June 15, 2011
'Spider-Man' review roundup: tourist-targeted bore
 After a record 183 previews, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” opened on Broadway on Tuesday night and the reviews aren’t all bad.
The critics are in happy agreement that the musical’s April hiatus and overhaul clarified the plot, discarded distractions, amped up the presence of the Green Goblin and his crazy laugh yet maintained the magnificent sets and much of the flying.
However, most of the critics still found the show dull and dumbed down, best suited for tourists who don’t care if it feels more like Coney Island than Broadway.
Bono and the Edge certainly don’t make new fans with their music for the show.
Reeve Carney as Peter Parker and Jennifer Damiano as Mary Jane Watson draw decent to mixed reviews, while Patrick Page as Green Goblin and Michael Mulheren as newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson consistently impress. And everyone seems to love the sets by George Tsypin, the costumes by Eiko Ishioka and the digital projections by Kyle Cooper.
There is mixed reaction to the altered role for Arachne, the spider played by T.V. Carpio. Some of the critics lament the neutering of her confusing yet complex character that was near the heart of what original director Julie Taymor was possibly shooting for before Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa were recruited for the overhaul that ultimately pushed the budget toward $75 million.
“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has an open-ended run at the FoxWoods Theatre, located at 213 W. 42nd St., map. Regular tickets are priced from $67.50 to $147.50. When available, $30 rush tickets are sold each morning at the box office.
Age advice: “This production is recommended for ages 8 and up,” according to the show’s marketing materials. Ben Brantley in the New York Times calls it “straightforward children’s entertainment,” and the independent TKTS app recommends it for 13 and over.
The show’s good-news-only official Twitter feed, @SpideyOnBway, remained oblivious to the earlier problems, except when a performer was happy to be released from the hospital.
The “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” Broadway reviews:
New York Times - “First seen and deplored by critics several months ago — when impatient journalists (including me) broke the media embargo for reviews as the show’s opening date kept sliding into a misty future — this singing comic book is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February. It’s just a bore.”
Wall Street Journal - “Poetry, not special effects, is the engine that drives lyric theater, and ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ is as unpoetic as you can get. Mr. Aguirre-Sacasa’s book is flabby and witless. The score, by U2’s Bono and The Edge, sounds like a double album of B-sides (‘Don’t think about tomorrow / We’ve only got today’). Not only are the songs forgettable, but they never succeed in generating any dramatic momentum—all they do is get louder. As for Mr. Carney and Ms. Damiano, they’re pretty, bland and devoid of charisma.”
Daily News - “Emerging from all that tangled drama, Spidey 2.0 is more cohesive, streamlined and funnier than before, and its thrills are still intact - though it is still weighed down by so-so songs. ‘Spider-Man’ isn’t a great, gourmet meal, but it’s a tasty diversion.”
Hollywood Reporter - “Theater purists have been whining about the theme-parkification of Broadway since the 1980s, when Brit behemoths started dropping chandeliers and helicopters onstage. The grumbling grew louder when Disney began colonizing the theater district while 42nd Street was transformed into a gaudy tourist mall. But ‘Spider-Man’ is the apotheosis of theme-park product. It’s Orlando in New York.”
New York magazine - “With Taymor gone, and the ruins of her monstrous Lovecraftian vision overrun by Lilliputians, there’s simply nothing to see here, other than the sort of ‘stunt spectacular’ that wouldn’t look out of place amidst a backdrop of roller coasters and toddler-vomit. It’s a vast emptiness, void even of its animating madness.”
Post - “Visually speaking, the show bears Taymor’s outlandish stamp, carried out through the characters’ masks, George Tsypin’s boldly graphic sets and Eiko Ishioka’s fantastical costumes. In ‘Behold and Wonder,’ aerialists weave a gigantic orange tapestry — fans of ‘The Lion King’ will be in familiar territory. And anything involving skyscrapers looks fantastic, placing the characters against skewed, Cubist perspectives.”
Associated Press - “Page, though, is the real star. He’s a Shakespearean actor who played the title role in “The Grinch” and knows how to walk that fine line between camp and earnestness. He has a villainous voice that commands and excellent comic timing, and he provides the impish joy this show desperately needs.”
BackStage - “Spider-Man” threatened to go down in history as one of Broadway’s biggest flops. While it probably won’t become one of the street’s greatest smashes, it’s now a fun family show that will entertain fans of both superheroes and showstoppers. Was it worth the wait? For this combination fanboy and show queen, definitely.”
NorthJersey.com - “The retooled “Spider-Man” is, basically, a family show aimed at tourists.”
NY1 - “Dazzling as it all is, we get a mishmash of styles with a connect-the-dots feel that tends to undercut any real emotional investment in the characters. And yet there is a beating heart, thanks mostly to the fine-tuning of Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s romance.”
USA Today - “The new Spider-Man is more of an overt crowd-pleaser, but its most affecting features reflect the serious, arty aspirations of the original.”
Bloomberg - “And there is the flying, which doesn’t begin until an hour into the show. All told, it consumes about three minutes of the running time. Those minutes are thrilling, as Spider-Man and his nemesis, the Green Goblin, swoop and jab above our heads. “
Time Out NY - “It’s a hell of a lot better. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is now a coherent and mostly enjoyable entertainment for children and adults, albeit one still saddled with Taymor’s vestigial nuttiness and freshly dug plot holes all its own. “
Chicago Tribune - “The more dangerous stunts have been axed but the motion amped up, the crowd-pleasing flying comes off without an obvious hitch (at Friday’s press show at least), and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” generally takes its place as a mainstream, high-tech, megabudget entertainment. There were promgoers not far behind me Friday, lapping it up like a new downloadable app.”
amNewYork - “Bono and The Edge’s score remains the show’s weakest link. Their occasionally freaky, mostly generic rock songs have little theatrical flair, display no character development and just slow down the plot.”
Newsday - “So, is it better? Yes, the story makes sense now and, so far, no one has fallen down. But is it better than junk-food theater in a jumbo package? No.”
Financial Times - “Unfortunately, tipping your top hat – or, in the case of Bono’s songwriting collaborator, The Edge, doffing your knit cap – to Broadway geniuses also reminds us how second-rate your tunes are. The numbers – from a Cocteau Twins-ish “Turn Off the Dark” to a by-the-numbers U2 power ballad, “Rise Above” – are mildly engaging, nothing more.”
Washington Post - “On the plus side, however, the whole enterprise is now about 20 minutes shorter. “
Update: StageGrade calculates the median grade from critics as a C
Opening night pictures from Playbill
Image source: Official Spider-Man Windowcard.
Earlier: ‘Spider-Man’ opening officially delayed until summer (March 2011)
‘Spider-Man’ stuntman injured during fall in show (Dec. 2010)
‘Spider-Man’ secures Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood (June 2009)
Broadway’s ‘SPIDER-MAN’ pre-pre-sale has begun (June 2009)
‘Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark’ confirmed for Broadway (Feb. 2009)
June 15, 2011 6:57 AM in Broadway, Kids, Midtown
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