[J m HofMarN]

I was reading through the FR archives of 2004 because I'm a souless automiton, and I found a review of Spider Man 2. Being very much an opponent of this film and knowing Yahtzee's previous record on comic book films I looked forward to him ripping into this thing more than I'd ever imagined I could do in my wildest dreams.

"Maybe he'll point out how Spidey takes off his mask for everyone and their cat"

"Maybe he'll complain about the lackluster soundtrack"

"Maybe he might point out just how often MJ screamed for no good reason."

"Maybe he might mention that it's a teensy bit absurd to blame a city wide crime spree on your robotic arms."

But nope, somehow the review was actually good. Is there something I was missing in this film? Or did people just get so enthralled with three costumed men hitting eachother that they forgot that it was nonsense?

[Zewb]

Are you sure he wasn't reviewing the game, rather than the movie? I don't recall ever seeing anything about the movie.

[David-kyo]

Well, personally I think it was a piece of shit, but I respect everyone's opinion upon such matters. Basically, I don't care what other people do, buy, read, see or take into their bodies as long as they don't cause me any harm with that.

[Zewb]

I didn't care for the movie either. Mainly because 80% of it was watching Peter Parker being a little emo bitch, trying to "find himself."

[David-kyo]

Are we gonna be in for it when Yahtzee sees this thread...

[Willeth]

I loved both the movie and the game. But I don't remember anything about the movie on FR.com.

[Dr Lecter]

You are now exiled from the planet Earth.

[Willeth]

I also hated Serenity. FUTHER STOKAGE OF THE FIRE.

[Tek]

I also hated Serenity. FUTHER STOKAGE OF THE FIRE.

>=O!

I know men who would kill you for that. Hahah.

[MyPantsAreOnFire]

Willeth is very, very wise.

[J m HofMarN]

http://www.fullyramb...040625-0709.htm

Scroll down on that page. I don't detect any hints of sarcasm in the article, which only makes it more mysterious.

Also, did anyone else get the impression from that film that the message was "The world fucking hates Peter Parker"?

[Zewb]

They might as well have added a scene where Peter becomes a victim of the timeless "Drive-by Mud Splash" cliche'.

[J m HofMarN]

Seriously. It only takes one or two such incidents to communicate that the character is downtrodden and make us feel sorry for him. But when he can't even walk without being shoved to the ground or dropping everything or run over it really becomes farsical. I can't even imagine the writing team in my darkest dreams:

"Now, in this scene Peter drops his books, but I think it's missing something to show just how pathetic and pitiable he is... Ideas?"

"Yeah, what if a big jock walks by and shoves him to the ground for no reason?"

"Genius!"

[MyPantsAreOnFire]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but if you read the classic issues of Amazing Spider-Man, up until roughly issue 250 at the most, that was Peter Parker's life. Personally, I hate how in the last 20 years they've tried so hard to turn his life around in the comics. He should be failing school, hated by the public, hunted by the cops, picked on at school, always down money-wise, have trouble keeping jobs, constantly having relationship troubles if he can manage to have a relationship in the first place, trying to care for his sickly aunt, etc., etc.. That's why the character succeeded in the first place...readers maybe wouldn't relate to ALL of his problems, but at least some of them. Being a super-hero would actually suck if you were a teenager or young adult...just another huge dose of stress in what's already the most stressful part of your life at that point. Like it or not, Parker's life in the 1st 2 films is incredibly faithful to how the character was for the first 20-25 years of his existence, and really a huge part of what made him such a cultural icon. The movies are going to have to condense a ton of that into smaller packages so it may seem a bit like overkill, but really, a Spider-Man without personal drama/stress/misery, to me, isn't really Spider-Man at all. That IS the character.