Dear Andrew Garfield:
You are a beast. You took a role made famous by Stan Lee and infused into it a character who is at once everything Spidey is supposed to represent and so much more. I recognize that they don’t often hand out awards for superhero portrayals, but you, sir, nailed it. If I can take nothing else away from your film I can take away the knowledge that you get Spiderman fundamentally.
Sincerely,
A Talislegger
And that’s just one bit of acting! I had such low expectations for Spidey 2 that I’m left to wonder if I’m experiencing the Frozen effect: Enter expecting nothing and leave surprised and fulfilled. I’m not totally fulfilled by the film, but it was definitely beyond my expectations. Garfield kills it as Spidey and though it was exactly the movie I said it would be, the sharp dialogue and coolness factor provided enough for me to stay engaged.
Now if you are intuitive enough, you may guess how the film ends. Still, even the pivotal ending scenes provided enough shock, cool, and punch to leave you wanting a 3rd film right away. In fact, my kids asked when Spidey 3 was coming out. Then again, one of them walked into the theater in partial spidey costume, so I should’ve expected a desire for more going into it.
The film leaves you wanting more and more of Garfield’s spider, and the supporting cast does enough to elevate the character to someone you’ll want to cheer for from your seats.
Some Thoughts:
- Had a lot of ideas running through my head for the post, but it all kept swirling back to Spiderman. I didn’t even get to touch of the philosophical ideas embedded in the film, but alas that is to be saved for another day and another 10 minutes.
- Silence is preferable to negativity is preferable to rage in the mind of the abused but even silence has its price and its own. Just something I’ve been mulling over. Maybe I’ll write that story one day too.