Spider-Man 2

Well well... we were just talking about Spider-Man the other day, and here's some news about the next two movies on Nikki Finke's blog, here.

I watched Spider-Man 2 yet again last night. I'm consistently moved by this powerful story. The writing is beyond excellent. It's a movie in which the hero is continually punished for being a good person, in every situation and at every turn. Even when he acts in a heroic manner, the world doesn't let up... until the very end, when the hero gets everything he's wanted.

It's a structure that reminds me of It's a Wonderful Life -- George Bailey does the right thing, and the world punishes him for it every time. Finally he decides to give up, and comes to realize that, even if he's denied his dreams and given still more burdens to carry, his good actions have meaningful repercussions in his life that are even more valuable than money and fame.

Which makes Spider-Man 3 more interesting in retrospect, because it asks the question: what if the world did reward this heroic character in the way he thought he should, and the sudden in-pouring of fame and love turned this long-suffering guy into an asshole? It would be like if we had an It's a Wonderful Life 2, in which George Bailey gets as powerful as Mr. Potter, and gradually turns into him.

Which is exactly what happens in Johnny To's Election and Triad Election. The hero of Election is the good guy who plays by the rules. By the time we catch back up with him a couple of years later in the sequel, the criminal life style has corrupted him, and now he's just like the villain he was fighting in Election. Pretty brilliant... and I'm counting the seconds for a third movie.

So... though I think Spider-Man 3 is kinda uneven, I'm excited as hell for two more movies. My hope is they look at the missteps taken in 3, and take a good long look at Iron Man and Dark Knight, apply those lessons and give us some awesome fucking flicks.