Topic: A question about Spiderman 2 - WARNING Includes Spoilers

[Gambler]

The family watched Spiderman 2 last night and it is a pretty good movie other than the middle part where it drags on a little longer than necessary with all the angst in his life.

So here's the question.

In the first movie he's bitten by the spider and voila, develops his powers.  He's got to learn how to use them, but they work, not to perfection, but they work.

In the second movie he's having the psycological stress in his life and so his sub-conscience turns them off.  But can it really?  I could see where his brain could turn off the web slinging power because that is a specific internal action requiring thought on his part.  But his eyes going bad?  His spidey-sense?  His strength and speed?  Those are all autonomic things.  He shouldn't be able to stop running as fast, being as strong etc.  When you think about it, when he tries to get it back and tries to jump across the alley and ends up falling several stories, he apparently has some of his super powers because he doesn't go completely splat when he hits the car.  A normal person would have been scooped up with a spoon.  Then when Doc Ock throws him into the wall and it comes back all at once?  I had this image of the incredible hulk coming out from under the rubble.

One other thing, given all the good Spiderman has done, it seems ridiculous that the Daily Bugle would keep pushing covers of him as the bad guy.  If the public sees him as a hero and apparently they do, why not build him up?  I'm certain this particular piece of the mythology is based on the comics so it's not Sam Raimi's interpretation.

[kortez]

It's not the Daily Bugle, it's the boss of the Bugle.  It's funny in a way because in this one you can clearly see that it's done almost purposely.  I had to laugh at that one.

As for the eyes, I agree with you.

The middle part did drag on but I am certain it was done purposely to show Parker's confusion.  The way they finished up more than made up for it, IMO.  I was truly impressed, and if you have seen my negative comments towards "Enterprise," you will know is rare for me.

A superb movie!

[Gambler]

My wife loved the fact that in the end he got the girl.  After all the angst, it was something that I appreciated as well.

Now that Harry, MJ and all the people on the subway saw his face, how long can he keep his secret?

[jualdeaux]

Well, all the people on the el promised nott to say anything for thinks in saving their lives. MJ has reason to keep the secret to herself and Harry wants to get the personal pleasure of killing/destroying him. So telling everyone who he really is might make it quite abit harder to kill him.

At least that is how I see the situation.

My only beef with the whole movie is at the end when that mini-sun hit the water. How come it didn't cause any steam at all? It should have created a fogbank the kind NY has never seen.

[Green]

First, thanks to all who made sure that if their posts in the forums contained a spoiler - it was very clearly stated up front, that is appreciated.  Finally saw the movie today so I can enjoy reading your comments.

Second, yep got to agree with the comments that the middle did drag a bit.  Or as my daughter said ... "needed less Peter Parker, more Spidey."

Third, I don't see any incongruities in the plot.  Yep, why didn't the 'sun' cause steam?  Uh ... I don't know, maybe because the 'containment field' held up just long enough that the explosion/steam occured after the camera cut away; or maybe because cold fusion process wouldn't generate heat.  Why could Spidey 'lose' his abilities?  Uh ... I don't know, maybe the mind's psychological control, or at least his super-spidey mind's psychological control, is greater then his body's physiological control.  I don't know the answers ... my guess is neither do the script writers.  But if we want to suspend disbelief to the point that we're willing to believe a bite from an irradiated spider can cause condition 1 ... I'm certainly willing to believe that conditions 7-9 in the plot line are possible also.

Fourth.  Had fun watching the movie (also enjoyed the real quick cameos by Stan Lee).  Was worth the $15 to take the family (man, movie tickets are cheap here).

[Skawpya]

hmmm yes, good movie, my two beefs being that at the end, it was a goblin mask that was found and not a lion head's vest, and that doc oct's arms didn't kick into self preservation mode at some point after the run away reaction was falling towards him

[The_Joker]

hmmm yes, good movie, my two beefs being that at the end, it was a goblin mask that was found and not a lion head's vest, and that doc oct's arms didn't kick into self preservation mode at some point after the run away reaction was falling towards him

I think you're getting your Spidey villians confused.  It's perfectly logical that Harry would find the Goblin mask, as Harry Osbourne becomes Hobgoblin and not Kraven the Hunter.  Kraven has no secret Identity.

As for Spidey losing his powers, I'd chalk that up to the human mind being a powerful thing.  It would be the first case of temporary blindness with no apparent reason.  I think they did a good job with it.  Peter's mind could have convinced his body that it couldn't jump and run faster, climb walls or sling web, but it wouldn't have ben able to completely change his physical make up so the fall would kill him.

My only beef was, I'm not sure if the Spidey I grew up with could have stopped that L in the way that he did, and I'm pretty sure that even with the enhanced strength that the railroad ties would have broke his leg.  Other than that, I liked the movie a great deal.

*SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW THE COMICS>>>>>>>>























MJ can and should know his identity as she does end up marrying Peter Parker later.

The only question I've got now is who will be the villian in the third installment.  HobGoblin, The Lizard, or Manwolf.  All signs point toward Hobgoblin, but they did make a rather large part out of Prof. Connors (who becomes Lizard) and Jameson, who they gave a great reason to hate Spidey/Peter.

[KnightAdvancer]

The second movie had nothing the first did not and the graphics were a bit dated.

[RogueJedi_XC]

My vote goes for Hobgoblin being up next, or maybe a duo of bad guys like in the last few Batman movies.

The movie was very good, funny where it needed to be and sappy when....well, there's never really any reason for sappy, but it worked so what the heck.
I'm glad to see Peter finally hooked up with Mary Jane. I really wanted to reach through the screen and smack his stupid self for turning her away at the end of the first one....

[Sirgod]

Stephen

[Inquiry]

...

VENOM!

[Sirgod]

...

VENOM!

I'd Like to see Venom, or even Carnage. Ramie hates them though.

Stephen the Dissapointed.

[The_Joker]

...

VENOM!

I'd Like to see Venom, or even Carnage. Ramie hates them though.

Stephen the Dissapointed.

I don't see that happening, honestly.  To get Venom, you've got to have the black Spidey suit, which is actually an alien symbiote.  After the picture they painted of Doc Ock and the arms, I don't think Sam Raimi's Peter Parker would even consider donning a self conscious suit with the capabilities of taking over.

[Sirgod]

Exactly, and how would they Work in the whole Secret Wars Parts one and Two without It being Cheesier, then a Magic Photon that Launches Drones?

Stephen

[Inquiry]

Just do what they did in the cartoon, use the established character of John Jameson as having brought back the symbiot from space, and have Spider-Man use it in the next film to battle Green Goblin 2/Hobgoblin. They can also develop the rivalry between Peter Parker and Eddie Brock.

Then at the end, the symbiot kills Harry, Peter abandons the suit, Brock finds it, sinister music, roll credits. Sets itself up perfectly for part four.

[The_Joker]

Apparently, I'm not completely up to date on my eighties Spidey.  One of the other fairly other old farts help me out here.  In the seventies, wasn't there a story line where John Jameson was exposed to some sort of radiation on the moon which caused him to become man-wolf?



You'll have to excuse my poor muddled brain, I'm actually a Batman expert....(go figure).  Spidey is my second favorite mag.  Haven't read either one in at least 10 years, tho.

[The_Joker]

Never mind, I answered my own question with a bit of research.

A bit of a bio on John Jameson:

Son of J. Jonah Jameson and his first wife, John was an outstanding student who became an astronaut. During a mission, he contracted a virus that gave him superhuman strength back on earth. J. Jonah talked him into fighting Spiderman, but he was defeated. Later, he flew to the moon to collect rock samples. There he found a red gemstone, and turned it into a pendant he wore. Unfortunately, the light of the moon on earth made the gem melt with his skin and turned him into a sort of werewolf. He got defeated once more by Spiderman, who tore the gem out of him and threw it into the Hudson River, but Morbius exposed him to it once more while searching for a cure for his vampiric sickness. He became once more the Man-Wolf and began a rampage on NY that Spiderman had to stop. This time, he left NY and was returned to the NASA by SHIELD. He was sent to an orbiting spacestation which had been invaded by beings from another dimension. Amazingly, the stone also had come from that dimension. He went with them to their realm just to leanr that the gem was the essence of their ruler, a wolf-like being named Stargod. He had sent the gem to other dimension to search for a sucessor and John became just that for sometime. He helped the people in the realm until they were out of harm and returned to Earth, where he discovered that the gemstone was slowly poisoning his body. Spiderman asked Dr. Curt Connors for help to remove it from Jameson's body. For a while, he served as a pilot for the Avengers, until evil geneticist Arnim Zola returned him to his wolf self briefly before being defeated by Captain America.

[TheJudge]

Um, did anyone else notice the totally 'gay' moment in this movie (I saw it this weekend and my best friend and I both cracked up while all these straight people stared at us like we were crazy)?


If not, well, it was in the elevator after he crashed on the building and had to get down the normal way.  Hal Sparks is the actor that came into the elevator with him and commented:

HS: "nice Spidey suit." 

TM:  "Thanks, I made it myself"

What was so gay about that moment and the subsequent "It itches after a while...and kind of rides up in the crotch", to which Hal gives that perfect little smirk of his?  Well, Hal Sparks is one of the lead characters on Showtime's Queer as Folk.  He plays Michael, your mid-30's gay average man who is more interested in comic books and finding one man to spend the rest of his life with than tricking his way through the world.  He even wrote a gay comic book with another character, and owns a comic book shop.  There was a reference in season 2 to his character making a spiderman outfit himself and wearing it to a halloween party when he was younger (and there was a lot of sexual innuendo based on the results of him wearing the suit...).  If I remember correctly, he complained about his homemade suit itching and riding up his crotch as well...

[RogueJedi_XC]

And that makes it gay because.....

[TheJudge]

Um, okay, gay insider joke (or at least a Queer as Folk fan insider)...nm, I shouldn't have tried to explain it.  I've just been seeing a lot of chat about it on different boards.