Over hyped, over long and poorly written

Rating: 5/10 (16 June 2002)

Spider-Man starts off well, Tobey Maguire does a great job as Peter Parker and Kirsten Dunst does her best with Mary Jane's role, although it is poorly written.Willem Defoe seems to be enjoying himself, if nothing else and kudos must go to the actor who plays J. Jonah Jameson as he delivers the best performance of the movie. The first shots of Spider-Man swinging through New York seem promising even if the CGI is a little rough in comparison to Star Wars, and Spider-Man's first confrontation with a car-jacker is played out fairly well. In the second half of the movie however, things go from good to bad to awful. The CGI of the fight scenes is laughable, with the Green Goblin in particular looking like . Plot holes start springing up all over the place until they are impossible to ignore and begin to seriously detract from the experience. The worst is saved for last however as the film is saddled with the most pathetic final showdown I have seen in a movie for quite awhile, with zero suspense and barely any action. Not what you want from a super-hero movie. Finally, to add insult to injury, Sam Raimi sees fit to end the film with a romantic scene so bad that it makes Attack of the Clones' romance seem positively Shakespearean. A mediocre movie at best.