Gaaaah, Mirkwood. Not looking forward to that part.

Sits with Jilli.

FURY: Left a couple of magazines in there for you. Try the Highlights for Children. Great comic in the back. About a guy named Gallant and his dumbass fuck-up brother.

Cleolinda rocks.

So, we saw Spider-Man last night. I'm still trying to sort through how I feel about the film, but I guess I'll just type and see how it comes out. Not too many spoilers below so I'm not going to white font.

My reaction overall: the movie was just okay.

Beau liked it a lot and felt that it did justice to Spider-man. He never did like Tobey Maguire.

So the long and the short of it: if you are a FAN of the character, you will probably like film better than someone who is a fan.

I thought the movie was kind of boring the first 2/3rds in. I lay the entire blame of the movie's faults on the director. Period. In the hands of a better director, I know I would have enjoyed this movie a lot more. The writing wasn't STELLAR, but it was serviceable and got the job done. Garfield as Spider-man? Eh. I think he could have been better if the director helped him not be so repetitious in his facial movements and gestures. If it makes sense, at times he seemed to act younger than his character and that threw me out of the movie.

However, Emma Stone is the business. She fucking stole that show. She has more charisma than any fucking person in that movie and that's the truth. I haven't seen her in much, but I am now a fan. Unfortunately, in just about every scene, she seemed much older than a high school student. There is a part at the end where I'm like: okay, so she's an 18-year-old postdoc, right?

I am not much of a Denis Leary fan, so there was too much of him in this movie.

Overall, I wish they had spent less time on the origin story. I think I was bored because I feel like this is the third time I have seen Spider-man's origins in a film with version a being the first Tobey film, version b being the 2nd, and this version (which also changes the origin story in ways I do not prefer).

There were kids at my viewing (like 4 year olds) and the material is just not appropriate for kids that young at all. I can't even imagine bringing a child that young to this movie. Almost all of the themes discussed in the film were adult emotions, complex. The child in my aisle didn't know what was going on in the movie at all. She asked from the first moment in the film: "who is that?"

I also didn't really find the film that funny. It probably didn't HAVE to be funny, but it should be if you are pitching it to a pre-teen (or younger) audience.

Which origin story is true to the comics? Or was there more than one? I thought the first trilogy's origin story was the official one, so this one is confusing me.

For instance, Batman, in whatever incarnation, is always orphaned young when his parents are murdered, right?

Which origin story is true to the comics?

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if you are a FAN of the character, you will probably like film better than someone who is a fan.

Did you leave out a "not"? Or do you just mean if you are a great big oh-god-I-love-Spidey fan, versus just being a yeah-I-like-Spider-Man-stuff fan?

the latter. I meant "fan" with a big-F, vs. fan with a little-f.

[link]

Thanks! Although I think I'm more confused than ever.

I just got back, and I completely disagree with le nubian. Well, except on Emma Stone, because, duh. I enjoyed the way they handled the origin story (yes, again), I was never bored, I thought Andrew Garfield was wonderful, and I laughed quite a bit, as did the rest of the theater.

I thought it was a great first Spidey movie, and I look forward to more. I have whitefonty thoughts, but I'll wait till other people see it. And by people I mean Steph.

I just read a comment saying that it was better than Dark Knight, pure awesomeness...

But then he said there were two deal-breakers he could get past, and also that Tesla really created a Death Ray, so I'm not sure I can make head nor tail of his commentary.