Change Your Image
durot
Reviews
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Perfect
I have been a fan of Peter Parker's for over 30 years. I know this character. I have been there for his loves and his losses, his triumphs and his defeats. I know him to be a hero, even the truest of heroes, because he continues to be heroic regardless of the personal cost. And there has been great personal cost. Even sacrifice.
Sam Raimi understands this. He knows that the important character here is Peter Parker, who just happens to be Spider-man. An important distinction, though perhaps subtle to many, is that whereas Peter Parker is Spider-man, Spider-man is not Peter Parker. The spider does not define the man -- the man defines the spider. Parker's story is a human story, based upon his place in the world, his perceptions of it, and his interactions with his family and friends. This makes Parker's story a drama with action, and not the other way around. Because of this, these secondary characters are more than just props. They have lives and feelings of their own. Raimi does them just as much justice as he does Parker by developing them into more than convenient plot devices. Any fan should thank god for Sam Raimi.
And Tobey Maguire finally understands Parker. In the first film, I had the impression that Tobey didn't really understand Parker. He had never read the comics, hadn't had time to appreciate who Parker is. But now he gets it. You could see it in his eyes as Parker continually endures to his limits and beyond. When I saw Maguire in Pleasantville, I thought he would make a good Parker. In this film, he proves me correct.
The rest of the cast is superb. The regulars were given much more complex characters to work with in this film, and they stepped up their performances admirably. Newcomer Molina IS Otto Octavius. I loved Raimi's interpretation of this character. I hope to see him reprise this role, especially because Doc Ock is my second-favorite Spidey villain.
This film delivers all things to all audiences. It is perfect.
Big Daddy (1999)
Absolutely awful
I wasn't sure what was worse -- the muscle cramps that accompanied cringing at the horrible sentiment scenes, or the strain that resulted from rolling my eyes so often at the supposed humor.
The movie starts out bad enough, when slothful Sandler seems to have absolutely no motivation for doing something with his life, yet he can rattle of a dazzling defense of a complex court case that has the lawyers scratching their heads. I almost turned the movie off at that point because I figured it wouldn't get any better. But, being a fan of Adam Sandler movies, I thought I'd forgive him that one and see what else he had in store.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much. The plot moves forward with him deciding that he can resolve his maturity issues by adopting a child. The utter implausibility of this is maddening. But the kid comes off pretty cute, so I settle in again.
The kid soon becomes as annoying as Sandler in this movie. Suffice it to say that Sandler spends the movie showing the audience what a big star he is, degrading women at every possible step of the way, spouting his customary crude humor in shallow, stupid remarks, and basically maintains a macho attitude because, being Adam Sandler, he can get away with it.
Fortunately, it blows up in his face. Sandler's characters are usually strange, but they have some redeeming qualities that generally make for a fun movie. Not this time. In this film, he is apparently suffering indigestion from being too full of himself, and it shows. Hopefully, he will get over that and continue the progression in quality that his movies showed up through The Wedding Singer.