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Saw both Spider-Man 2 and Collateral this weekend.
I never saw the first Spider-Man, so it's possible I missed the full import of some things, despite my friends filling me in during the movie. Nor am I well-versed in the Spider-Man mythos, though I vaguely remember watching the cartoon as a kid. Just a disclaimer.
Well, I found it an enjoyable movie, but if I didn't know the boxoffice and you asked me whether this movie would make a lot of money, I would've said no. It's a fun movie with some exciting action sequences. But the dialogue is often clunky--in particular, Parker's aunt, whom I quite liked, gets saddled with a scene of such lengthy and straightforward speechifying that it left me rolling my eyes and figuratively checking my watch. Scene transitions are often awkward. The CGI, while possessed of great kinetic energy, can also be glaringly obvious. I called each and every character death before it happened, and the manner of such. The romance, while probably meant to be complex, seesaws back and forth so often it just became tiresome. There are strange and ultimately frustrating lapses in logic that nevertheless propel the plot along. And Spider-Man himself makes some decidedly odd strategic choices when it comes to fighting the bad guy and rescuing people.
Don't get me wrong; I did get caught up in the action and rooted for the good guys and all--and I especially appreciated the touches of humor--I just never would've pegged this as something that would catch the fascination of audiences to the point where it'd become the boxoffice bonanza that it has been.
On a shallower note: Alfred Molina's quite hot in sunglasses. Bruce Campbell is always a treat (and possibly the only thing that made his character bearable); I'm a bit sad to see Ted Raimi continue to get stuck playing hapless dweebs, as he's demonstrated he has wider range than that. And Tobey Maguire, whom I've seen before in Pleasantville and Seabiscuit but who never left much of an impression on me, has a few scenes in here in which he's just startlingly beautiful. I'm not Maguire's newest big fan or anything, but that was a pleasant revelation.
As for Collateral...I see it's gotten quite a high proportion of good reviews, but frankly...I deeply disliked it. The setup has a great deal of potential, but the pace is slower than molasses, I couldn't buy into some of the crucial pieces of character motivation, some of the plot relies too heavily on coincidence and there are logic holes big enough to herd humpbacks through. In particular, when a character appears to have numerous options for escaping his situation but repeatedly fails to even attempt any of them, and/or makes some downright stupid moves, I'm just not sure how long I'm expected to stick with it. Something happens which I'm sure was meant to be poetic and profound but which I found simply to be utterly implausible. All of these wore away steadily at my nerves to the point where I stopped rooting for all but one of the characters. Which is too bad, because I think Ruffalo and Cruise do a fine job of creating their characters; they're just undercut by the script and editing.
Bottom line: if I hadn't been with friends, I would seriously have considered making this the second only movie I've ever walked out on in a theater.
(Best thing about going to see that movie was getting to see the trailer for Hero. Wow. Double wow.)
I never saw the first Spider-Man, so it's possible I missed the full import of some things, despite my friends filling me in during the movie. Nor am I well-versed in the Spider-Man mythos, though I vaguely remember watching the cartoon as a kid. Just a disclaimer.
Well, I found it an enjoyable movie, but if I didn't know the boxoffice and you asked me whether this movie would make a lot of money, I would've said no. It's a fun movie with some exciting action sequences. But the dialogue is often clunky--in particular, Parker's aunt, whom I quite liked, gets saddled with a scene of such lengthy and straightforward speechifying that it left me rolling my eyes and figuratively checking my watch. Scene transitions are often awkward. The CGI, while possessed of great kinetic energy, can also be glaringly obvious. I called each and every character death before it happened, and the manner of such. The romance, while probably meant to be complex, seesaws back and forth so often it just became tiresome. There are strange and ultimately frustrating lapses in logic that nevertheless propel the plot along. And Spider-Man himself makes some decidedly odd strategic choices when it comes to fighting the bad guy and rescuing people.
Don't get me wrong; I did get caught up in the action and rooted for the good guys and all--and I especially appreciated the touches of humor--I just never would've pegged this as something that would catch the fascination of audiences to the point where it'd become the boxoffice bonanza that it has been.
On a shallower note: Alfred Molina's quite hot in sunglasses. Bruce Campbell is always a treat (and possibly the only thing that made his character bearable); I'm a bit sad to see Ted Raimi continue to get stuck playing hapless dweebs, as he's demonstrated he has wider range than that. And Tobey Maguire, whom I've seen before in Pleasantville and Seabiscuit but who never left much of an impression on me, has a few scenes in here in which he's just startlingly beautiful. I'm not Maguire's newest big fan or anything, but that was a pleasant revelation.
As for Collateral...I see it's gotten quite a high proportion of good reviews, but frankly...I deeply disliked it. The setup has a great deal of potential, but the pace is slower than molasses, I couldn't buy into some of the crucial pieces of character motivation, some of the plot relies too heavily on coincidence and there are logic holes big enough to herd humpbacks through. In particular, when a character appears to have numerous options for escaping his situation but repeatedly fails to even attempt any of them, and/or makes some downright stupid moves, I'm just not sure how long I'm expected to stick with it. Something happens which I'm sure was meant to be poetic and profound but which I found simply to be utterly implausible. All of these wore away steadily at my nerves to the point where I stopped rooting for all but one of the characters. Which is too bad, because I think Ruffalo and Cruise do a fine job of creating their characters; they're just undercut by the script and editing.
Bottom line: if I hadn't been with friends, I would seriously have considered making this the second only movie I've ever walked out on in a theater.
(Best thing about going to see that movie was getting to see the trailer for Hero. Wow. Double wow.)
