The New Aunt May?

I thought Rosemary Harris did a nice job as Aunt May. She was a little too preachy, but that was the script, not the actress. Cliff Robertson was great casting as Uncle Ben, too. He has that natural ability to show a kind heart, and still feel like he is a common man. Of course, the absolute best casting in the Raime films was J.K Simmons as J. Jonah Jamison -- he was perfect.

I'm not thrilled with Sally Field or Martin Sheen. They just don't feel right in the parts.

There were some things that the Raime films did right -- including the casting of many of the minor characters. I had no problem with the organic webs. It simplified the movie version of the story and avoided a complication that the core of the story simply didn't need. Most of the public would not know or care about the difference between the organic webs and the web shooters, and the organic webs allowed for a nice couple of scenes when they first showed up.

I did have a problem with Spidey (a) growing up too fast (b) not having enough wise-cracking. I always felt that the wisecracks are an important part of the character, and why nobody would ever think that meek, wimpy Peter Parker would ever be Spidey. You have a bright kid who always wanted to say things but never did because he would have gotten the snot beaten out of him by the bullies. Then he puts on a costume and becomes powerful . . . he finally has the chance to say all those things he always wanted to say.

I really hope they bring back J. K. Simmons. They should treat him like "Q" from the Bond films -- he should stay the constant.

The wisecracks started as a way to cover his nervousness.

Except that, somewhere around the time of the first movie, there was a story in the newspapers about a highschool girl who had invented something for a school project that top scientists had been working on unsuccessfully for years. I'll have to try to research it, but I think ultimately it went to Dow chemicals... It was too long ago for me to remember clearly. But the point is, a real-life teenaged girl created something that professional scientists were unable to do, but it was "too unrealistic" for Peter to be that smart.

The reason Rami went with Organic Web Shooters, is the same reason they gave Superman a son in Superman Returns, and the same thing you hear people moaning about all the time here on the forums.

They think something is just unrealistic.

Rami and company didn't think people would buy that Peter Parker, a HS student, could come up with a formula to invent the web fluids (though in the animated series, I liked how they tacked on an innate sense that allowed him to create it), because frankly they think little of American audience.

Which, they're not far off. Like I said, listen to all the people rant about realism on the forums here.

The lack of webshooters is no different than them changing the title of "Let the Right One In" to "Let Me In" because the American audience can't handle a long title.



It's the same reason Juggernaut was a mutant in the X-Men movies. They didnt think people would buy that there could be mutants and magic in the same movie.

The sad part is, they're likely right. American audience are for the most part dumb. Started happening when they needed so and so realism in a setting that is all about the extraordinary.

I agree that while it may not make gobs of cash, it could still be profitable. The fact that they are doing a reboot and getting a new cast at a much lower cost than the original cast almost ensures that they will make a profit. Now, if what I have read is true, the budget for the effects is much smaller than the 'original' SM movies. This also goes a long way towards making a movie profitable before it is released.

However, I do not see this movie grabbing the public like the original SM (and SM2) or Iron Man (or IM2) or...The Avengers. While the public definitely recognizes the character, I would expect that most of them would say "Cool - new SM flick! Wait...it's the origin story again????? Really???". That is not good for business or for drwaing in the casual viewer....heck, even long-time comic book fans (like myself) think a reboot is an odd course to take.

If the other Marvel movies are clearing $300 million domestic (Iron Man), just clearing $100 million (Hulk) is a PR disaster even if it is profitable.

So for the web fluid to be organic it has to fire out of his ***, lol? Last time I checked spiders and humans have different body composition, so webs firing from spidey's wrists can be easy enough to explain via this fact. I guess the mutation could have resulted in a closer spider-like mutation with extra eyes and appendages too, but it didn't.

And my argument is not that a kid can't be a genius or that a kid can't invent anything incredible. My argument is that it makes more sense for the webbing to be part of the mutation, rather than create another ridiculously hard to believe scenerio that isn't necessary. If we're already being asked to believe that a radioactive spider bite can result in a mutation that creates a superhuman spiderman, you might as well tie a power that already is relatable to that situation, than create an entirely different scenerio for one of the powers. Going further, the new scenerio doesn't fit into the set up either. Parker, a HS kid, and even after that, is poor as dirt. Where is he getting the resources to create this incredible invention, both the fluid and the shooter devices, and keeping up what seems to be an endless supply, when he's usually scraping up money for rent? And while parker is supposed to be very bright, that can be easy enough to demonstrate without having him needlessly create a synthetic webbing that is strong enough to support a buick in his bedroom, and just so happens to go perfectly with his spider theme, especially when its easier and more believable to simply incorporate that into his mutation.

Having said that, obviously this is all a matter of opinion. Obviously the original origin of the character had the web shooter devices, and some people prefer to leave the original story alone. Even I didn't like the idea of changing the story when I first heard the idea of organic web shooters in the lead up to the movie, but for the reasons I've already gone over, I changed my mind. Ultimately, this new movie won't succeed or fail based on what kind of explanation they give for the webshooters (unless they really screw up the script...), it will succeed or fail based on story and the performance of the actors. And chances are they'll change some things from some of the various comic book stories that also changed some of the things from the original story.

But most people did enjoy the raimi spider man series overall, even if a few people, apparently including yourself, did not, because overall it did remain true to the character of spiderman and peter parker. The oddest critique of that series I continually heard, even while leaving the theater a couple of times, were people complaining that peter parker was too nerdy, or not cool enough, and wondering how they could miss the point of the character so badly and still claim to be spiderman fans. Having said that, I would like to see more of the wisecracking spidey always does when facing off with villains, that was the only thing I think raimi underplayed in his movies (and 100% less song and dance routines.... lol).

I think they're nuts for going 'on the cheap' for spiderman. If marvel/disney can turn profits on Iron Man with their costs, how the hell can a studio screw up a more popular character like spiderman? I actually don't think you need to hire a superstar actor, and from what Ive seen of garfield I think he can do a great job, but if they skimp on the special effects, that could be a disaster.

Aw c'mon, just because some people disagree with you on what is a better origin for spidey's webshooters, you want to try and imply the opposing argument is just 'dumb'? How ironic.

Please do research it, I'd like to know exactly what you were talking about. If her situation was similar to parkers and she invented something on the scale of web fluid that is strong enought to support tons of weight and devices that allowed it to be projected, all on the cheap, you'd have some kind of point. Of course even then, that does nothing to address the idea that it's easier and more sensible to incorporate the ability to spin webs to the mutation that resulted from a radioactive spider bite from a story telling perspective...