In review

in hopes that everyone is going to see this movie, i won't say anything to ruin it for anyone!

spidey is back with his ever-growing internal conflict of whether to put his personal life on the shelf for the good of mankind. spiderman has always been my favorite superhero, mostly because of the more mainstream comic book heroes, he seems like the most deservedly conflicted. batman chooses his occupation more from his own desire and not compulsion. superman is an alien and really has no choice in the matter; his path is more clearly defined because he was born with the gift. the main characters of x-men have more of a conflict with men than with themselves. i admit i have done no research on the hulk, but what do you really need to know except he's a cranky green thug of a guy who goes around in shredded clothes? that red and blue bodysuit is much cuter. spidey has the responsibility placed upon him and has to figure out whether he'll embrace it or ignore it, in quintessential post-adolescent, pre-adulthood fashion.

like in the original movie, there are plenty of suspenseful moments that merited clenched teeth and ... ahem, neck spasms. the subway fight scene is fairly grueling. MJ is less the "unattainable" object of peter parker's affections and more the, in her own right, conflicted, neglected and lovelorn heroine. harry osborne is portrayed rather immaculately by james franco ... the "is-he-good-or-is-he-bad" boy of the film. aunt may has a lengthy, verbose and burdensome speech about the world needing heroes but is still the perfect aunt may. the villain, doc ock, is both more and less menacing than depicted in the previews. i'll leave it at that. resolutions arise in the movie that were frankly unexpected and as a result quite elating.

in all, it was quite worth the indeed bleary-eyed trip back to elkhart. and i didn't even have to make as many stops as i thought. chelsey lives right by two of the girls, so i only had to take a pair of sisters home. i'll probably pay for it tonight during my coaches' meeting.

one of the best parts of the movie was anticipating the strains of "vindicated," which, as i'd presumed, i had to wait till the ending credits for. and that's what i felt at the end ...