SPIDER-MAN: INTRACTABLE
(FAN FILM)
REVIEW
"One year after a fatal accident claims the lives of several loved ones, Peter Parker, an emotionally scarred outcast, takes upon an alter ego to fill the void left by their absence. Leap into a more gravitas, original take of our favourite web-slinger as he battles himself and several hap-hazardous events to overcome his apathy and become an icon of hope to millions."
This is the description given to the increasingly successful Spider-Man Fan Film that was created by Heath Gleason of Pavilion Arts, in association with Joey Lever of Digital Heart Films. For those of you who are unaware of Heath and Joey's success, here is a brief insight into their achievements.
Earlier this year Joey and Heath worked together on a different Spider-Man Fan Film called Spider-Man: Lost Cause. It was truly fantastic and had a incredibly impressive run time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. Not to mention that it has had almost 250,000 views as well as setting a whole new standard for Spider-Man Fan Films. Joey has many prestigious awards such as "Best short film" and the "Hudson Taylor Music Video Competition".
Over the years Heath has won many awards for some of his work with his most notable awards being an award from Congress and the 1st Place winner of SkillsUSA's Television Production Competition.
To find out more about Joey and Heath click the images below.
Joey Lever
Heath Gleason has created a purely unique and original take on the classic comicbook character that we all know and love. This incarnation of Peter Parker/Spider-Man is not what we are used too, he has a lot more depth due to the emotional trauma of losing his loved ones. But this does not make him a weak character as we would expect. It makes him incredibly driven and very interesting to watch on screen. His personality is far from simplistic, each and every scene has a flurry of emotions ranging from deep sadness and betrayal to acceptance and sacrifice.
'Intractable' was a masterpiece. With a run time of just 33 minutes and a budget of only 30$ it exceeded all expectations I could have possibly had. Just from the opening credits scene I could see what sort of character this Peter Parker had become. Alone and solitary, yet he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Around two minutes in the tone of the film is set. The familiar awe inspiring music I would associate with a hero is replaced by an unfamiliar yet fitting ensemble of harsh instruments. This tone of a more harsh Peter Parker is kept through out the whole of "Intractable". When I first saw Heaths Peter in action he seemed very withdrawn and harsh. He didn't seem to care all that much that he was missing school or letting his friend Nathan down. He is aware, but withdrawn.
Heath shows Peters trauma and emotional scarring in a incredibly genius way with what I assume is a school counsellor. This use of a real life resource in a Fan film is something I have never seen before and I wholeheartedly admire it. Heath has managed to humanise Peter in a way that has never been done before. Instead of Peter being the funny joker who always says his opinion and laughs off his insecurities, he now bottles up his feelings and refuses help. Not because he wants too, but because he feels he has to.
When the traumatic event is revealed the anger Peter has is very clear, and this is where Heath has kept a very vital part of Peter Parkers personality. The feeling that he is always responsible for the sorrows in his own life and others. Although Peter was half way across the world, he blames himself for his loved ones deaths. Even though he has a surrogate family who support him, he holds on to the memory of his Father.
At eight minutes in Peters method of bottling up his emotions is no longer sufficient. I could feel the pain in Peters voice as he started losing control of his emotions and pushing away his best friend Nathan and his surrogate family.Heath executed this scene in a very realistic manor. As a stand alone scene it was very powerful and I may go as far as saying that it is my favourite Peter Parker scene in 'Intractable'.
Heath adds a certain sadness and mystique to 'Intractable' when Peter goes back to his childhood home. He looks through his fathers notes and comes across an image of Cletus Kasady, otherwise known as Carnage. Joey Lever portrays the psychotic killer fantastically, he is both crazy yet intellectual, and that makes him dangerous, yet he is oddly sinister. In this scene, the combined skill of both Joey and Heath really does show, the way that even though Joey is thousands of miles away in England. This scene works seamlessly, it is clear from this scene why Heath has won so many awards.
The following scene affected this version of Peter in an almost indescribable way. Peter learns that his Father did not care for him at all, that he was nothing more than a Oscorp experiment gone wrong due to circumstance. It is obvious that Peter was very hurt and betrayed upon hearing all of this. The one solid thing he had held on to had betrayed him. His own Father. The emotion in this scene is very strong, I feel sorry for Peter so much. That is until the "Revelation".
At this point in the Fan film I thought it could not get any better. I was wrong. Heath used ideas directly from the Ultimate comicbooks to create believable solution to a pressing issue. This solution provided him with what is commonly known as the Symbiote suit.
With Peters new found power he is thrust straight into a situation where he tries to save a plane that is about to crash land. Much like that of the one his Aunt and uncle dies on. But his efforts were in vain and he was unsuccessful. The Visual Effects and audio effects were done beautifully. If there is one thing I know that will always be done well in a Digital Heart Film or Pavilion Arts film it is the special effects.
The plane crash signified that although he could not save a single one of the passengers on board he has to be okay with it, because it's not what he wants any more. He no longer wants to feel responsible for everything bad if there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. This leads to Peter finally finding closure.
The only way Peter could find closure was by talking to the man responsible for robbing him of happiness and forgiving him. By letting go of all that was hurting him and causing him to be bottled up and apathetic. Even if that means completely moving on from the life he once had, and becoming a "Hero".
My final statement on 'Intractable' will be that I thought that Heath played Peter Parker brilliantly. Each and every emotion was there. I did not want to take my eyes off of my screen even for a second for fear of missing one small detail of this fantastic and unique story. This truly was a masterpiece and I can not wait to see how 'Intractable' Peter interacts with 'Lost Cause' Peter in 'Spider-Man: Another World'. Especially due to the fact that 'Lost Cause' Peter looks oddly similar to Cletus Kasady.