The Toby Show

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2002)

"Spiderman" was fun, moving, and overall entertaining. However, without Toby McGuire as Peter Parker, I cannot imagine the movie being anything but predictable and meaningless. That is to say, he made the movie. It was his charm, his screen charisma that is almost entirely accountable for it's success.
Now, I am a big fan of Willem Dafoe, but, as good as he was, he alone couldn't have saved his poorly-scripted Goblin. Why are villians written for the big screen so one-dimensionally? With all due respect to Dafoe, Green Goblin didn't do it for me.
The special effects played like something seperate from the live action of the movie. It was like watching a Sony Playstation version of Spiderman slinging through the city. It didn't work, it didn't mesh. However, it also didn't ruin the movie for me either.
Again, I can't recall too many movies that clearly are saved by a performer in as big a way as "Spiderman" is by Toby Maguire. I have no respect for the disgusting paychecks earned by Hollywood actors today; however, for the money this film's made, they should offer Mr. Maguire whatever he wants for the sequals.