Spider-Man swallows Clones whole Comic hero dwarfs Lucas' creations

The Jedi Knights are earning big bucks across the world but do not expect hem to devour Spider-Man.

The latest installment in the Star Wars series, Attack of the Clones, is a huge hit but its success is being dwarfed by a stronger performance by Spider-Man. Audiences and critics have embraced Spider-Man with far more warmth than Clones. "Spider-Man is the best big-screen comic book adaptation since Superman in 1978," wrote a critic for CNN.

Audiences, who are seeing Spider-Man several times, are enamored by the story of the brilliant but socially misfit Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who, by a quirky accident is turned into a Spider-Man and chooses to use his supernatural powers to fight evil. They are less interested in the continuing exploits of the Star Wars gang of heroes who have to put up a protracted fight against evil men in their galaxy.

At its current pace, Clones could end its American run with about $320 million, nearly $100 million less than what the previous installment Phantom Menace had earned while Spider-Man could end its run with at least $425 million. Worldwide, box-office experts expect Clones to grab about $350 millions and Spider-Man with $600 million. In that case, Spider-Man will become the second film to earn $1 billion worldwide, a phenomenal gross but way behind Titanic's $1.8 billion.

Clones, which has entered the third week in North America, has grossed $210 million while Spider-Man has scaled up to $339 million. From the day of its release Clones has been losing more box-office altitude than Spider-Man.

Many people who have seen both the films say that while both have spectacular special effects, they find Spider-Man emotionally more satisfying than the Clones. At several screenings of Clones in New York many people laughed out loud during the love scenes. Several people groaned at the dialogue, complaining later that it did not sound true.

"There is no chemistry between Natalie Portman (Padme Amidala) and Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker)," said one man. Christensen, who plays the young knight assigned to protect former queen and now senator Padme, was criticised for being too wooden. Anakin falls in love with Padme. She tries to discourage him, telling him that he is not following the path set for him. But both succumb to love.

There is great scope here for tension and drama. But the scenes, which take about 10 minutes of screen time and are crucial to the development of Anakin's character, fall flat.

"The plot is standard, and the dialogue, even for something intended for young people, is curiously flat," the Los Angeles Times critic complained. "It ranges from the pious ('The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it') to the predictive ('Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me,' Obi-Wan Kenobi jokes with Anakin) to the pathetic, as when Anakin grumbles about Padme Amidala, 'I've thought about her every day since we parted--and she's forgotten me completely.' "

A man who said he loved the film "great deal" but won't see it again, asked:

"Could not (director) George Lucas have learned something from James Cameron and how he played with our emotions?" He was referring to the love scenes in Titanic. "That film made me cry," he said. "It had spectacles and great emotions."

Spider-Man has more novelty than Clones which is viewed rightly as a sequel to Phantom Menace. Though there have been many big budget films including Batman about supermen, the Spider-Man comics have never been filmed before. The older fans of the comics have waited for four decades to see the exploits of their hero on the big screen. For the younger audiences, who might not have been the fans of the comics, the movie offered huge thrills, spectacle and winsome performances.

"Watching Spider-Man come to life on screen delivers the kind of thrill we haven't seen since Tim Burton's Batman in 1989," wrote a reviewer in Cincinnati Enquirer, reflecting the views of many other reviewers. "Spider-Man is an adventure with heart and brains. It's everything a summer film should be."

Tobey Magurie, a little known actor till the other day whose biggest hit The Cider House Rules had grossed a decent but unspectacular $70 million in North America, has become a star overnight. Many critics have said that while initially some moviegoers had misgivings of him playing the title role, they were awed by his superlative performance.

"To those unfamiliar with the legend of the superhero, Tobey Maguire may seem a strange choice for the role," a commentator for CNN said, "but he fits the part like a spandex glove. More important, Maguire is perfect as Spidey alter ego Peter Parker, a mild-mannered high school student who borders on being a complete geek".