Recap for Saturday
Aug. 16th, 2004 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanithryudoMaking up for old news that I was too lazy to write about previously...
On Saturday I met up with two of my friends from high school. One also goes to Berkeley and I believe is doing a business/math double major. The other is home on break from UC San Diego, where she's also doing an engineering major like me. The latter friend was meeting up with me for a quick lunch and then seeing movie; her little sister and another friend's little sister were tagging along for the movie. The friend from Cal was just meeting us for lunch.
Anyhow, since I don't want to have to put this entry under friends-lock, I won't name any names or go in too deeply about our lunchtime conversation.
The movie we saw was Spider-man 2. And I have to say that my overall impression of that movie has been very similar to my reactions of most previous Marvel movies with the sole exceptions of Xmen and sequel.
The Good:
- The SFX and CGI work was pretty good. Though, with today's technology, it would probably take an *effort* to make computer-movie-work bad.
- The plot as a story worked pretty well. Motivations were given; foreshadowing used well; themes meshed in but not overemphasized; cause and effect well defined; etc.
- A few very moving, nicely done scenes. Eg. The scene right after Spidey stops the runaway train.
The Bad:
- Cheese, cheese, cheese. OMG, will someone cut out the CHEESE! I swear, half the dialogue in that movie had me cringing in my seat. It was worse than Troy!
- The characters were... unlikable. At least to me. A few of them maybe had one or two good moments, but on the whole... they just didn't resonate with me. Even the ones I can't really *name* a reason why I don't like 'em just seems... to rub me the wrong way.
- Did I mention the cheese?
Specifically, in regards to the characters:
Spidey - I dunno if any significant amount of the female audience found Toby MgGuire cute, but I didn't. He looked very average to me, no matter what expression he had on. Also, the dork/geek thing they tried to stereotype him with? I think they went totally overboard. Seriously, the guy had a notable lack of basic common sense. And worse of all, he got all of the most corny, cheesy, and nonsensical lines ever (espeically when talking to his girl).
Mary Jane - Okay, I guess she looks pretty enough... but for some strange reason that I can't really explain, the more I saw of her the less I liked her. Also, her decision to ditch her fiancee at the altar with nothing but a Dear John note... well that was pretty cruel AND lacking of common sense. Lady, if you didn't want to marry the guy, call things off *before* the ceremony starts and you embarrass the guy who's done NOTHING wrong in front of everyone! You even had *ample* excuses for doing so, like citing post traumatic stress or something after being kidnapped by a supervillain and nearly dying under nuclear fusion. God you are stupid. And very, very, very cruel.
Harry Osbourne - A very one dimensional character, IMO. Obsesses way too much, but I guess that's an understandable holdover from comics. He is pretty cute though, if only he'd stop with the frowny-angsty look. It'll give you wrinkles, dude.
Dr. Octopus - His character is at least bearable. But then, he's possessed by his mechanical arms for most of the film, so there's not much to talk about with him aside from the coolness factor of the CGI.
Aunt May - Again, nothing about her I can exactly explain why I don't like her. She just rubs me wrong, I guess.
J.J. Jameson - Ironically, I kinda liked him, even if he's only a supporting character. Mostly 'cause at least he accomplishes his purpose, which is to serve as comic relief.
On Saturday I met up with two of my friends from high school. One also goes to Berkeley and I believe is doing a business/math double major. The other is home on break from UC San Diego, where she's also doing an engineering major like me. The latter friend was meeting up with me for a quick lunch and then seeing movie; her little sister and another friend's little sister were tagging along for the movie. The friend from Cal was just meeting us for lunch.
Anyhow, since I don't want to have to put this entry under friends-lock, I won't name any names or go in too deeply about our lunchtime conversation.
The movie we saw was Spider-man 2. And I have to say that my overall impression of that movie has been very similar to my reactions of most previous Marvel movies with the sole exceptions of Xmen and sequel.
The Good:
- The SFX and CGI work was pretty good. Though, with today's technology, it would probably take an *effort* to make computer-movie-work bad.
- The plot as a story worked pretty well. Motivations were given; foreshadowing used well; themes meshed in but not overemphasized; cause and effect well defined; etc.
- A few very moving, nicely done scenes. Eg. The scene right after Spidey stops the runaway train.
The Bad:
- Cheese, cheese, cheese. OMG, will someone cut out the CHEESE! I swear, half the dialogue in that movie had me cringing in my seat. It was worse than Troy!
- The characters were... unlikable. At least to me. A few of them maybe had one or two good moments, but on the whole... they just didn't resonate with me. Even the ones I can't really *name* a reason why I don't like 'em just seems... to rub me the wrong way.
- Did I mention the cheese?
Specifically, in regards to the characters:
Spidey - I dunno if any significant amount of the female audience found Toby MgGuire cute, but I didn't. He looked very average to me, no matter what expression he had on. Also, the dork/geek thing they tried to stereotype him with? I think they went totally overboard. Seriously, the guy had a notable lack of basic common sense. And worse of all, he got all of the most corny, cheesy, and nonsensical lines ever (espeically when talking to his girl).
Mary Jane - Okay, I guess she looks pretty enough... but for some strange reason that I can't really explain, the more I saw of her the less I liked her. Also, her decision to ditch her fiancee at the altar with nothing but a Dear John note... well that was pretty cruel AND lacking of common sense. Lady, if you didn't want to marry the guy, call things off *before* the ceremony starts and you embarrass the guy who's done NOTHING wrong in front of everyone! You even had *ample* excuses for doing so, like citing post traumatic stress or something after being kidnapped by a supervillain and nearly dying under nuclear fusion. God you are stupid. And very, very, very cruel.
Harry Osbourne - A very one dimensional character, IMO. Obsesses way too much, but I guess that's an understandable holdover from comics. He is pretty cute though, if only he'd stop with the frowny-angsty look. It'll give you wrinkles, dude.
Dr. Octopus - His character is at least bearable. But then, he's possessed by his mechanical arms for most of the film, so there's not much to talk about with him aside from the coolness factor of the CGI.
Aunt May - Again, nothing about her I can exactly explain why I don't like her. She just rubs me wrong, I guess.
J.J. Jameson - Ironically, I kinda liked him, even if he's only a supporting character. Mostly 'cause at least he accomplishes his purpose, which is to serve as comic relief.
