DVD Review
by Chris Alexis
| MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Tobey Maguire as PETER PARKER/SPIDER-MAN Willem Dafoe as NORMAN OSBOURNE/THE GREEN GOBLIN Kirsten Dunst as MARY JANE WATSON James Franco as HARRY OSBOURNE Cliff Robertson as BEN PARKER Rosemary Harris as MAY PARKER Rated PG-13 Studio: Columbia Pictures Directed by: Sam Raimi Back to DVD Review Home |
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Before I begin this review I will admit full out that I am a huge Spider-Man fan. Some of my earliest memories are of watching the live action series, “The Amazing Spider-Man” with Nicholas Hammond as Spidey. I’m also an avid reader of the comics, a true Spider-Man fan.
This film gets it almost just right. So close. There are a few things that could most certainly be done better, but these sins are easily forgivable because they did such a solid job overall. After all, they were trying to interpret the universe of Spider-Man in a way that was as realistic as they could get for an eighteen year old to swing through the city in a red and blue bodystocking fighting a character called “The Green Goblin.”
One of the few key things missed here for the character of Spider-Man is his witty humor. It’s a defining quality of the character. Sure, he has a couple lines in the film, but they are so few and far between. Part of the character is that being behind the mask of Spider-Man gives Peter a level of confidence that he’s unable to achieve as a regular guy. That confidence causes him to tease his opponents and often using witty remarks when battling them. Luckily, when I saw the sequel earlier this year, I was glad to see that they had remedied that problem.
Another small sin committed in this film is the miscasting of Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. In the comics, Mary Jane is more of a “firecracker” for lack of a better term. She’s an absolutely drop dead gorgeous woman with a penchant for partying and speaking her mind. Her red hair is a visual cue to her personality. Now, I consider Kirsten Dunst to be an attractive girl. She’s “cute” in that same way of the girl sitting next to you in math class you have a little crush on. She’s “cute,” not “hot.” Mary Jane is supposed to make all men stop and turn their heads. She’s a supermodel in the comics for crying out loud. Dunst doesn’t even have the rebellious qualities in this performance either. Yeah, she goes out with “the punk” in the first act of the film, but that’s as far as being rebellious as she gets.
The only other small problem was that the movie is called “Spider-Man,” but we don’t have a full-out Spider-Man until almost half-way through the film. I have no problem with this being an origin story. We can see the point of view from this particular incarnation as opposed to others. So, I understand that the action hero isn’t going to be on screen right way. However, it does take just a hair too long for him to become Spider-Man. After Spidey emerges, he doesn’t stay on screen for too long at a time.
Willem Dafoe, although he wasn’t the first choice for The Green Goblin, really works in the role. His performance as the conflicted Norman Osbourne really works as we can see the two sides, “Norman” and “Goblin” battle it out. Dafoe shows emotionally through his performance how the “Goblin” slowly but surely wins out, taking over “Norman” forever. While he doesn’t look like Norman in the comics, he makes the part his own and really works well.
Like I said, overall the film has a couple areas for improvement, but I will say that from the opening logo for Columbia Pictures all the way until Spider-Man’s final swing through the city, that I was entertained, affected emotionally (in a good way), and completely in love with this movie. It’s a solid piece of cinema and deserves all of the box office success and acclaim without question.
Now, on to the DVD. There are a lot of films that come out on DVD first, and then they release newer editions with more features, which is what this is. Now, sometimes I feel that I’m responsible for at least a third of the movie’s financial success, as I will have spent a lot of money on this movie, but even I was a little sad to see that this edition cheats a little bit. If you pick it up at the store, turn it on it’s side. It’s the original DVD, as sold before, with another DVD attached. The same exact DVD down to the cover inside another slip. So, to buy it I would own two copies of the exact same DVD.
The original DVD is a great one with all sorts of special features. What I find neat is a feature called “Weaving the Web: Subtitled Factoids”. Ever seen “Pop-Up Video” on VH1? It’s a lot like that, with interesting references, facts, and anecdotes that pop up while you watch the movie. The commentary tracks give a lot of insightful information of the process of the film being made. The people talking, (Raimi and Dunst, as well as producers Laura Ziskin and Grant Curtis) seem to really care about the film they’ve made. The only thing I found odd was they had Kirsten Dunst, but no Tobey Maguire, the star of the film.
The original Spider-Man DVD that you get when you buy this edition also contains two music videos including “Hero” (played a million and a half times a day on the radio during the films theatrical run) sung by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott. The TV spots and trailers are fun to watch.
The second DVD in the original pack includes several “making of” programs that show behind the scenes of the film that aired on HBO and E! Also included is a gag reel, which is neat, but what’s really cool are the screen tests. The highlight is seeing Maguire test out for the role of Spider-Man. He wears a leotard of some sort, which looks a bit odd, but helping him with the test is uber-hottie Eliza Dushku. Finally on the second DVD are various DVD-ROM features that talk about the video game.
Okay, now onto the new, third DVD. The one that wasn’t included in the initial DVD release. This doesn’t really have all that much. It has, in fact, less than half of the features that the original DVD had on one disc. Basically, it’s more behind the scenes footage of the crew shooting the movie that has never been seen before. Now, for a huge Spider-geek like myself, this was great, but for the average movie-goer, who just thought that “Spider-Man” was a fun summer movie, you’ll feel a bit ripped off. The only other big draw for this is it has a sneak peak at this summer’s sequel. Other than some more video game teasers, that’s all this third disc offers. You could go through the entire disc in every way in less than a couple hours. Much less.
The bottom line is that you should only consider purchasing this DVD if you fall into one of two categories. If you’re a Spider-Man nut like me, then go for it. The extra features and the behind the scenes sneak look at “Spider-Man 2” are neat - because any new footage about the movie can be extremely exciting for a fan. The only other category of consumer who I would recommend this for would be for the person who has been meaning to pick up the DVD and just never got around to it. The “Deluxe Edition” was less than five dollars more than the original edition when I bought it, and the extra features are worth five dollars without a doubt. So, if you were going to buy it anyway and don’t own the original DVD, then absolutely, pick it up. If, however, you’re just a casual fan of the movie, you’ll feel a bit ripped off.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound in English and French. Widescreen (1.85:1) - Enhanced for 16x9 televisions. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired as well as French and Spanish subtitles.
