A Very Conventional Dilemma Besets a Superhero

Rating: 8/10 (17 July 2004)

Take away all the high tech wizardry and special effects and what you have here is average Joe Spider-man - another young guy with, apparently, a lot of life's advantages who just can't make a commitment to a gal he loves and who craves him body and soul. I hope Tobey McGuire isn't like this in real life.
Yep, that's Peter Parker (d/b/a Spider-Man) in a nutshell. Mary Jane Watson, aspiring thespian, played by Kirsten Dunst, most fetching and accomplished actress, loves Peter and he threatens to commit but predictably pulls back, breaking her heart. Any surprise that she's gets engaged to an Air Force astronaut as a consolation prize?
Lots of action here but also a bit too long. Fifteen minutes could have been shaved off easily. And should have been. Also a wee bit too loud. Theater sonics were great but it got deadening at times with the uneding rolls of major chords.
But...with all the computer-created effects and the ability to create any part of the world or a new one, can anyone explain how an inauthentic New York transit elevated train marked with Bay Ridge (in Brooklyn) as its destination winds up on a terrorizing sojourn on Chicago's Dan Ryan line? Very upsetting.
Clearly a box office winner for all the principals involved.
Nuff said.
8/10.