Now That I've Had Time To Reflect

I bought Spider-Man 2 on DVD today and came home to watch it immediately after work. While watching in the comfort of my own home, without the hoopla and excitement of opening night at the theater with 400 strangers, I realized that Sam Raimi is truly a brilliant director. Don't get me wrong, I loved it the first time I saw it, but tonight I noticed some things I hadn't before.



The movie is filled with really campy and sappy comic book dialogue that, under the supervision of a lesser artist, would have made for a terrible film. However, Raimi manages to keep the pace and action just right so that the movie is so much fun that you barley even notice it, and if you do, you certainly don't care.



I am reminded of a quote I read when the first Spider-Man movie was released in 2002. Bruce Campbell was talking about the movie and his relationship with Raimi when he said, "Sam, we're doing the same stuff here that we did 20 years ago on Evil Dead. Now we just have more money." (That may not be an accurate quote, but that is the gist of what he was saying.)



This is so true. I dare anyone to watch the scene in Spidey 2 in which Dr. Octavious' tentacles ruin everyone's shit in the hospital after his accident, and tell me it doesn't look exactly like Evil Dead.



Truly awesome.