Avevo apprezzato molto
il primo, concentrato su una trama semplice, ma ben realizzata e che diceva quel che aveva da dire.
Ero rimasto piuttosto deluso dal
secondo: pregevole il cattivo, ma dimenticabile ed in certi punti stucchevole la trama, con dialoghi a volte sterotipati all'estremo.
Mi mancava giusto un capitolo che mi lasciasse così-così; a porvi rimedio, arriva ora
Spider-Man 3.
Il nostro beneamato ometto-ragno è diventato molto popolare tra gli abitanti di
New York e paradossalmente questo non semplifica la sua vita: da un lato
Jonah Jameson continua la sua caccia allo scoop del
"ragno cattivo", dall'altro la sua vita sentimentale è complicata dal fatto che
Mary Jane - fallita la carriera teatrale - fatica a conciliarsi con la fama dell'alter-ego del suo
Peter e si ingelosisce alla comparsa della compagna di scuola
Gwen Stacy.
Su altri fronti, i
sensi di rogna dell'UR verranno messi a dura prova prima da
Harry Osborn (novello
Goblin determinato a vendicare la morte del padre), poi dal misterioso organismo alieno
Venom (che è l'unico ad avere il buon gusto d'essere cattivo a tutto tondo) e dall'
Uomo Sabbia che si rivelerà essere il vero assassino di
zio Ben.
Spalmare, seppur su 2 ore e 20, così tanti intrecci è un po' un cercarsi rogne; anche solo considerando i temi principali abbiamo:
- Il rapporto con Mary Jane, e le intromissioni di Gwen Stacy e Harry Osborn.
- Le difficoltà della popolarità, e lo stallo della carriera di MJ.
- La vendetta nei confronti dell'omicida dello zio, ora Sandman.
- L'amicizia con Harry Osborn, e le conseguenze della morte del padre di lui.
- Il lavoro come freelance ed i contrasti con Eddie Brock.
- L'attacco di Venom, e la corruzione di Parker.
E dimentico di certo qualcosa; il tutto, rammentando che si devono anche fronteggiare tre-dico-tre cattivi ed integrare il tutto con i capitoli precedenti.
Sezionando le parti, abbiamo un capitolo più che discreto dedicato al rapporto con Harry Osborn (questa parte avrebbe meritato più spazio, e non sarebbe stato male farne l'unico tema portante), ed anche i contrasti con Mary Jane non sono male. Poteva risultare interessante, ma è stato sfruttato poco e male, la ricerca di vendetta per l'omicidio dello zio. Capisco poi che
Sam Raimi sia stato
costrettoconvinto da
Avi Arad a metterci Venom, ma fatto così non ha davvero alcun senso: se ce lo metti, vedi di svilupparci sopra qualcosa che non sia solo una scusa per delle scazzotatte (ok, con Venom non è che...)
C'è troppa carne al fuoco, ed inevitabilmente si finisce con l'avere troppe cose che
accadono Perché Sì (l'arrivo di Venom e la genesi di Sandman, che diamine!) e poco sviluppate (Venom, in particolare).
Le singole scene si riducono, a volte, ad uno slide-show di eventi non strettamente coesi, ed i combattimenti ad una serie di scontri con mostri di fine livello.
Semplificazione avrebbe dovuto essere la parola chiave, in fase di post-produzione, tagliando tutto ciò che non si riusciva ad inserire in un contesto adeguato, ed avendo anche cura di inserire i siparietti "simpatici" nei momenti opportuni e non nel bel mezzo di scontri campali; azzeccata la camminata disinvolta per le strade di New York di un Peter Parker ultra-sicuro di sé, ma anche qui si è poi voluto strafare con la scena al jazz club.
A livello grafico stupisce, e ci mancherebbe altro: L'Uomo Sabbia è qualcosa di spettacolare, ed anche Venom non è male. Gli scontri paradossalmente a volte peccano nel cercare di stupire a tutti i costi, specie a livello di dinamismo: nel primo con Harry si ha la sensazione che abbiano voluto esagerare, con un inseguimento infinito tra vicoli stretti e scontri ravvicinati; a mio avviso meravigliosi, invece, i pochi secondi iniziali dello scontro con Venom: caduta a piombo dal grattacielo e loro a darsi delle gran randellate! Così si fa!
Nel complesso resta un esercizio di grafica bella da vedere, ma per la trama è difficile non parlare di occasione in parte sprecata.
Tobey Maguire ha la sua solita espressione beota, ed ha forse un futuro come triglia in barile, non certo come attore.
Tutto sommato decenti gli altri (anche se sospetto che buona parte del budget degli effetti speciali sia stato speso per far venire le tette grosse a
Bryce Dallas Howard...
)
Note di merito al mitico
Bruce Campbell, qui con una scena esilarante, ed al
Vecchiaccio che dice anche una battuta (ho il sospetto che nell'intera sala
nessuno lo abbia riconosciuto: a certa gente andrebbe impedito di entrare al cinema, quando ci sono film tratti da fumetti).
Nota di assoluto demerito invece alla traduzione: nel 2007, su una produzione dal budget spropositato (e che si suppone non sia stata affidata ad un ragazzino che ha studiato inglese alle elementari), tradurre
"silicon" con
"silicone" è da carcere a vita. Vacca boia, è l'Uomo Sabbia, mica l'Uomo TetteRifatte!
Voto: 6. (è costato un quarto di miliardi di dollari: era lecito aspettarsi di più)
Tags: azione, fantascienza, avventura, thriller, fumetto, spider-man, uomo ragno, marvel, supereroi, sequel, amore, amicizia, combattimento, morte, vendetta, matrimonio, venom, uomo sabbia, goblin.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Regista: Sam Raimi Scrittore: Stan Lee,
Steve Ditko (comic book) Genere: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Valutazione: 7.8/10 (75339 voti)
Durata: 127 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English
Cast:Trama:After 2 years of crime fighting peter parker life is changing the woman he loves in getting married he's getting fired from his jobs and his grade's are drooping after all this peter parker decides to give up being spider-man and throws out his costume. And makes his life back to normal everything is now going great for him until he realizes that he needs to be both peter parker and spider-man as he balances his life as both.
Trivia random: Robert De Niro, Sam Neill, Ed Harris, and Chris Cooper were all considered for the role of Otto Octavius.
Citazione random: Dr. Otto Octavius: [talking to his arms] Listen. Listen... to me now. Listen... to ME now!
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man
Regista: Sam Raimi Scrittore: Stan Lee,
Steve Ditko (Marvel comic book) Genere: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Valutazione: 7.4/10 (97409 voti)
Durata: 121 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English
Cast:Trama:Based on Marvel Comics' superhero character, this is a story of Peter Parker who is a nerdy high-schooler. He was orphaned as a child, bullied by jocks, and can't confess his crush for his stunning neighbourhood girl Mary Jane Watson. To say his life is "miserable" is an understatement. But one day while on an excursion to a laboratory a runaway radioactive spider bites him... and his life changes in a way no one could have imagined. Peter acquires a muscle-bound physique, clear vision, ability to cling to surfaces and crawl over walls, shooting webs from his wrist ... but the fun isn't going to last. An eccentric millionaire Norman Osborn (William Dafoe) administers a performance enhancing drug on himself and his maniacal alter ego Green Goblin emerges. Now Peter Parker has to become Spider-Man and take Green Goblin to the task... or else Goblin will kill him. They come face to face and the war begins in which only one of them will survive at the end.
Trivia random: During the World Unity parade, a billboard for Terminix can be seen, one of many insect-related inside jokes.
Citazione random: Norman Osborn: [to Peter] Harry tells me you're quite the science whiz. You know, I'm something of a scientist myself.
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Campbell, Bruce (I)
Nome di battesimo: Campbell, Bruce Lorne
Data di nascita: 22 June 1958
Altezza: 6' 1" (1.85 m)
Coniuge: Ida Gearon::(1991 - present), Christine Deveau::(13 March 1983 - 1989) (divorced) 2 children
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:"Uncle Sam's favorite son" as the lyrics to the theme of "Jack of All Trades" (2000) go, was born June 22, 1958 (the youngest of 3 brothers) in Royal Oak, Michigan. As a child, Bruce watched "Lost in Space" (1965) on TV, and ran around dressed as Zorro. He got the acting bug at age 8; his dad was performing in local community theater. At 14, Bruce got to play the young prince in "The King and I" and even got to sing. He went on to appear in several community theater productions, including "South Pacific". However, he was also interested in directing, and shot super-8 flicks with a neighborhood pal. Perhaps through fate, he met future director Sam Raimi in a high school drama class in 1975. Soon, along with Sam, and now a bunch of other high school pals, Bruce filmed about 50 super-8 movies. During the summer of 1976, he was an apprentice in northern Michigan at Traverse City's Cherry County Playhouse, a summer-stock company. Bruce worked 18-hour days putting up sets, being assistant stage manager, doing errands, etc. No money, but it was a learning experience (it was show biz). He attended Western Michigan University and took theater courses. Bruce became a production assistant for a company that made commercials in Detroit. In the early part of 1979, with buddy Sam Raimi, he decided to become a pro filmmaker. Armed with a super-8 horror film _Within the Woods (1978) _ which they showed potential investors, they raised $350,000 to make The Evil Dead (1981) which Bruce co-produced and starred in as "Ash". Four years later, the completed film became the best-selling video of 1983 in England, and New Line Cinema got it a US release. Around this time, he married his first wife, and they had 2 kids. They raised 10 times as much cash for the sequel Evil Dead II (1987) again co-produced by Bruce and starring him as "Ash". He moved to L.A. In 1990, while filming Mindwarp (1990), he met his future second wife (costume designer Ida Gearon) on the set. In 1992, he rejoined Sam, and Bruce co-produced and starred as "Ash" in the 3rd of the Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness (1992) for Universal Studios. On TV, Bruce directed many episodes of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (1995). Bruce also acted as the recurring character "Autolycus", the King of Thieves; he portrayed this villain with zest in both "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (1995) and "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995). Bruce's latest television venture was starring as the title rogue of "Jack of All Trades" (2000). Everybody loves Jack. And everybody's heard of him -- "There ain't a French or pirate rogue who don't know Jack!".
Trivia random: Screen-tested for the lead role in The Phantom (1996).
Citazione random: Referring to Assault on Dome 4 (1996) (TV) and Moontrap (1989), Campbell said "The movies that are the easiest to make are the hardest to watch".
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Regista: Sam Raimi Scrittore: Sam Raimi,
Ivan Raimi (screenplay) Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Valutazione: 7.9/10 (4503 voti)
Durata: 140 min
Paese: USA
Lingua: English
Cast:Trama:Peter Parker has finally found the balance he's longed for between his love for Mary Jane Watson and his responsibilities as Spider-Man. The city of New York and it's citizens are at last coming around and appreciating everything he has done as his crime-fighting alter ego, and Peter is in the running for a staff job at the Daily Bugle. However, everything Peter has worked for is about to unravel. Flint Marko, while fleeing prison, is caught in an accident that displaces molecules and is transformed into the Sandman, a new super villain who is able to change his body into any shape of sand he sees fit. When Peter learns of a connection between The Sandman and the murder of his Uncle Ben, he will stop at nothing as Spider-Man to capture him. But before Peter can do so he discovers a mysterious black substance has turned his suit black, and has brought forth a darker side of Parker and Spidey nobody has seen before. Peter begins to give into this new dark personality, starts to abandon the ones he loves the most and in turn his best friend Harry Osborn takes up his late father's mantle as The New Goblin. Quickly Parker begins a new romance with his lab partner, the beautiful Gwen Stacy but in doing so Peter sets off a rival Bugle photographer, a troubled young man by the name of Eddie Brock who is obsessed with Stacy. Little does Peter know the black substance has its sights set on Eddie else as well. Brock is turned into Venom, a arch-foe that mirrors everything Spider-Man can do. Peter is forced to become the strong-willed hero he has forgotten about if he hopes to defeat his greatest threat yet.
Trivia random: Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire were the driving forces that got Sandman into this film. During press interviews for the first two Spider-Man films, Raimi and Maguire repeatedly mentioned Sandman as a villain they would like to see in a future sequel.
Citazione random: [from trailer]::[Harry, chasing Peter, throws one of his many devices at him. As it explodes and becomes Razor Bats,]::Peter Parker: Hate those things!
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Lee, Stan (I)
Nome di battesimo: Lieber, Stanley Martin
Data di nascita: 28 December 1922
Coniuge: Joan Lee::(5 December 1947 - present) 2 children
Ultimi lavori: Trivia random: Daughter is model/actress Joan Celia "J.C." Lee (b. 1950). His other daughter, Jan, died shortly after birth (1953).
Citazione random: "If a character had the first initial in both names, I could at least remember one of the names" [his reason for creating characters with the same initial... bad memory]
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Maguire, Tobey
Nome di battesimo: Maguire, Tobias Vincent
Data di nascita: 27 June 1975
Altezza: 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Tobey Maguire's parents were 18 and 20--and unwed--when he was born. His father, Vincent, was a cook. His mother, Wendy, was a secretary. They split two years after his birth. This resulted in moving constantly as a youth, spending time in California, Oregon, and Washington. He quit school in the ninth grade and pursued acting roles. He did several commercials and bit roles on various TV shows before landing a starring role on the Fox comedy "Great Scott!" (1992). That role lasted nine weeks before the show was canceled. Although avoiding drugs and alcohol, he still is known for running with the party set, including Leonardo DiCaprio's group. Tobey is a vegetarian and studies yoga.
Trivia random: During the Australian release period of Spider-Man (2002), he appeared on an Australian late-night variety show with his co-star Willem Dafoe. During this interview, when asked if he was a fan of the comic book, he claimed that he had never touched a Spider-Man comic book before and that he never wanted to read them.
Citazione random: "All the people throughout my life who were naysayers pissed me off. But they've all given me a fervor; an angry ambition that cannot be stopped - and I look forward to finding a therapist and working on that."
Salario massimo: $17,000,000, per Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Howard, Bryce Dallas
Data di nascita: 2 March 1981
Altezza: 5' 8" (1.73 m)
Coniuge: Seth Gabel::(17 June 2006 - present) 1 child
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Bryce Dallas Howard was born on March 2, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. She was conceived in Dallas, Texas (the reason for her middle name). Her father, named Ron Howard, is a former actor turned Oscar-winning director. Her mother is actress and writer Cheryl Howard (nee Alley). Her famous relatives include her uncle, actor Clint Howard, and her grandparents, actor Rance Howard and actress Jean Speegle Howard. She also has two younger twin sisters, named Jocelyn and Paige, born in 1985, and a brother, Reed Howard, born in 1987.Howard was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, because her parents decided to raise their four children as far away from the trappings of showbiz milieu as possible. During most of her childhood she really did not have much access to a TV. She attended Greenwich Country Day School, and Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York. At that time she discovered existentialism and devoured books by Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. She attended the prestigious Steppenwolf School and Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts camp at Catskills together with her friend Natalie Portman. She applied to drama school as Bryce Dallas, dropping her last name to eschew special treatment because of association with her renown father. From 1999 - 2003 she studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory and at the New York University Tisch School of Arts and graduated with a BFA degree in Drama in 2003. At that time she performed in Broadway productions of classical plays by George Bernard Shaw, William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov.Young Howard appeared in three of her father's films as an extra, including her appearance as a child together with her mother in Apollo 13 (1995). She made her feature film debut as Heather, a supporting role in Book of Love (2004) by director Alan Brown. Director M. Night Shyamalan was impressed by her performance in a Broadway play and cast her without an audition as a female lead in his two thrillers: The Village (2004) and Lady in the Water (2006). Howard replaced Nicole Kidman in Dogville sequel, Manderlay (2005). She stars as Rosalind in As You Like It (2006), a reprise of her stage role that made such an impression on Shyamalan. She is also billed as Gwen Stacy in the third installment of the Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man 3 (2007).Howard became a devoted vegan since Joaquin Phoenix showed her Earthlings (2003), a documentary about animal cruelty. After seeing that she has consumed no animal products, not even milk or eggs. Her other activities outside of the acting profession include playing basketball and writing.On June 17, 2006, in Connecticut, she married her long-term boyfriend, actor Seth Gabel, whom she met at New York University and had dated for five years.
Trivia random: Graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama (2003)
Citazione random: Right now as an artist, what I want to do is be a part of works that are unignorable. I couldn't be less interested in how people receive it, honestly. As long as it's unignorable.
Salario massimo: $150,000, per The Village (2004)
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Arad, Avi
Data di nascita: August 1948
Ultimi lavori: Trivia random: As CEO of Marvel, handles the rights to the approximately 4,700 Marvel comic book characters, including heavyweights Spider-Man, the X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, and The Fantastic Four.
Citazione random: "They're the new taste-makers. Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don't want them to trash your project."
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.
Raimi, Sam
Nome di battesimo: Raimi, Samuel Marshall
Data di nascita: 23 October 1959
Altezza: 5' 11" (1.80 m)
Coniuge: Gillian Greene::(1993 - present) 5 children
Ultimi lavori: Biografia:Highly inventive US film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film The Evil Dead (1981). From his childhood Raimi was a fan of the cinema and before he was ten years old, he was out making movies with an 8mm camera. He was a devoted fan of The Three Stooges, so much of Raimi's film work in his teens, with good friends Bruce Campbell and Robert G. Tapert, was slapstick comedy based around what they had observed from Stooges movies.Among the three of them they wrote, directed, produced and edited a short horror movie titled Within the Woods (1978), which was then shown to prospective investors to raise the money necessary to film The Evil Dead (1981). It met with lukewarm interest in the US with local distributors, so Raimi took the film to Europe, where it was much more warmly received. After it started gaining positive reviews and, more importantly, ticket sales upon its release in Europe, US distributors showed renewed interest, and "Evil Dead" was eventually released stateside to strong box office returns. His next directorial effort was Crimewave (1985), a quirky, cartoon-like effort that failed to catch fire with audiences. However, he bounced back with Evil Dead II (1987), a racier and more humorous remake/sequel to the original "Dead" that did even better at the box office. Raimi was then given his biggest budget to date to shoot Darkman (1990), a comic book-style fantasy about a scarred avenger. The film did moderate business, but Raimi's strong visual style was evident throughout the film via inventive and startling camera work that caught the attention of numerous critics.The third chapter in the Evil Dead story beckoned, and Raimi once again directed buddy Campbell as the gritty hero "Ash", in the Gothic horror _Army of Darkness (1993)_ . Raimi surprised fans when he took a turn away from the fantasy genre and directed Gene Hackman and Sharon Stone in the sexy western The Quick and the Dead (1995); four years later he took the directorial reins on A Simple Plan (1998), a crime thriller about stolen money starring Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda. In early 1999 he directed the baseball film For Love of the Game (1999) and in 2000 returned to the fantasy genre with a top-flight cast in The Gift (2000). In 2002 Raimi was given a real opportunity to demonstrate his dynamic visual style with the big-budget film adaptation of the Stan Lee comic book superhero Spider-Man (2002), and fans were not disappointed. The movie was strong in both script and effects, and was a runaway success at the box office. Of course, Raimi returned for the sequel, Spider-Man 2 (2004), which surpassed the original in box-office takings.Raimi remains one of Hollywood's most creative, exciting and intelligent filmmakers.
Trivia random: 1977 graduate of Birmingham Groves High School, Birmingham, Michigan.
Citazione random: "At every step of the way wanted to be careful to make sure that what they thought worked in Japanese horror got translated into this. [Taka and Shimizu] didn't want to have solid explanations for everything. That was the challenge, to somehow make it acceptable to the American audience, rules being one of the many things we talked about but not lose what make it striking and unique." [on 'Grudge, The']
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb. 
.png)