nice, but only nice

Rating: 6/10 (6 June 2002)

Having had high expectations for this movie ( Having enjoyed the Spiderman comics without being a rabid fan ), I was rather let down by it - cries of HERESY !!!! start now .
Two reasons for this - the general pacing ( it takes almost an hour before the Hero finally gets his act together and starts swinging in earnest ) and the high amount of screentime the "talks from the heart" scenes take - especially the long and tortured talks between Spiderman(-to-be ) and MJ. Some crisp editing here could have done wonders for the whole movie. Its not really necessary to plow over the same territory repeatedly - even the daftest drunk will get the point that MJs family is broken, her boyfriend Flash is a classic idiot etc, after the first exposition - and frankly, I guess, the audience was not in the theater for a suburban sociological exploration.
Second, the longwinded (if perhaps necessary ) introduction, which IMHO could have been much more easily done with "flashbacks" - Its a long time before Peter Parker discovers his abilities, and even longer before he starts applying them creatively. Hmmmmpf - I expected more in this regard from Sam Raimi of all possible directors.
The costumes, set designs and camera work are on par, but nothing to remember as novel, impressive or breathtaking (like say, the "bullet time" sequences in Matrix ). I can live with the cybered up, armoured Green Goblin and never had a moment of disbelief seeing Peter spiderclimb up walls or swing and bounce through the streets like "Tarzan-on-speed".
On the up side, when the story takes off, the effects are brilliant, the acting by Macquire and especially William Dafoe is great to exceptional ( I only say "mirror sequence" - hats off to Mr Dafoe ), the small walk-ins from and references to the original graphic novel are well done, and there is a strange, wistful humour around. Unfortunately - only until the next overlong and sappy exposition scene ( I personally found the scenes with Aunt May especially tedious - strangely enough the women with us found the MJ scenes "stale"). Editing and pacekeeping are weak in this one, essential point. Sorry for repeating myself on this.
Not bad, but could have been way better.
6 out of 10 goblins