8 - The Michigan Daily -Wednesday, November 20, 2002
ARTS
'Spider-Man' swings onto DVD
By Adam Rottenberg
Daily Arts Writer
The biggest movie of 2002 swings
its way onto DVD. "Spider-Man"
broke records at the box
office, and broke more
records upon its debut on
DVD. The live-action
version of the comic
book classic, "Spider-
Man" faithfully adapts
its source material in an
entertaining way.
"Spider-Man" is the
story of the nerdy Peter
Parker and what happens
after he is bitten by a
SPIDER-
DV
"Bring it On"), but she is always in
love with someone else. He learns a
valuable lesson from the murder of his
Uncle Ben, "with great power comes
great responsibility." Using this
mantra, Peter takes up
life as a super hero to
best utilize his talents.
-MAN However, his best friend
D Harry's (James Franco,
"City By the Sea")
**** father Norman Osborn
* (Willem Dafoe, "Shad-
** ow of the Vampire")
tests an experimental
nbia procedure on himself
and becomes the super
Picture/Sound:
Movie: ***-
Features: **I
Colum
genetically
villain the1
Green Goblin. The Green
altered spider. Peter is in love with
Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst,
Goblin is out to destroy all of Norman
Osborn's enemies and ends up trying
Courtesy of Columbia
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to destroy Parker because of Spider-
Man's interference.
Director Sam Raimi's ability to
keep the nuances that make the char-
acter of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and
the world around him brings the
comic to life. Raimi made a controver-
sial choice in Tobey Maguire ("Cider
House Rules") to play the title role,
which helped make Parker to be more
believable. Maguire fits the Parker
role perfectly, but there is a notable
dearth of classic Spider-Man quips.
However, the characterization of Nor-
man Osborn leads a lot to be desired.
Dafoe is a talented actor, but the
Green Goblin has no motivation and
he comes across as too comical. The
most true to source character is J.
Jonah Jameson, Peter's boss at the
"Daily Bugle." Jameson offers the
film's funniest moments and shows
his antagonistic nature towards Spi-
der-Man and his disgruntled persona.
"Spider-Man" provides two DVD's
filled with the usual extras. Disc one
offers director and cast commentary
(unfortunately missing Maguire and
Dafoe), and a SFX commentary from
John Dykstra. Both offer interesting
insights into the two areas of the film.
An innovative feature used is the
"Weaving the Web" subtitles that act
like a sort of "Pop Up Video" during
the movie showing interesting tidbits.
The DVD has the usual TV spots and
trailers, but fails to include the original
teaser that was pulled due to it using
the World Trade Center in an integral
role. It also has the Sum 41 and Chad
Kroeger videos in their entireties. Disc
two has screen tests and gag reels, but
neglects having deleted scenes. The
DVD extras also include comic book
sections that show past covers and
character galleries to introduce the
source material to the new audience of
the film. It has the HBO and E! spe-
cials on the making of the movie and
features a really interesting profile on
director Raimi. This really is the gem
of the extra features as it shows
Raimi's enthusiasm and dedication to
the film.
"Spider-Man" was so successful in
theaters for a reason, and the DVD
exemplifies the reasons why audiences
embraced the film. The action still has
a little too much CGI, but it is exciting
and new nonetheless. And the main
story shows some great moments from
Spider-Man's comic book roots and
captures the feel as well. Raimi and
company should be commended for
doing such a good job of enabling
"Spider-Man" to be entertaining to
fans and non-fans of the comic.
JOHN , CHRISTIAN
DESIGNERS & CRAFTSMEN SINCE 1850
Micigan
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