Monday, July 2, 2018
Tech on Film Spider Man Homecoming 2017 Part 1
Tech on Film Spider Man Homecoming 2017 Part 1
Despite being a huge fan of 1960s-1980s Spidey, Ive never fully liked the overrated Sam Raimi trilogy, and the disappointing Andrew Garfield era of Spider-Man movies. Peter Parkers appearance on Captain America: Civil War (2016), like the movie itself, was poorly written and had numerous flaws even if you werent a Spidey fan - Redbird taking out Pete, and Cap actually pulling Spidey off his feet was ludicrous (tensile strength of the webbing, proportionate strength of a spider, and Spideys ability to adhere to surfaces indefinitely be damned). Doesnt anyone know anything about physics anymore? Apparently, the Russo brothers adhere to the Comic Book Golden Rule of home court advantage (the title character in the movie/comic book is always right and cant possibly lose to a supporting character - a comic book trope from the 70s).
I fully expected Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) would disappoint me, and had zero plans of watching it. After a pleasant "accident" of renting the Spidey flick on Google Play, I was surprised I really, really enjoyed it. Thankfully, the Queens, New York set had nothing to do with the ridiculous Ultimate Spider-Bullshit animated series and Ultimate excrement books, or any garbage Marvel Comics publishes these days. The movie was enjoyable and there were moments I was genuinely concerned for the 15-year-old Peter Parker (Tom Holland). Its a fast-paced movie and despite older audiences and Millenials with a short attention span complaining about the Midtown Tech scenes, the high school parts of the movie are actually pretty short in the theatrical version. If you watch the movie, Peter actually resists joining any of the extracurricular activities and was only in Lizs party for less than a minute.
Notes on Peters Age
Stan Lee and his successor (Gerry Conway) on the Amazing Spider-Man title established that Peter was 16 when he was bitten by the radioactive spider, though other writers have vacillated over the years. 16 was an ideal age for a character back then because of legal reasons in the 1960s, and Lees inclination for romantic subplots. A 16-year-old Peter also allowed Conway and Lee to immediately age Peter to a legally responsible age of 18 after a few years of publishing the book, which allowed both to write plots that involved more adult-appropriate danger and situations.
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| I personally hate how those retards at Marvel Comics today and Marvel Studios keep focusing on a young, stupid, inexperienced Peter Parker, just for cheap laughs and a brief spike in comic book sales. Countless writers such as Denny ONeil, Roger Stern, and David Michelinie have depicted Peter as a mature, intelligent, and capable professional with success, and yet the illiterate morons still write him like hes 15 and doesnt know anything. Peter Parker has paid his dues since 1962 and is clearly more experienced than 95% of the characters out there. Scan from The Amazing Spider-Man #217 (1981). |
15 is an appropriate age for the MCU-version of Peter Parker to emphasise Peters immaturity and budding genius-level intelligence. Moreover, US law and the milieu in the US has changed enough that a 15-year-old can go through experiences a 17-year-old or 18-year-old in 60s can only dream about. Its mentioned in Civil War hes had the powers for 6 months, and Homecoming occurs 2 months afterwards, with Peter clearly correcting Stark during their argument hes 15, not 14.
2017 Tech in a 2017 Movie
I agree with critics regarding Spideys dependency on his tech-equipped suit. Peter Parker has never needed anything but his own mechanical inventions, his MacGyver-level resourcefulness, and his incomparable powers. The tech is unnecessary and I yearn for the mechanical (and analog web-shooters) and silk-screen suit that Peter has had to sew, replace, launder, and rent over the years since Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962). Having a tech-enhanced suit just lessens Peters value as a character, making him nothing more than a younger Iron Man with spider powers.
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| Spideys onboard drone has a cam feed with an impressive resolution and fidelity transmitted at an efficient real-time rate, unlike consumer drones from say manufacturers like Dji. |
There are plenty of tech that can be discussed in this series, but starting off with products from current electronics manufacturers is easier before taking on Spideys onboard tech, and classic comic book tech such as modern versions of Petes Spider-Tracer and the revamped Web-shooters.
Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and onsite Stark packing and shipping staff use a Dell Inspiron 15 2-in-1 (2016) series. The hinges, keyboard placement, and the Dell logo are a dead giveaway. The dark chassis is available for business users, though Happy and his onsite tech didnt take advantage of the backlit keys. The Inspiron 2-in-1 is clearly visible during calls made by Happy and after the transport ship takes off from Avengers tower.
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| Happy Hogan happily hugs his Inspiron 15 2-in-1 in tablet mode. |
Some reviewers dont like Ned, but anyone who really experienced the loneliness of adolescence, or remembers the innocence of youth, will appreciate Peters supportive friend. Ned uses a Dell Inspiron 15 7567 (2016-2017) gaming laptop. Gamers will recognise the red bezel and the unique rear vents of the 7567. Its not a particularly cheap laptop, but it has enough processing power to theoretically access the immense amount of data processed by Spideys suit. Dell has since released a newer Dell Inspiron 15 7577, which supports 4K and a newer NVIDIA GT card, but has a different and simpler set of rear vents from the 7567.
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| Ned and Peter would require a machine of adequate processing power to access the onboard system of Spideys suit, much less breach its security core. A gaming laptop would probably suffice with the right software (and tech skills). |
It was fully established during Peters introduction in Civil War that Pete is a dumpster diver - a person who collects old tech for reuse. It makes sense that the impoverished Peter would use an extremely old Sony Xperia (possible an unreleased S model) smartphone. The rubber case cant hide the legacy ports on the left-hand side, which reveals internal slots for older SIM cards.
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| Peters archaic smartphone could only capture low resolution mpeg video for his vlog. |
Although Spidey is tied to Sony, I almost thought it was an older iPhone because of the slider and the Slide to reply option, until I noticed the shape, top panel, thick form factor, and odd Receiver bar. Its clear that the production crew removed the Sony or Sony Ericsson logo to ensure viewers wouldnt attempt to purchase the discontinued Xperia model.
Note: Full disclosure - I worked on technical documentation for Sony Mobile smartphones, and reviewed user manuals for discontinued models.
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| The decade old Sony model Peter uses can still make basic phone calls and record video, though it cant run newer Android apps or access faster Wi-Fi and WWAN networks. |
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| Peters smartphone, like Peter himself, survives the crash landing of the Stark transport carrier. |
Ned clearly doesnt share the modest penny-pinching lifestyle of Peter Parker, because he uses a newer Sony Xperia X/XA/XZ smartphone series model. The unique fingerprint sensor on the right side of the smartphone and the high-res display are a dead giveaway.
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| Liz (Laura Harrier) is an improved version of the original Liz Allen from the 60s books, and from the excellent Spectacular Spider-Man (2008) animated series . Although Zendaya appeared in more movie promotions, her Michelle actually has a smaller role than Harriers Liz. |
The premium Sony Xperia smartphone is prominently seen when Liz takes the device from Ned, briefly speaks to Peter, and then ends up in the X-ray screening machine.
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| Both Peter and Ned have funny faces as their caller ID, as shown in the Sony Xperia XZ series scene at the security area at Washington DC. |
Continued in Tech on Film: Spider-Man Homecoming (2017) Part 2
