All things you didn't know you needed to know - depending on what playground you want to impress.Insomniac Games really ramped things up at the recent Sony Playstation Showcase with a reveal of not one Marvel game, but two. Other extras include a blooper reel, mainly consisting of bit players flubbing their lines, quickie documentaries plumbing various aspects of the film ("The Women of Spider-Man"), and something called "Spidey Sense 2" - a version of the film packed with pop-up trivia bubbles that ensure that you'll know, for example, what kind of motorcycle Peter Parker rides, how many of them were used in the making of the film, and in which issue of the comic Parker started wearing a helmet. One misses the wit of raconteurs like Molina or Spider-Man creator Stan Lee. They feature an understandably preoccupied Raimi, Maguire (his expressive abilities rather less evident here) and a couple of supremely self-involved producers, none of whom have anything particularly riveting to recount. ("He considers himself the best debris-flinger in the business," one notes dryly.)Ĭast and crew commentary tracks were recorded the day before opening weekend. As Doc Ock's frantic tentacles hurl doctors about and shoot through walls, a special effects coordinator murmurs, "Puppet, CGI, CGI, puppet, CGI, puppet" to explain what we're seeing.) The SPX folks also dish about Raimi's insistence on personally bombarding his cast with debris, whenever the opportunity arises. (In fact, one of my favorite commentary moments happens during the hospital fracas. The two-disc set offers more than 10 hours of extras, and while there's a fair amount of annoying repetition, the technical featurettes in particular hold interest. So does Molina, who could have made a big ham sandwich of his role as Doc Ock, but instead imbues the villain with an empathetic dignity that renders him all the more chilling. He has a silent film star's stillness and ability to emote with his eyes. The script finds plenty of excuses for that red mask to peel off - a very good thing, given Maguire's preternatural expressiveness. He's one of the best lensmen in Hollywood, and this widescreen DVD transfer effectively captures the pleasures of shots that tip over vertiginous skyscraper ledges, drift around characters in the throes of psychological turmoil or thrust the viewer within a fight raging on, around and in an uncontrolled train shooting towards an abyss.Īs in the original, Maguire effortlessly communicates an emotional center - he's the heart of the film. Raimi's directorial skill goes far beyond splatter. (Winks to Raimi's longtime fans are evident in sequences such as a brutally exultant hospital melee involving a chainsaw.) Raimi borrows brilliantly from his previous work in horror movies to raise the stakes and elevate the suspense. Havoc erupts, of course, and director Sam Raimi never once condescends to his audience as the films whips to a finish through the office canyons of New York. ("A guy with a name like Otto Octavius ends up with eight limbs," marvels the sleazy editor of the city's tabloid, the Daily Bugle. But an experiment gone awry leaves the good doctor stark raving mad, with his spinal column accessorized with a tangle of coiling mechanical arms. We meet him first as a brilliant scientist on the verge of adopting young Parker as a protégé. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), who puts everything in perspective. Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) tells his true love Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) that they can never be together.Įnter Dr.
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