Decent flick. Not a classic, unfortunately...

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2002)

This wasn't a bad flick by any means. Lots of action, and special effects (many of the f/x was "fakey" but I was willing to let it go, because it was probably the best they could do with current technology.) The film had relatively good pacing and the writing stayed true to the original Spiderman "mythology". However, the film doesn't do too good of a job of detailing relationships very well. Peter Parker and Mary Janes relationship feels artificial, as well as the friendship between Harry Osbourne and Peter Parker. The "romantic" scenes between MacGuire and Dunst were also VERY, VERY cheesy. The scene in the hospital where Tobey kind of expresses his feelings for Mary Jane was bordering on "groan-out-loud" bullpuckey, as was MacGuire's final monologue at the end of the movie.
Another major problem I had was with Spiderman's personality. I've never been a big fan of Spiderman comics, but the one thing I liked about the character of Spiderman was that he was a joker -- a wiseass. He would always make funny observations or pointed insults whenever he was fighting a villain, and that made him human. MacGuire plays him too straight, and in the end, Spiderman feels boring. He actually is TOO geeky for the role. Yeah, Peter Parker is supposed to be a nerd, but he also had a sparkling personality, and I think that was lost in this film.
In any event, the film was exciting. I was never bored. I would have liked to see Spidey more crime-fighting, instead of the "montage" of him thwarting petty burglars, but it felt "empty". It didn't feel like Spiderman really did much for the city (unlike, say Superman or Batman did in their respective movies.) But again, I was never bored and the action was enough to warrant the price I paid for the ticket.