Tidy Spidey
Sorry about the hokey post title, but, really, it works: everything in Spiderman II just fits. Jared provides his usual insightful and well-written review of the movie (albeit without the catchy title ;-) over at Mysterium Tremendum, so I'll just provide some random observations about the movie. These will be more relevant to those who have seen the movie, but I don't consider any of them to be spoilers.
- J. K. Simmons really hits his stride as the irascible newspaper editor, J. Jonah Jameson. His role in II was somewhat expanded from the first movie, and he takes full advantage to show more mood changes than Anna Nicole Smith in front of a Twinkies display.
- Dr. Octopus (aka Doc Ock) makes a great villain, but the premise is just a tad short on believability <gasp!>. I mean, a good pair of welder's gloves would have worked just as well as his cyberorganonano arms to punch the buttons on the fusion generator control panel, and it really takes a lot of provocation to make welder's gloves take control of your mind. Not saying it can't happen...just that the risk is tolerable.
- And, speaking of Doc Ock, in his pre-villainous incarnation as Dr. Otto Octavius, I'm wondering why he was the only attendee at the big Sustainable Fusion Introduction Bash to get to wear eye protection? After all, the rest of the crowd was only a few feet behind him and they weren't offered the gee-whiz goggles.
- I thought it was pretty cool that Harry Osborn (aka, Green Goblin, Jr.) kept a big hunk of tritium in his unlocked wall safe in his den at home. There's only 25 pounds of it on the face of the planet, but most people probably wouldn't know how to use it to induce fusion so there's not a huge security risk to not spinning that safe dial a few times.
- Will B.J. Thomas' career get a huge boost now that "Raindrops" is prominently featured in one of the funnier scenes of the movie?
- The action scenes are predictably and uniformly terrific. In fact, I may be a little sore tomorrow due to the sympathetic straining, bouncing, flailing, whacking and flying I engaged in while trying to help the onscreen characters.
- Has Kirsten Dunst lost weight?
- And speaking of Anna Nicole Smith and losing weight...one of the pre-movie commercials featured Jiggly Anna and her diet plan. She may be a little lighter, but you can tell just by watching her that said diet plan was not loaded with, um, brain food. If you get my drift.
Well, I trust that you found those observations to be edifying. You've heard it many times already, but if you liked the first movie, you'll like this one even more.
Oops. I tried to use italics.
There should be an emphasis on the "the" in "the Spidey." Like so:
They assumed the Spidey costume belonged to THE Spidey and not just some dude who liked to dress like him or something.
I wondered if the arms were inherently evil. Why would you make an AI that was evil. And then why would you put the fragile looking chip that made sure that you weren't taken over by the evil arms out there in the open. If I made that chip out of glass, I would have put it in a metal box....
Or used welder's gloves.
Posted by: Christopher at July 3, 2004 12:54 AMRight, right!
I actually chuckled aloud when Octavius introduced that bit about the inhibitor chip. I thought, "Yeah, conveniently placed atop the contraption in a conveniently easy-to-shatter fragile glass case." Silly.
But man, wasn't the flick good regardless?
Posted by: Jared at July 6, 2004 12:53 AMJared, I think that detail was a conscious part of the bargain between the filmmaker and the audience, where both acknowledge that this is, after all, a cartoon. Rules of logic can be broken, but not ignored. Thus we have the audience accepting that the scientist could and would create mechanical arms imbued with evil-leaning intelligence, but only if he's anticipated the danger by creating a mitigating chip. We can live with the fact that the chip is outrageously vulnerable; it's the thought that counted.
And, yes, it was a most excellent movie...not despite these kinds of "flaws," but because of them!
Posted by: Eric at July 6, 2004 12:23 PMAbout the publisher
Random Abbye photos...
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Cabeza del Diablo
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Be careful Who you plagiarize
Coming Attractions
All Thorns, All the Time
Hitchin' a Ride
"...the flower fades..."
Finding meaning in random events
Random Thursday: The Thanksgiving Edition
A Matter of Perception
Reason #21 to wear shoes in West Texas
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Thanks for the link.
I was noticing some "flubs," as well, including the convenience of tritium in the wall safe. I also found it odd that some dude finds a Spidey suit in the trash can and everyone automatically assumes it was the Spidey's and announce he's given up the hero business. Especially since when Hal Sparks sees Spidey in the elevator, he just assumes it's a dude in a costume.
Not sure if Dunst has lost weight. But I think it's a shame that with all the money Mary Jane Watson is now making from modeling and off-Broadway plays, the poor thing still can't afford a bra.
Posted by: Jared at July 2, 2004 06:53 PM