Alright the first edition of Fan Film Mondays! Now before we get into the review let me tell you something first. Whatever criticism or praise I give this movie I was strictly looking at this from a 1992 point of view. Meaning don't expect me rip apart the effects or anything because it goes without saying but, this was made long before fan films could rely on crowd funding sites like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo. So I'm only criticizing what the filmmakers had going for them at their time.
The Green Goblin's Last Stand is a 1992 fan film not only based on the Marvel Comics' character Spider-Man, but the issues #121-122 of The Amazing Spider-Man. Production was done by Dan Poole and Alpha Dog Productions distributed. Dan Poole also wrote and directed.
The story is, being Spider-Man was never simple for Peter Parker, but when his old foe Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin unexpectedly returns from the rehabilitation clinic Peter is naturally suspicious of him but also focuses on being in a relationship with his girlfriend Gwen Stacy. Norman is trying to keep it together, but he's slowly losing himself and it's only a matter of time before he transforms back to Spider-Man's deadliest foe.
- Negatives
I've got nothing.
- Mix
One mix is the pacing. A lot of times it can be uneven. The biggest example being Norman's transformation, those parts did drag for a bit. Meanwhile other moments have a much tighter momentum.
Then there's the acting. Let's start off with our biggest stars Dan Poole as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and James Kinstle as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. Dan is pretty good. He's got a solid performance and really goes all out during the final fight with Green Goblin. But James absolutely steals the show. He's wonderfully over the top. I dare say he truly nails that old school Green Goblin from the 70's. Then we get other performers like Allison Adams as Gwen Stacy. She wasn't terrible or anything. She's very earnest which does give her some charm. But since I gotta be honest with these reviews I do admit sometimes her emotional range is limited.
- Positives
First let's praise the faithful adaptation. While some might take issue with the dialogue, it's good see Dan follow the story (also called The Green Goblin's Last Stand) even when he does put his own orif stuff in there. Which is kinda funny considering that's what a lot of current filmmakers do today with their more high budget comic book movies.
The next aspect I'll praise is the stunts. Holy shit does Dan Poole have some balls on him! It's dangerous enough that he was holding onto a car while it's moving and climbing up on buildings, but this guy this freaking guy! He swung four stories off the ground with no safety net. Let me repeat. Dan swung four stories off the ground without a safety net! I'll fully admit it, the only way I'm doing a stunt like that for a fan film if there's like three or four safety nets underneath me.
The last aspect I'll give credit to is the clear passion. When watching this I feel Dan's love for Spider-Man. Not just in the fact he embodies the action and picked a critically acclaimed story arc, but he also recreated those key moments with passion and this especially grabbed my attention was how he made this with a love letter to the moral and emotionally complexity from Spider-Man writes the biggest ones being of course Stan Lee, but also the man who wrote The Green Goblin's Last Stand storyline himself, Gerry Conway.
While it unsurprisingly has some problems, The Green Goblin's Last Stand is not only pretty good, especially for a fan film made in the early 90's, but it's a stable of fan films. It's something people should watch if they're hardcore Spidey fans and if you're curious to see just how far we've come with fan films.
My final rating is, Good.
Guys, I hope you enjoyed this first edition of Fan Film Mondays. I've got plenty more to come. But for now due come back on Thursday, Jun 19th, for yet another comic book review. Only this time I won't be reviewing something from DC or Marvel. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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