Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave

By chicago_chris in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 8, 2004 6:25PM

With its huge haul over the weekend, we're guessing a fair number of you saw the wonder that is Spider-Man 2. (Hey, it was even given "Best! Superhero Movie! Ever!" status by own hyperbolic thumbster Roger Ebert.) And while the movie has plenty of things to marvel over – from Alfred Molina's spectacular Doc Ock to the improved script (thanks, Michael Chabon!) and effects to Kirsten Dunst's "acting" – Chicago, and New York, viewers might be most interested in that elevated train line running through downtown Gotham. You see, no such train really exists in the Big Apple, but is clearly an appropriation of our own beloved El, or "L" if you want to get all colloquial about it.

The debate about this has been raging for the last two days with our friends over at Gothamist. We just wonder why the filmmakers bother setting the movie in NYC (with its Columbia shout-outs and all) when they're going to blatantly fabricate parts of the city? NewCity's Ray Ride, in his review/interview with director Sam Raimi, wrote, "Raimi and his well-compensated team spend the money well, creating a digitally enhanced Manhattan that even poaches a swath of Chicago, staging a chase setpiece on the Manhattan elevated-which doesn't exist, except for the landscape they've incorporated from the El." While this is one of the many maddening little mistakes in the movie, Chicagoist thinks we should all just focus on what's important here: the scene, no matter where it's set, kicks ass. Sure, it's no French Connection chase sequence, but still...