This is a great indy film based on the best Spiderman comic storyline. The thing was shot with no CG on a barebones budget and, despite this, its still very cool and entertaining. Its certainly not as good as Raimi's Spiderman 2 (which is, in my opinion, easily the best comic film yet) but I actually prefer it to Spiderman 1. Despite the lack of CG, the acrobatics actually work fairly well and the action seems often more authentic than CG. One key strength the film has is the actor who plays the Green Goblin. The guy delivers a deliciously appropriate over the top performance that really captures the character (even the voice is absolutely perfect) in ways that Dafoe doesn't quite match. Poole does a nice job as Spiderman too. He is not as good as Toby McGuire but does manage to deliver a solid performance and, again, his acrobatics were a real strength.
Of course, being such a low budget picture, it does run into a few snags. The most noticeable foible is that the Green Goblin doesn't fly very convincingly. Also, the film is short (only 50 minutes) and as such does not go into a great deal of character development. Poole stated in an interview he wishes he would have cut out the restaurant scene. I disagree. He needed more scenes like that. As is, the story works well but I would certainly have opened the picture with the set of scenes better detailing the death of Gwen's father (perhaps tying it into how the Osborne was committed) and her resulting hate of Spiderman. Still, it is a fine picture and Dan Poole should be proud of his efforts. It is a shame Marvel has not seen fit to make use of Poole's talents in some fashion as I would love to see a big budget film benefit from his creative influence.
Of course, being such a low budget picture, it does run into a few snags. The most noticeable foible is that the Green Goblin doesn't fly very convincingly. Also, the film is short (only 50 minutes) and as such does not go into a great deal of character development. Poole stated in an interview he wishes he would have cut out the restaurant scene. I disagree. He needed more scenes like that. As is, the story works well but I would certainly have opened the picture with the set of scenes better detailing the death of Gwen's father (perhaps tying it into how the Osborne was committed) and her resulting hate of Spiderman. Still, it is a fine picture and Dan Poole should be proud of his efforts. It is a shame Marvel has not seen fit to make use of Poole's talents in some fashion as I would love to see a big budget film benefit from his creative influence.
