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The Spider-Man films are directed by Sam Raimi (Evil
Dead series.) Staring cast members in the films include
Tobey Maguire (Seabiscuit), Kirsten Dunst (Small Soldiers),
James Franco (Flyboys), J.K. Simmons (Juno), Rosemary Harris,
Cliff Robertson, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina (Species),
Bryce Dallas Howard, Topher Grace (That 70s Show), James
Cromwell (Revenge of the Nerds) and Thomas Haden Church
(Broken Trail.) ***
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last
half century, you know the story of Spider-Man. Peter Parker
is a typical nerdy teenager in his latter years of high
school – and is seen as such by most of his peers. A bite
from a radioactive spider, however, gives him super powers,
but he learns the hard way that he needs to use them to
protect people and not exploit them for personal gain. To
date, Sam Raimi has directed 3 films based on the series,
all of which are included in this set. ***
The first film was released in 2002. This film contains
Spider-Man’s origin story, and the events that lead him
to take up crime fighting. As Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man,
wealthy industrialist Norman Osborn is transformed in the
villainous, split-personality Green Goblin – who quickly
becomes a major threat. Peter must learn to juggle fighting
crime with his everyday life – and it doesn’t help things
any that his best friend is Norman Osborn’s son and the
leading newspaper editor in the city hates him. ***
The first film does an excellent job introducing us
to Spider-Man and the other main characters in this universe.
Tobey Maguire steals the show as the title hero, and he
plays the character excellent, be it as a crime fighter
or a nerdy kid in the school scenes. The film runs only
2 hours (this is shorter than the other films), but Raimi
manages to pack plenty of action and character development
into the movie without making the film feel bloated. The
story is kept simple and to the point, and benefits from
this. Other stand-outs include Kirsten Dunst and James Franco
as Peter’s good friends (whose roles become even more important
in later installments) and, perhaps most importantly, Willem
Dafoe as the Green Goblin – and he portrays what is arguably
the best version of this classic villain to date. If I have
one complaint with the movie, it’s the design of the Green
Goblin costume – it looks too much like a Power Rangers
villain. Still, the first film is great from start to finish,
with no major weaknesses. ***
The second film was released in 2004. By now, Peter
has moved into an apartment of his own, while Harry Osborn
has moved back into his father’s old mansion – holding a
grudge against Spider-Man, believing he killed his father.
Peter is finding it increasingly difficult to live a double
life, finding himself losing jobs and having trouble coming
up with money to pay the rent. Things take a turn for the
worst when brilliant scientist Otto Octavius endures a terrible
laboratory accident during a fusion experiment gone awry
– and becomes Spidey’s latest nemesis. Stressed out and
fed up with the difficulties of leading a double life that
keeps him from the very things he wants the most, Peter
faces the toughest decision of his life – continue protecting
the city as Spider-Man, or quitting and attempting to live
a normal life. ***
Two versions of this film exist – the theatrical version,
and the 2.1 cut, which uses some alternate/extended/deleted
scenes and has a longer run time. Both versions are included.
***
The second movie in the franchise is generally regarded
as the best one of all – and rightfully so. No longer bound
by having to tell the character’s origin story, Raimi delivers
a gripping, dramatic story. Spidey’s identity crisis makes
this easily the most dramatic of the three films. At times,
this feels like the Spider-Man equivalent of Superman II
as a result – and that is an enormous compliment. Alfred
Molina is terrific as Spidey’s latest nemesis, and James
Franco plays Harry Osborn brilliantly as a tortured soul
following his father’s death in the last movie. Sadly, the
character of Mary Jane Watson begins to become very annoying
here – a trend that only worsens in the next film. There
are almost no flaws to speak of here – this is about as
close to perfect as any Marvel Comics film has ever gotten.
***
The third film came out in 2007. Spider-Man is well-respected
and loved by the public now (sans J. Jonah Jameson), and
Peter finally plans to ask Mary Jane to marry him. But things
go horribly wrong. The real killer of Peter’s Uncle Ben
is discovered, and a freak accident has transformed him
into the Sandman – a powerful creature who can manipulate
(you guessed it!) sand and use it to his advantage. Just
when it seems Spidey has finally met his match, a strange
symbiotic life form bonds with him – increasing his powers
and emotions exponentially, and changing his personality.
His entire life quickly takes a turn, and even after he
manages to defeat the enemy within, th e same symbiotic
life form bonds with a distraught recently-fired Daily Bugle
photographer – who, needless to say, is out for revenge.
And if that and the inevitable drama with Mary Jane wasn’t
enough, Harry Osborn has discovered his late father’s Green
Goblin technology – and set out to destroy Spider-Man once
and for all. ***
Critics weren’t kind to Spider-Man 3. While I personally
think the film may have been bashed a little more than it
should have, it isn’t hard to argue that many of the criticisms
pointed at the fi lm are valid. There are too many villains,
and let’s be realistic, none of them (not even this long-awaited
version of Venom) are all that interesting. Too many characters
are introduced on the sidelines as well – why bother introducing
Gwen Stacy and her police captain father if they don’t get
any development or anything to do whatsoever? And why is
Mary Jane transformed into such a drama queen this time
around? Likewise, plenty of the symbiote-influenced Peter
scenes feel like jokes. To be fair to Sam Raimi, I DID laugh
my ass off in these scenes, but were they really necessary?
The movie runs longer than the previous two movies, and
ironically, feels like the most bloated of the three. This
could easily have been two separate movies. Instead, it
feels like a Frankenstein’s Monster of the movie that throws
together half-baked ideas and over-the-top action scenes.
I LIKED this movie, but I wanted to love it. Still, even
with all its flaws, it’s hard to argue that the action scenes
here are some of the best in the series, namely Black-Suit
Spidey slaughtering Sandman in a subway station. It’s the
weakest film in the series (which I won’t deny), but I still
recommend it to any fan. ***
Ultimately, all three films are good. The first is
a great introduction to our hero, the second a damn-fine
superhero drama that stands as one of the finest of its
genre, and the third a scattershot package that still has
some interesting concepts and great battles. No fan of action/sci-fi
storytelling will want to deprive themselves of the glorious
opportunity to see these movies in HD. ---
Image and Sound:
When it comes to releasing HD versions of films, be
it a brand new title or a back-catalogue one, Sony rarely
fails to please. You’ll be delighted to know that the Spider-Man
Trilogy is no exception. All films are presented in their
theatrical aspect ratios (and for the unfamiliar, the latter
two films are in a wider ratio than the first.) Detail is
strong throughout and the colors pop right off the screen.
Through it all, the movies maintain a film-like appearance
and strong detail, with no annoying noise reduction or overproduction
efforts. Naturally, the films progress from worst to best
in terms of image quality, but that’s not to say the first
film is a slouch. ***
All three films get a lossless audio track as well,
and these blow the old compressed DVD tracks out of the
water. Everything sounds so much more “alive” on these audio
tracks, and they add a sense of atmosphere that the SD DVD
versions were lacking. This is the way these movies were
meant to be experienced, audio and video-wise alike.
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