Spider-Man - movie review without spoilers (May 3, 2002)

Another of the comic book heroes makes his way onto the big screen. While I am of course familiar with the basic story (who isn't?), I don't know many details. For my purposes, when a film is made of a story that originates from another medium, I try to judge the movie not so much on the basis of how "faithful" it is to the letter of the original, but rather, on how the film holds up as a separate entity, with its own internal logic and story. That being said, I did enjoy this film a lot, and it had some great action sequences, but it didn't hold my attention for the entire 2 hours or so. I found myself getting restless and fidgeting in parts, but not for any reason that I could really pinpoint. It's a great popcorn movie, but not one that I can see myself watching over and over again.

Tobey Maguire ("Pleasantville", "The Cider House Rules") plays the title character, and while I wasn't sure about the casting at first, he does a fine job. Granted, he doesn't have to do many of the action/stunt sequences given the full-body nature of Spider-Man's costume. He does a good job of showing the struggles and pain that Peter Parker experiences and which motivate his transformation into Spider-Man. My only disagreement with his performance is in the voice-over narration that bookends the film. (For more comments, read the spoiler review.)

Kirsten Dunst ("Interview With The Vampire", "Little Women", "Dick", "The Cat's Meow") plays Peter Parker's would-be love interest, Mary Jane ("MJ") Watson. She does a fine job in the role, but then there's nothing particularly challenging about the role, except for the physical work. MJ is the typically pretty damsel in distress / girlfriend sidekick. Dunst plays her with the right degree of sweetness without making the character too sugary, but it was very strange to see her in this kind of fluffy role after having very recently seen her play the complicated and complex character of Marion Davies in "The Cat's Meow" (which I highly recommend, by the way). She really serves mostly as eye-candy in this film, especially in a rain scene, but there is certainly chemistry between her and Maguire that shows up well on-screen.

Willem Dafoe ("Platoon", "The Last Temptation of Christ", "Born on the Fourth of July", "Clear and Present Danger") plays Norman Osborn, father to Peter Parker's good friend, who plays a bigger role in Peter Parker's life than either expects. I think his is the stand-out performance. He has to play a very complex character with very disparate sides, and he manages to create a character that is not one-dimensional but rather, extremely interesting. The scene in front of the mirror especially displays this talent.

Cliff Robertson is wonderful and very effecting as Peter Parker's uncle.

For fans of a particular action show that is no longer on the air, look for one actor in a minor role and one actress in a cameo.

To find out what I consider a standout scene, what technique I enjoyed, what sequence I found particularly annoying, and one other point, see the film and then read the spoiler version of this review.

I was a bit surprised that there was a full opening credit sequence. I had expected a segue from the title card ("Spider-Man") directly to the start of the film given the familiarity of the story and the audience's probable anticipation for the start of the film.

Be sure to stay all the way through the end credits. It will definitely be worth your while.

And for fans of The Mark and Brian Show, I can't wait to hear what Mark's reaction is going to be when he discovers who the singer is for the World Unity Festival.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi ("The Evil Dead", "Darkman", "Army of Darkness"), and the score is written by Danny Elfman (Do you really need a list of credits?).

A definite recommend.

Oh, and before our screening, they showed a teaser trailer for "The Hulk", which brought loud cheers from the audience ... until the words "Summer 2003" flashed on the screen.

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