‘Stan Lee’ Review: An Introduction Into The Comic Legend In Under 90 Minutes [Tribeca]
Stan Lee. Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival.
“If I had superhuman powers, wouldn’t I still have to worry about making a living or having my dates like me?” Stan Lee says this through archival footage in the opening narration of Marvel Studios’ documentary, promptly titled Stan Lee, named after the creator of the superheroes we’ve come to know and love. The documentary, directed by David Gelb (who previously worked with Disney for Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return), takes us back to the beginning — December 28, 1922, in this case. To be clear, this isn’t a movie about the origin of Marvel comics but one about the person who made them what they are today. Lee got his start as an assistant at Timely Comics, helping Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, as he puts it, “Asking if they had enough ink.” “It was like my alter ego,” Lee said, referencing the change of his (known) name from Stanley Lieber to Stan Lee, who, at 17, rose into an editorship at Timely Comics when the rest of the staff left.
Stan Lee. Courtesy of Disney.
At times, it feels like if you’ve seen the first 15 or so minutes of Stan Lee, you’ve seen all of it. The film feels more like an introduction to Lee’s life than a true biography, perfectly happy to stay on the surface rather than digging into things we didn’t already know. For younger audiences who aren’t familiar with Lee and the origins of Marvel’s comics and their characters, Stan Lee is the perfect entry point as a lighthearted, surface-level entry into one of the many works on Lee’s life. There’s no real narrative to the documentary, as the entire thing — narrated by Lee through archived footage from different points in his life — is more of a collection of Lee’s stories — some known, some less known — and experiences, until we near the present (in the final minutes) when we enter the era of Marvel Studios and near the end of Lee’s (who sadly passed in 2018) life.
There’s some innovative storytelling every now and then, presenting handmade, comic-eqsue visuals made out of paper and clay used to tell the parts of the story that don’t have a direct visual aspect (phone calls, etc.). The documentary is lighthearted enough to get by on just this, able to navigate between comics history lessons and personal history lessons, never losing sight of what (who) it’s about. It’s somewhat unclear, however, who exactly this documentary is for, as many of its potential viewers — those interested enough to watch a documentary about Lee’s life — likely already know a lot of the things they’re told over the film’s course, though it is a good entry point for new audiences.
Look, Stan Lee is a fun, lighthearted look at who Stan Lee is and what led him to become such an icon for many and a hero for some. It’s not necessarily afraid of discussing the darker moments in Lee’s life and career (his feud with Steve Ditko, among others) but isn’t necessarily the most engaging watch for those looking for something fresh and informative regarding the world of Marvel comics. It is nice, though, that the documentary presents its story almost from the first person, as opposed to collecting interviews with others to tell this story, as this is the more interesting — and appropriate — manner to approach such a life, one that — to come back to the opening line of this review — feels personal and relatable, even when it feels more like a museum exhibit.
Stan Lee premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10.
