Spider-Man

Released 2002
Stars Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, Rosemary Harris, Cliff Robertson
Directed by Sam Raimi

In comic book language, this is an "origin" story, meaning that it tells how Spider-Man came into being. The movie starts by introducing us to nerdy high school senior Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), who is one of the least cool kids in school. He's shy and smart, and the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), doesn't know he exists, even though he has lived next door to her for more than 10 years. Peter's best friend is Harry Osborn (James Franco), the underachieving son of the rich and arrogant scientist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). Peter lives with his uncle, Ben (Cliff Robertson), and aunt, May (Rosemary Harris), who are like a father and mother to him.

Things change rapidly for Peter when, while visiting a lab at Columbia University, he is bitten by a genetically altered spider. Overnight, Peter gains arachnid powers - a sixth sense, the ability to climb walls, unnatural strength and endurance, amazing agility, and glands on his wrist that allow him to spin webs. Eventually, Peter is forced to make a choice between hiding his abilities and using them for personal gain or coming into the open and helping humanity. After choosing the latter and donning the red-and-blue costume, Peter Parker gives way to Spider-Man.

Summary by James Berardinelli

I loved the Spider-Man comics as a kid, and this is a faithful and entertaining adaptation. The story holds together well, with just a few weaknesses. The biggest is how M. J. didn't acknowledge Peter's or Aunt May's existence for years, but later is a close family friend. That rankled me a bit, as it felt the movie was trying to compress events too much. It would have been better to have changed the story to make it flow better. I was surprised by Tobey Maguire's performance, as I thought he did a great job in both roles. Willem Dafoe is serviceable, but I found the Green Goblin's mask disconcerting. I think it should have had a hinge on the jaw or something to allow the face to move. It helped that they allowed us to see Dafoe's mouth behind a black screen, but the giant immobile mask was distracting. Given what they had to work with, however, they did a good job to not have a scene with two protagonists whose eyes and mouths were hidden. That would have been difficult to watch. Lastly, I enjoyed the action scenes. I agree with Roger Ebert's statement that they didn't feel tied to the laws of physics, but I thought the scenes had a comic book feel that blended well with the rest of the film. Overall, it's good entertainment. --Bill Alward, June 9, 2002