to the Peter/MJ love story. At last we will have a situation where we care as much for the villain of the piece as we do the hero (or at least enough not to see him die). And Peter will care for him. I can't wait for the angst!

The Future

So we have Green Goblin 2 in the next film and Peter and MJ together. I hope to see the theme of sacrifice continue as Peter and MJ find it hard to make their relationship work with one of them getting hurt every night and seemingly not needing the other. I also hope that Aunt May find happiness as it seems so unfair that she is alone. To be true to the comics, Spidey needs to start making snappy wisecracks and Peter needs to start going out with two girls at once... but the odds on those are unfavourable.

It seems unlikely that GG2 can hold up a whole film, so to balance this angst and torture there should be a more light-hearted (and easily defeated) villain. As always, the rumours point to the Lizard but I didn't think much of the actor who played Dr Curt Conners so I am hoping that isn't the case. Plus a giant lizard?? Please no. I personally would choose Sandman- the sfx would look great as he dissolves to sand and he can be defeated with a high powered vacuum cleaner. What more do you want?

Perfect world scenario: Black Cat. Why? Because she is the sexiest villain and easily turned good (to help defeat GG2) and (more to the point) she can compete with MJ for Peter's (cold) heart.

Quick comment about the music

It's Danny Elfman of course. And it ain't bad. The themes in the first film seemed to steal a bit from cop dramas and well, New York. This one seems slightly darker... gothic... more Batman-esque. A mistake in my opinion but still better than Big Fish and any score not written by Elfman.

Best Scene: The lift. Of course.
Best Moment: The pause in the "Raindrops" scene. Of course.
Deserves a moment's thought: Ursula and the chocolate cake.

Mission Statement

The idea is to keep in touch.

Email, for me, is not a way of keeping in touch. It requires much effort to write an email and then you have to wonder whether the recipiant really wants to hear what you had for breakfast. I am very unlikely to tell people important things by email but I would post them on The Board. Why? Because there a person can choose whether to read what's happening in my life. I am not forcing it upon them.

Plus, I like to keep a record of my correspondance. I have thousands of emails that are sitting in various folders, never to be read again basically due to poor organisation and the way I email bits of my life to different people. With The Board I can just look up the thread I want. Things can be kept organised and together.

Okay, so that is my justification. I just find The Board more to my taste. Sorry to all my friends that feel left out because I never email them and prefer to post my life elsewhere but that is who I am.

Of course, this isn't a messageboard. I wanted one... but JG poo-pooed that idea. So this is The Next Best Thing. Hopefully.

Er- there is a minor mission as well which is as a repository for things I post on The Board. Like my Spidey review which I will transfer with the cunning use of cut and paste.

As this isn't a diary, just a means to keep track of me and a way of storing Board moments, don't expect many entries. If you care, I could probably email when new entries are up.