Friday, February 11, 2011
Spider-Man Reviews Are IN: Leave Coments HERE!
We have long been waiting for official reviews of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Well, we have to wait no longer because the nation’s theatre critics decided to “honor” the February 7th opening despite the postponement. Many critics released their reviews last Tuesday and they are now posted to this blog. Please make your comments on THIS post so that we can contain all the responses to one place. Happy reading.
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6 comments:
I haven't read all of the Spiderman reviews, but it seems like most people are unimpressed. And I'm unsurprised. It's just a shame that Julie Taymor of all people couldn't get it together. I think the decision to review it this week was a good one; while I don't necessarily use reviews often to judge what I will see, a shared view of "it's awful" does speak rather loudly. I think people will continue to go, but I also think that (hope that) Spiderman won't be open all that long.
As I was looking for Spider-man reviews it was interesting to note how many NEWS articles there were about the reviews. There were more articles about the reviews than there were reviews. That is fascinating and that is what is going to keep Spider Man alive at least till next season. It is "too big to fail." It creates it's own media. I for one am interested in going now because I feel that ALL these critics are wrong. They want to hate the show because it is popular. I know two people who have seen it it. One loved it, one hated it so that is 50% To conclude- in this situation, I do not think that a dozen bad reviews will hurt this show at all.
As a once-avid reader of Ben Brantley's New York Times reviews, I have been waiting eagerly to hear his thoughts on the show. I am surprised that the Times in particular chose to weigh in, since they themselves posted an article about why they were respecting the show's preview process and waiting to review it, but I guess at some point one can only wait so long. Anyway, as to the actual review itself, there are very few things I love reading more than a Ben Brantley PAN (I know how evil that sounds, but his writing is just so scathing!) and boy was this a good one. I'm glad most reviewers didn't just go for the spectacle-as we learned in Foundations, plot has to be there first for a show to succeed, and spectacle matters the least if it has no framework to complement. Based on his review, it sounds like they may have missed Aristotle's point and just gone for the flashy, but I'm glad the critics noticed. While the Times no longer has the power to close a show in a night as it once might have, I will be curious to see if the more old-fashioned theatre audience keeps coming to the shows, since there still is a crowd that reads the reviews and uses them to make decisions (although that crowd is certainly shrinking).
The New York Times article used the phrase "national joke" to describe Spiderman. It is sad that that's what the production has become. This view seems pretty consistent with most other reviews, though. Spiderman seems to be one of those shows that is all spectacle, and without a decent plot-line to back it up. Shows of this type have been successful in the past, but it seems to me that Spiderman's issue is that it can't pull off such spectacle without a flaw. One review noted that there was a disclaimer of sorts at the top of the show, stating that it could be stopped at any time due to technical difficulties. This seems very unprofessional to me! I understand that they were probably doing it to cover their backs, to avoid people demanding their money back in the event of a technical issue. I still find it very strange that they chose to make a pre-show announcement to tell the audience that they could screw up at any moment....
I was the most disappointed over the one review that talked about the disjointed storyline. I mean this is Spiderman. There have been numerous movies, and TV shows. The comics have been around since the 30's. It is a classic hit all on its own and it feels like Broadway is trying to reinvent the wheel. The problems with special effect and stunts I understand. Although it is somewhat disappointing they do not live up to all the hype it is also somewhat expected with all the injuries. Still both effects and music are subject to opinions, but having a coherent storyline is essential. In the most expensive show on Broadway you would think they could do better.
Sorry the previous comment was Mary Lepiane.
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