- I'm torn between between MJ vs. Gwen. Both actresses were effective, though both movies kind of miss out on Peter as the guy who hopelessly pines after unattainable girls. I'd have liked it better if they'd avoided romance and identity sharing till later in the series.
I agree with the identity-sharing, but not on the whole "hopelessly pines" thing.
I read a brilliant interview with Brian Bendis a while back and he pointed out something that had never crossed my mind.
Peter constantly considered himself the unlikable guy who pined after unattainable girls, and because the stories were mostly from his point of view we tended to see him that way. But look at the facts--
Once he became Spider-Man and gained a degree of self-confidence, Peter Parker was a total ladies man. Before he dated the hot blonde (Gwen) in high school, he dabbled with the hot brunette (Liz Allen--Elizabeth Banks in the movies) and the hot redhead from another school district (who he eventually married). This isn't even counting his months-long friends-with-benefits thing with the Black Cat that happened between college and getting engaged (in fact, there's a fair argument to be made that Peter lost his virginity to a slinky supervillianess). I kind of liked that they went with a Peter Parker who thought he was much more a geeky outcast than he really was.
I also thought it was nice that Flash Thompson was more than just a plain jerk in this--like he is in the comics. He's kind of an ass, yeah. but he isn't heartless.
Anyway...
50/50 - The absolutely brilliant, hysterically funny, semi-autobiographical story from screenwriter Will Reiser that could be subtitled "exhibit #7 in proving the Academy hates Joseph-Gordon Leavitt."
Watch this film.
