Word: marvelous
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...crossbreeding of Spider-Man with new film technology--part of Marvel Comics' adventure in big-budget movies, which began with the hit Blade and X-Men entries--seems a natural. On the printed page, comic-book action hero is an oxymoron; a man can fly only in the reader's complicitous mind. Films make the fantastic real; they are, after all, called motion pictures. In the new Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood arachno-human can execute some cool moves as he trapezes above New York City. In these aerial scenes (a combination of acrobatic stunt work and digital derring...
...course, it goes beyond mere mutant talent. There is something to be said for translatability, or cheese factor. There are a slew of popular Marvel heroes who will never do well on the big screen because when you dress a live actor in red, white and blue-striped tights, put wings on his headpiece and a star on his forehead, he will look ridiculous. The Incredible Hulk, as incredible as he may be, runs the risk of becoming the angry Green Giant. The heroes who do the best onscreen are the ones who are dark, mysterious, and potentially dangerous...
...smart thing to do, given the solid fan base clamoring for film versions of its favorite comics, as well as a ready-made lineup of characters, story lines and personal histories. I read only one issue of The Amazing Spider-Man but what really sucked me into the Marvel world was my brother’s stack of superhero trading cards, with profiles, stats and full-fledged character bios on the back of every one. Most of the heroes, and even some of the villains, had just that—character. Marvel’s repeated box-office failures became...
Only in 2000 did Marvel and Fox finally hit the right formula with X-Men and get their first whiff of sweet-smelling success. Apparently, X-Men had that little extra something. Scratch, scratch. It is this simple. A comic-based film needs a truly super superhero. He needs to be the kind of guy every girl wants to date, and every guy wants to be. A superheroine needs sex appeal oozing from every inch of her vinyl suit and a superpower image that screams‚ don’t mess with...
...other saving grace is the faint trace of tragedy that lurks beneath Spidey’s happy-go-luckiness. Going through my brother’s Marvel trading cards, the heroes I kept coming back to were the beautiful ones whose stories were laced with some kind of sadness, heroes like Rogue, Phoenix, Wolverine and Cloak and Dagger. The best kind of superhero struggles with a crippling weakness, a desire he/she can never fulfill, or, like Spider-Man, a tragic past that motivates his heroic deeds. Spider-Man fights criminals because they killed his dear Uncle Ben. So swoon, people...