Okay, I'm going to do this a bit differently: This is going to be mostly cut and pasted from a discussion with a buddy of mine.
The other day, Green Bandit and I got into a discussion about the Spider-Man movies by Sam Raimi, with Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, et al. I'll be honest. I watch them, not because I like them, but because I'm a nerd/geek. I know, that's only contributing to them being made, so I really have only myself to blame...well...myself, and bajillions of my fellow nerds and/or geeks.
My biggest problem with the series lies in the casting of the leads. I think that Aunt May, JJJ and even Norman are spot on. (Yeah, yeah...GG's costume was kinda lame, but it wasn't horrible.) Pete/Spidey, MJ, Harry and Gwen? Not so much.
Anyway...what follows is what I told him, slightly edited (You won't even notice if you aren't he or I.)...I'll get into a bit more depth about my comments in red:
Okay, to be fair, Tobey's okay as Pete...it's Spidey I don't like him as. He's far too laconic for the role, and I know that has more to do with the script (That is, they didn't write in the witty one liners.) than with him, but here's the thing: Those witty one liners cover up just how f'ing scared he is. The way Tobey delivers them is just too slow, like he doesn't have a care in the world, almost like he prepared them...now that is a personal thing, I know. In the comics, the only times he doesn't make with the funny is when he's fighting someone so scary, so vile, so much bigger than anything he's ever faced (He does this with surprising regularity...makes me wonder where all of these guys are hiding.). Check out JMS's first Amazing Spider-Man collection, "Coming Home."
The other problem is a body type one: Tobey's is wrong. Pete is supposed to be scrawny, a prototypical nerd. Tobey is, if I had to choose, average. Not big and muscle-y, but not the nerd he's supposed to be. Interestingly...I wanted Topher Grace as Pete/Spidey: Perfect body type, perfect delivery. GB pointed out that, in Hollywood, "average," especially nowadays, is scrawny. Even so, Tobey is still too...I dunno, not buff, but big to be Pete. The guy from Juno would make a good Pete/Spidey, too.
I heard that when Tobey thought he may not be back after Seabiscuit, Jake Gyllenhall was suggested for the role. Again, great actor...wrong body type.
Kirsten...man, they screwed the pooch on that one. First off...there are PLENTY of natural redheads who can act. Why not cast one of them? Like Alicia Witt...who was considered for the role, coincidentally enough. And, in an irony only to be found in Hollywood, Bryce Dallas Howard is a natural redhead who dyed her hair blonde to play Gwen. The other thing they messed up is making MJ the first love. Now how're they gonna kill Gwen in a way that will make Pete feel as bad about it. Gwen was the very first love of his life. Gwen's death shaped all the decisions that came later. I know that MJ is who most of the fans are familiar with, but still...
There's just so much wrong with doing MJ first, I don't even know where to begin. The role are now just about reversed so that MJ has to die, and Pete ends up with Gwen.
That's about the extent of our conversation, but I've got some additional thoughts:
People have a problem with roles being recast for movies. I've got no problem, in certain cases. On going series, which don't tell a complete story? Sure. It's no different from a new artist taking over a run on a comic. If the movie series, like Harry Potter, tells a complete story, then, yeah, recasting isn't a good idea, except, like in Harry Potter, when someone dies.
As much as I'm disappointed with the movies, I do give Raimi's Spider-Man series credit for re-popularizing comic book movies. Since then, we've had X-Men, Superman Returns (Even though that wasn't as good as it should have been...but I'll give Singer another chance...he did create House, after all.), Batman Begins (The BEST reboot ever!), and lots more comic book movies I haven't seen yet.
Chris
