Along Came a Spider

Rating: 7/10 (6 December 2008)

Not as good as the best "Superman" and "Batman" movies, but better than the worst. "Spider-Man" has one of the best origin stories in comics; and, much of it hits the big screen intact. What makes the story of downtrodden young Peter Parker's transformation into the extraordinary "Spider-Man" so memorable it's the fateful decision he makes NOT to use his new powers to stop a criminal, early in his career. Later, he learns "with great power comes great responsibility." The impact of this powerful lesson in heroism is a little diluted by the addition of the "Green Goblin", and other alterations, into the preliminaries. It's still a powerful story.
The film's main weakness is it's descent into near cartoon state for much of the "Spider-Man" and "Green Goblin" action. After Tobey Maguire (as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man) and Willem Dafoe (as Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin) successfully bring their characters to life, they are "re-animated"; however exciting, the special effects dehumanize the characters. The "Green Goblin" story is not as effectively told as in the comics; but, the arch enemy father (Mr. Dafoe) and best friend son James Franco (as Harry Osborn) are well cast.
Director Sam Raimi works some marvels. Nice to hear Spider-Man say the magic word, "Shazam!" and hear Rosemary Harris (as Aunt May) tell him, "You're not Superman, you know." Nice to see Cliff Robertson (as Uncle Ben). And, leading woman Kirsten Dunst (as Mary Jane "M.J." Watson) is very sexy wet.
******* Spider-Man (2002) Sam Raimi ~ Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst