by Robert Kohr
If you know nothing of the new SPIDERMAN movie, you must have been on vacation for that past six months. SPIDERMAN is probably the most anticipated movie since the STAR WARS re-release and the release of HARRY POTTER. This weekend took the highest grossing first weekend from HARRY POTTER by earning a record $114 million.

Why is this relevant? If you have seen it you must have realized that most of the stunts were not performed by stunt men, but by your friendly neighborhood animator. It seems that more and more the roll of the animator is being blurred with the live action, allowing what was in the past, impossible to be possible. FINAL FANTASY seems to be the antithesis of this new cinematic trend with its strongly realistic animation and character design. SPIDERMAN has taken this type of CG and combined it with live action to produce a film, that up until now was impossible to do or done correctly.

Toby McGuire has reportedly received $5 million for this roll, looks like he should have thrown in a percentage in there, and will receive $26 million for the sequel.

SPIDERMAN is not a fine film in any shape or form. However, if you enjoy a roller coaster ride, go see it! SPIDERMAN stays true to the comic book and loyal Spiderman fans will get a hoot out of all the parallels.

SPIDERMAN was also in the news following September 11th, when the trailer and movie posters were removed from the theaters and the web because of a short segment, made only for the trailer, which included Spiderman catching a helicopter between the twin towers. Since then all reference to the towers were removed and the poster was changed. You can still purchase the original poster on Ebay, for a markup, and find the original QuickTime trailer on Limewire or Morphious.