Web slingers unite

Rating: 8/10 (2 August 2014)

After 25 years in development hell, Sam Raimi(The Evil Dead, Darkman) and Columbia Pictures brought Spiderman to the big screen in the Spring of 2002. The film does justice to Marvel's Spiderman comic books and it's fun to watch even if you've never read a comic book. Tobey MacGuire plays Peter Parker and his alter ego Spiderman. During a field trip, a radioactive spider escapes from its cage and it bites Parker on the hand! The spider bite gives him superpowers such as a "Spideysense" and the ability to shoot webs. In the comic book, Peter uses "prosthetic web shooters". In the Spiderman movies, the web shooters are organic. Peter Parker has a crush on Mary Jane(Kirsten Dunst), a redheaded girl who goes to the same high school. After Peter's uncle Ben Parker(Cliff Robertson) is killed by a mugger, Peter fights crime as Spiderman. Spiderman has to help people as the malevolent, psychotic, power-hungry Green Goblin(Willem Dafoe) kills people in New York. TV's Spiderman and his Amazing Friends(1982) and a Spiderman T-shirt that I wore in 1985 were my first exposure to Spiderman. Although, Spiderman has been around since the 1960's. A live action Spiderman movie project was passed around from studio to studio. Cannon Films had the Spiderman filmmaking rights at one time. At one time, James Cameron was going to direct the film. A movie poster and a movie trailer with the World Trade Center was used to promote the Spiderman movie in 2001. Both disappeared after the Terrorist Attack on September 11th, 2001. Spiderman(2002) is jam-packed with patriotism and flag-waving. The visual effects in Spiderman have been criticized for looking rubbery and cartoonish, but they get the job done. The visual effects in Spiderman 2(2004) and Spiderman 3(2007) make it up to us by having eye-popping, glossy visual effects. The late "Macho Man" Randy Savage plays a wrestler that Peter Parker fights in an arena. Lucy Lawless, Bruce Campbell, and director Sam Raimi make cameos in the film. Tobey Maguire an inspired choice for Peter Parker/Spiderman. He has to be mild-mannered, strong, and good-looking at the same time. Kirsten Dunst i hate as Mary Jane there's no chemistry between her and Tobey but the upside down kissing scene is a classic. James Franco is quite good as Peter's friend, Harry Osborne. Willem Dafoe plays Norman Osborne and the Green Goblin. Rosemary Harris plays Aunt May and J.K. Simmons plays Daily Bugle chief J. Jonah Jameson. Danny Elfman's Spiderman music score is good. Spiderman was spoofed on The Simpsons and the "Weird Al" Yankovic song 'Ode to a Superhero'. John Dykstra(Star Wars, Batman Forever) crafted the visual effects for Spiderman(2002).