Online immersion: Nicolas Cage played a drinking and aging Spider-Man
The main premiere of the week is the first TV series in Nicolas Cage's career. "Spider-Noir" was shot in two versions at once: black and white and color. Set in 1933, Cage plays a tired private investigator who has decided to give up spider superpowers forever. Everyone agrees that this is the artist's best role in recent years and an unexpected look at Spiderman that goes far beyond the canons of comics and past films. All eight episodes have already received several versions of pirated voiceover in Russian. But the more people who watch the series, the fiercer the debate about whether it should be considered a success, and even more so a masterpiece. Warning: spoilers!
Nicolas Cage made his TV series debut
The appearance of a Spider in the noir style cannot be called a surprise in itself. Back in 2018, in the breakthrough animated full-meter Spider-Man: Across the Universes, Nicolas Cage voiced this character from a parallel reality who helped Miles Morales adopt a new identity and find his place in the world. Therefore, when it became known that Sony was developing a series about this hero, few people were surprised.
A shot from the TV series "Spider-Noir"
Of course, Nicolas Cage has never played in a TV series before, and this is a big event for all fans of the actor. But it was known that he had been eyeing this format for a long time. For example, the Tiger King project based on the Netflix superhit of the same name was being developed for a long time, and Cage was an ideal candidate for the role of Joe Exotic, but unfortunately the show did not take place.
Amazon Prime online cinema decided that since everything was already up to date, there was nothing to delay, and this week it posted the entire season of the Spider-Noir series in its entirety. It is clear what dictated the decision, and we will talk about this logic below, but the effect has been achieved. The series instantly turned into a global pop culture super event.
A shot from the TV series "Spider-Noir"
Those who don't have a streaming subscription quickly found a place to, as they say, "download Spider-Noir for free and without registration," because the first reviews from those who at least started watching created a crazy sundress. And the contrast between the cold shower from the leading critics and the wild delight of ordinary viewers was too intriguing to stay away.
How did "Spider Noir" turn out?
One of the main features of the series is that it can be watched in two versions. One is black and white, completely stylized in classic American noir. The second one is in color, but it looks like it was shot in the ancient Hollywood Technicolor format with its garish, overly bright colors. Of course, the first version is a priority, but it seems that the audience potential of the project is such that the audience will watch one version first, and then the other one immediately. There were already people on the forums who didn't sleep at night, but they had already mastered both options. And they can be understood.
"Spider-Noir" can be annoying, but what you can't deny him is that he surprises, and he does it throughout the eight episodes. It all starts in 1933 in New York City. Elderly detective Ben Riley is struggling to make ends meet and is slowly getting drunk. Actually, he's a Spider (yes, that's what he calls himself here), he has superpowers, but he threw away his costume a few years ago when he couldn't save the girl he loved from death. I decided for myself that if there are no superpowers, there is no responsibility.
A shot from the TV series "Spider-Noir"
Wait a second, you might ask, who's Riley? Peter Parker! No, Ben Riley. A completely different person. He has a mutation because the Germans experimented with insects in the First World War, and Riley was just fighting in those parts, although how such an old man was taken to the front is anyone's guess.
So, old man Riley grabs any job, including spying on other people's wives, whom he can then blackmail. He's an antihero, quarrelsome, depressive, narcissistic, and insecure at the same time. His only friends are black journalist Lonnie and Latin American assistant Janet Ruiz.
Following the Chinese restaurant singer Kat, Riley realizes that the city is in danger. Irish godfather Silvermane gathers a mini army of subordinates with superpowers to rule the city. And either Riley will go get his costume (if a dusty bag with lanterns instead of eyes can be called that), or the mutants will take over the metropolis. And the old man has one important feature: he cannot stand aside when innocent people are offended. We'll have to fight.
A shot from the TV series "Spider-Noir"
Nicolas Cage himself stated before the series was released that his character was 70% Humphrey Bogart, 30% Bugs Bunny. The phrase has become a catch phrase, but in the first episodes we see only "Bogart", that is, the classic noir protagonist who always gets punched in the face, tries to howl like a wolf in order to survive in the wolf world, and loses his vigilance when meeting any femme fatale. Bugs Bunny appears in the second half of the series. If you're not sure if you should watch this show, turn on episode seven right away.: It's going to be the best scene in the movie. It is not related to the plot, so it can be briefly retold.
Riley is once again depressed at the bar with a glass of whiskey, and the local drunks are yelling that the Spider has let everyone down and is generally a worthless person. Riley's nerves give out, and he delivers a short but succinct monologue about how Spider is also a human being, it's hard for him too, he has the right to be weak. The men are laughing, and a completely drunk Riley, staggering, somehow pulls on a superhero mask and arranges a drunken brawl with cobwebs scattering in all directions to the smash hit Sway. By the way, the soundtrack in the series is filigreed, and when Amy Winehouse suddenly starts playing in the credits, it's stunning.
A shot from the TV series "Spider-Noir"
Even if the rest of the series didn't exist, these few minutes could have been released as a separate short film, and it would have garnered millions of views, because this is Cage's acting benefit at his best. An elderly man, battered, but full of grace, freedom, self-irony, and passion. And it immediately becomes clear why the series was released in full: some viewers might have thought that noir would remain noir, and the postmodern parody that sometimes tends to "Deadpool" would not be there. But it will be! And if you manage not to burst out laughing when you "cut" footage of a drunk Riley, who, as it turns out, regularly makes "cuming outs" in front of his assistant, admitting that he is actually a Spider, then you probably have some kind of superpower yourself.
The only problem with the series is that Cage can't pull everything on himself, and the first season itself is striking not so much for stylistic flirtations as for missed opportunities and strange omissions.
Let's take the chosen genre — noir. Visually filled with uneven light, nervous shadows and expressionistic compositions, "Spider Noir" seems to fit the bill, especially if you didn't watch "Ripley" last year. But in noir, this visual solution also has dramatic content: we must be afraid of the city, slums, and passersby — danger lurks everywhere. This should be especially felt in the crisis year of 1933, at the peak of the Great Depression.
A shot from the TV series "Spider-Noir"
But we are quickly made to understand that there is nothing to be afraid of. The spider will come to the rescue, he himself is not in danger, as he is practically immortal, invulnerable. The only thing we fear is that Riley will drink the anti—mutant serum, turning into an ordinary old alcoholic.
Noir worried about vicious eroticism, but here Riley appears as a cloud in his pants, and in principle eroticism, not to mention perversity, does not exist. Therefore, femme fatale is not fatal, although it was initially declared so. Noir screams that the world lies in evil, around corruption, lawlessness, help will not come. This will practically not happen here, and Riley's sharpest joke on the topic is "I still don't understand, is this mayor a Democrat or a Republican?"
How many things could be shown in New York in 1933, where millions of people suddenly turned out to be beggars, banks were closing, office workers were thrown out of windows. Dust storms across the country have turned farmers into homeless wanderers. In Germany, which is so often remembered here, Hitler came to power. But there is also the USSR, Manchuria — the heroes could at least read newspapers for decency. The veterans of the First World War, to whom Riley belongs, became a national disaster, they were dispersed by troops in the streets. Bootleggers have created a parallel reality in a country with prohibition. There is practically no such thing in the series, and without this background, noir is no longer very noir.
A shot from the TV series "Spider-Noir"
There has been a wave of lynchings all over America, and here a black journalist is running around the city — and it doesn't trigger anyone. The Hispanic assistant of a white detective doesn't surprise anyone. A Chinese woman performs in a white restaurant — and it's fine for everyone too. Is this the New York of the 30s, you ask? It's too alternative. The lack of sharpness robs the series of energy, it arises only when Cage enters the frame — everything is based on his charisma. Although even he is not given many opportunities to prove himself. The self-destructive energy that he had in "Leaving Las Vegas" or "The Bad Lieutenant" won't be here, it's primarily a superhero movie for teenagers masquerading as noir. Black and white stylization, but less aesthetically pleasing than, say, "Wanda/Vision".
There are not enough bright personalities in the character system that you would like to follow. One hope was for the brilliant Irishman Brendan Gleeson, who was invited to play a supervillain, but the showrunners did not come up with material for the artist. Gleeson is impeccable in every scene, but he has nothing to play, and with his Shakespearean dramatic gift and phenomenal sense of humor, he could become the main anchor of the series.
As a result, the general audience is happy: they have been given Cage and a show that stands out against the general background as almost arthouse, but at the same time clearly spectator content. And the audience is perplexed with minimal viewing, then indignant, and then goes to review the very noirs that the series so sterically imitates. Amazon, meanwhile, is reaping the laurels and discussing the second season.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
