And deservingly so, Spider-Man, is, well, an American mythological icon. Let's face it, Batman and Spider-Man are top notch. Superman, arguably, is going the way of the dodo. He was the first, great, but ultimately, he spawned two more popular heroes in Batman and Spider-Man.
In 2002, I was so excited for Raimi's film. Then I saw it, accepted it, accepted the next one, and then was given Venom-lite, even more whiny Mary Jane, and Sandman did-it-all-along “Spider-Man 3.” I'll give Raimi credit: there ARE things about his Spider-Man trilogy that are good. I liked Dock Ock, the Goblin glider, Sandman was spot on (hated Stay Puft Sandman though),and the Spider-Man costume was all I thought it could be in film. I love the costume.
However, I couldn't stomach something, the very first time I saw “Spider-Man” on screen. I found my father’s Spider-Man (John Romita Sr/ Stan Lee era) comics when I was eight or nine years old. And it was magic ever since. I fell in love with Spider-Man, his villains, and the whole thing. I saw the 1960s cartoon, then the 80s, then the 90s (another catchy Spider-Man theme is born!), and well, was subjected to the Peter Parker/ Spider-Man we all know and love.
And which Spider-Man is that? It is the one who is not the biggest lame-o, crying, dancing in a jazz-club, crying over ONE woman from over 50 years of comics, a non-funny Spider-Man, Peter un-engaging Spider-Man.
Sitting in the theater, I could not help the fact that I wasn't watching Peter Parker. I was watching a poorly interpreted and again, UN-ENGAGING wooden performance by Tobey Maguire. I couldn't and to this day, can't stand it. Peter Parker is not always supposed to be in the dumps, stare-into-the headlights, dumbstruck with no personality. Sure, there were maybe spurts in Raimi's films, but it was just too off the mark for Peter Parker.
Don't believe me, look up articles on comic-creators who said the same thing. Peter Parker was not accurately portrayed in Raimi's films.
Other gripes you ask? Let me count the ways:
1) Cheese fest galore - I can't stomach some of the acting in the franchise. Watered down, for the kiddies. I hate it. I want natural acting.
2) Let's save Mary Jane not twice, but thrice times. Lazy, poor, let's get the seats filled in the theater writing - without exploring complex themes, inclusion of other Spider-Man sub-characters, loss of the potential of villains, etc, etc.
3) Venom - need I say more, arguably Spider-Man's most popular villain besides Green Goblin and Doc Ock - let's put him in there for 10 minutes, shrink him, then kill him, without having a cool fight scene. That fight scene was lame. They could have been scaling buildings, chasing eachother like SPIDERS, etc.
4) Could the real Green Goblin please stand up? Again, let's water it down for the mass audience, and lower the potential of Spider-Man's greatest and scariest enemy.
5) Did I mention paint-by numbers plot? Okay, I did.
I can't predict the future. All I know is when they announced this year they were rebooting it, I felt like I just got paroled. YES! I thought - give us the good ol' dweeb but spunk and intelligent Peter Parker who QUIPS at his opponents (ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE AND BEST ELEMENTS OF THE CHARACTER AND IT WAS LEFT OUT! I HATE THAT SO MUCH!). Give us a crime boss running the show with multiple villains, more of the Spider-Man characters, natural and better ACTING, Gwen, MJ, Betty Brant, a non-clown J Jonah Jameson, none of Sam Raimi's dumb brothers or kids in the movie!
Every Spider-Man fan has his/her dream Spider-Man movie in his/her head. I know the world isn’t perfect. I look at everything as it progresses. Batman came out in 1989, spawned its franchise, and was redone. I hope to look at Raimi's films the same way, good, exciting to see how they did the character for the first time, but ultimately missed the mark for whatever reasons.
I want this to be the “Batman Begins” of the Spider-Man franchise (RELAX! I just want the same quality, the same consideration, the better interpretation).
My hat’s off to Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield. Hopefully they knock it out of the park, without pressure of cashing in on dreams of “Twilight” money signs. Make it right, give us headache and inspiring action scenes, a funny and want to cheer for non-wussy Peter Parker. Let’s not forget the heart as well.
'Nuff Said.