Word: spider
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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...
...Raimi and written by David Koepp, is a faithful adaptation of the Stan Lee original--faithful to a fault. Spidey, a.k.a. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), is still the teen dweeb from Queens with a crush on the girl next door (Kirsten Dunst), a dose of genetically altered spider DNA in his veins and a compulsion to save the world from the gaudy Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). Sure, he can leap tall buildings with several sticky bounds, but he's also nearly grounded by a load of unresolved guilt. Plenty of classic heroes--Oedipus, Hamlet, Luke Skywalker--are obliged to kill...
Image-wise, Spider-Man does have a small cheese factor. He is not quite dark and mysterious in his red and blue tights, but there are two things that save him from a Captain America brand of cheesiness. One is his plain likability. Spidey’s a trickster who likes to toy with his victims but not destroy them. He has a heart. He is the underdog who got a shot at greatness, and so many scrawny geeks can look at him and hope that someday, a genetically mutated dragonfly/wasp/scorpion will bite them. Spidey is the likable dork...
...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, swoon. To the relief of comics-fans everywhere, director Sam Raimi seems to understand this essential appeal Marvel’s beloved frontman. In all likelihood, Spider...
Stars and sequels galore! In additon to Spider-Man, Columbia’s releases include Jennifer Lopez in Enough (May 24), Adam Sandler in Mr. Deeds (June 28), Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black II (July 3), Stuart Little II and Vin Diesel...