A very good superhero film

Rating: Null/10 (16 April 2016)

Released in the year of its title character's 40th anniversary, this is a very good superhero film. I have always been much more interested in DC than Marvel so, outside of this film and its first sequel, my familiarity with Spider-Man comes mostly from the 1990s animated series and what I have picked up by osmosis over the years. As such, I'll be reviewing these films on their own merits since that it is all I can do, really. Although there are a few silly moments, the screenplay by David Koepp is generally strong but it could have benefited from sharper characterisation. The relationships are painted in pretty broad strokes. The special effects are impressive for the time and Sam Raimi directs the film with a great deal of flair and energy. My favourite action scene is the Green Goblin's attack on the World Unity Fair but the finale is not quite as exciting as it could have been.
The film stars Tobey Maguire in a great performance as Peter Parker, a shy, awkward high school senior who finds that he can do whatever a spider can after he is bitten by a genetically modified - as opposed to radioactive - super-spider. Peter is highly intelligent but lacking in the social graces. He is disliked by most of his peers and is more or less at the bottom of the high school totem pole. When he develops his powers, Peter uses them for selfish purposes such as beating up his seemingly long-time bully Flash Thompson and entering a wrestling competition to win $3,000 to buy a car to impress the love of his life Mary Jane Watson. However, after his beloved uncle Ben Parker is murdered by a thief whom he had refused to stop barely an hour earlier, Peter learns the hard way that Uncle Ben was right when he said, "With great power comes great responsibility." The experience motivates him to become New York City's web-slinging protector and he quickly captures the public imagination. Maguire excels with the material which he is given and he is certainly able to convey Peter's social awkwardness and love for Mary Jane very well. However, I would have preferred if more emphasis had been given to the internal conflict that he faces as he tries to rectify his real life and his superhero identity. When it comes to Uncle Ben's death, I felt that we were told rather than shown the impact that it had on Peter.
Willem Dafoe is very good as Norman Osborn, the brilliant scientist and industrialist who tests his company's highly experimental super- soldier formula on himself out of desperation. As these things never end well, he is driven insane and becomes the Green Goblin. The Goblin manifests itself as a separate personality. This is very well illustrated in the excellent scene, perhaps the best in the film, in which Osborn "converses" with the Goblin while looking in the mirror. I really loved this scene as it emphasised that the Goblin is a dark reflection of Osborn's original personality who compels him to do things that he would not be capable of doing on his own. In this respect, the scene reminded me of the more extensive exploration of the concept contained in "Magic" (1978), in which the ventriloquist Corky Withers regularly talks to his extremely creepy dummy Fats. Unfortunately, the scene in which Osborn speaks to the Green Goblin's mask is nowhere near as effective. A further examination of Osborn's fractured psyche in more scenes along the lines of the mirror scene would have been very much appreciated. Speaking of the mask, I had mixed feelings about it as I loved the look of it but it prevented Dafoe from using any form of facial expression. I did like the fact that Osborn has a distant relationship with his son and Peter's best friend Harry, played well by James Franco. This served as a good contrast to his affection to Peter before he discovers his secret as well as to Peter's bond with Uncle Ben.
Kirsten Dunst is good as the very likable Mary Jane and the character is nice and sweet and everything but she doesn't have much of a personality outside of being the Love Interest. Still, she and Maguire have quite good chemistry and some of their scenes were quite touching. The famous upside down kiss is one of the aforementioned silly moments but I do think that it's nevertheless a cool and oddly romantic one. I wasn't really convinced by her relationship with Harry but this was largely because it is underdeveloped, having been inserted merely to provide an obstacle to her and Peter getting together. The film occasionally feels rushed in its second hour and this is the best illustration of that. Unsurprisingly, the great Cliff Robertson does not have much screen time as Uncle Ben but he is excellent in the scene, another of my favourites, in which he tries to impart his wisdom on Peter when it comes to the issue of responsibility. This is really the only time that which Robertson gets the opportunity to shine and it meant that I found Uncle Ben's death scene more affecting that it would have been otherwise. J.K. Simmons has even less screen time but he comes within a hair's breadth of stealing the show with his hilarious performance as the Daily Bugle's loud mouth, obnoxious, Spidey- hating editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson. However, I think the character's bark is worse than his bite as he seems to like Peter in spite of his bluster and does not reveal his identity as the photographer to the Green Goblin even when his own life is threatened. Rosemary Harris is good in the fairly thankless role of the supportive Aunt May.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable film but it could have been an even better one.