The Power of the Sun in the Palm of His Hand

Rating: 9/10 (5 July 2004)

I believe that is the way Sam Raimi, must feel after witnessing the success of this movie in it's first few days.
Since I was old enough to go to the movies by myself, I have never seen a film twice in the theater. I mean it's expensive $8 bucks for the film and then $10 more for soda and popcorn, but that all changed today. Some 20 years later I have found myself in a strange position, I have returned to the theater only a few days after watching the Midnight Screening to see this astonishing film again. I paid without feeling like I had wasted my money. I hope to return once more for a 3rd time. It is simply that good. Worth every penny.
I don't know if Tobey Maguire or Kirsten Dunst turned in Oscar winning performances, but that's not why I went to see Spider-Man. The film was delivered in pure comic book form. Although you do not need to be a Spider-Man comic book fan to love this film it helps if you want to follow some of the inside jokes and why some dialog may sound familiar from old issue of Spider-Man.
The film is graced by a great many things, fantastic special effects without over doing it, astounding performances from the entire cast, the right amount of comic relief to get you past the more somber moments, a super evil villain to set the pace and last but not least the beautiful and talented Kirsten Dunst who can keep your attention all by herself.
It is not surprising that both men and women will love this film. Guys and kids will flock to see the greatest superhero ever swing through the best superhero movie ever, while women will surely enjoy the love story and moments that will bring a tear to ones eye. The only thing that was bad about this film is that it set the stakes to high and may be impossible to follow up this film with another squeal of equal or greater appreciation, I mean this truly is a hard act to follow. I have given a score of ten out of ten to movies that I can count on one hand from over 1400+ I have rated, but their is no doubt that this film gets that rating as well.
In short this is the best film of 2004 and I doubt anything else will even come close.