Seconded. It does indeed "rock"...

Rating: 9/10 (1 May 2002)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** First of all, I suppose I ought to say that from the age of about ten until around six years ago when I finally stopped reading the comics, I was a huge Spider-man fan. I suppose, deep down, I still am, though I hated what they ended up doing to the comics (the clones) and that's when I stopped reading. So, it's fair to say that I was extremely excited about this and that my inner twelve-year-old had been waiting his whole life to see it.

So. From the perspective of a serious fan, and one with absurdly high expectations, I absolutely loved it. They got everything right - cast, effects, plot, atmosphere. *Everything*. Furthermore, I think the changes they made (organic web-shooters, Green Goblin's costume) were the right decisions to make, since the original Goblin costume would have looked utterly ridiculous and been impossible to get right.
More good news - the original theme tune from the 1970s cartoon features on the end credits. It's worth sticking around for - I had a ridiculously silly grin plastered on my face afterwards.
Basically, the plot takes perhaps the two most famous Spiderman stories (his origin and The Death of Gwen Stacey) and mixes them together, only with an appropriate time period between them, allowing Peter to both graduate from high school and move to New York.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
*Comic geek alert! - Feel free to skip this bit.*
(In the original comics, the most famous story involves the Green Goblin discovering Peter's secret identity and then using his gorgeous blonde girlfriend Gwen Stacey to get at him. He throws her off the Brooklyn Bridge, Spiderman catches her with a web-line but the fall breaks her neck anyway. Spiderman is furious with rage and almost kills the Goblin, who is then killed by a trap he has set for Spiderman. In the comics, it's only after Gwen has died that Peter eventually gets together with Mary-Jane. Anyway, the film substitutes Mary-Jane for Gwen for obvious reasons, but there are a lot of similarities otherwise, which will be a real treat if you ever read those comics).
DEFINITE SPOILERS
As I said, the best thing about this is that they get everything right. All the familiar characters are there, including Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn (James Franco from Freaks & Geeks!). There are also appearances from un-named characters such as Betty Brant and Robbie Robertson - more treats for fans, I suspect. There's even a name-check for 'Dr. Connors' (aka The Lizard), who'd be a good bet for one of the sequels, as Spiderman's best foes always have some sort of close connection to him.

The set-pieces are terrific. They include: Peter discovering his Spidey-powers (no 'wakes up having 'webbed' himself scene, sadly); beating up Flash Thompson ( Yeah! ); the wrestling match ("The Human Spider!"); chasing the thief; the first attack by the Goblin; the frankly jaw-dropping bridge sequence and the -as promised- extremely violent fight at the end. (It's very very violent for a 12 - yet another example of them not copping out).
Raimi was the perfect choice for this - it's comic-book-ish but in the way it should be. It never takes itself too seriously, but it never dumbs it down or winks at the audience either. And, it has to be said, the effects that count (web-shooting, web-swinging, wall-crawling) are amazing. Okay, so some of the CGI Goblin stuff is a bit disappointing and some of the 'jumping' scenes are over-CGI'd (if that's a phrase) but overall it works beautifully. Raimi also pulls off some excellent 'shock-moments' that work really well.
The cast are terrific. Maguire is perfect, as is Dunst. And that rain scene...wow. When it started raining, the men in the audience all suddenly sat up to pay close attention. Let's just say, this movie will be HUGE on DVD...
Minor criticisms? Well, for one, J.Jonah Jameson isn't in it enough. He's fabulous in the scenes he's in, but then pretty much disappears. Hopefully they'll do the Scorpion in the future and then he'll have a bigger part. Secondly, as much as I loved Danny Elfman's score, it wasn't memorable in the way that his Batman score was - I'd forgotten it before I even got out of the cinema. Thirdly, it's not quite as funny as it should be (particularly in terms of Spiderman's trademark wise-cracks), though there's lots of humour in the first half. Having said that, though, given the tone of the second half, it was probably the right decision. Anyway, these are really minor criticisms, given the film overall.
One more thing. The ending doesn't cop out and is decidedly unexpected, but definitely the right decision. Congratulations to whoever fought (and won) that particular battle.
(Incidentally, see it in the best sound-equipped cinema possible - the sound in one scene in particular was amazing).
SPOILERS END
So, in short, the effects are spectacular , the cast is amazing , it's extremely dark in tone and it doesn't cop out at the end. I'm unashamedly putting this straight into my Top Ten of the Year.
Having said all that, I feel duty-bound to confess that not that many other people seemed to like it - I heard a lot of disappointed opinions on the way out of the cinema. So...it definitely won't be for everyone. But I bloody loved it. So there.