Greatest Super Hero Movie Ever

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2013)

Spiderman took me back to when I was 11, when I read the Spidey comics. More than any other comic-based movie, this is the comic book come to life, and it's better than any super hero movie I've seen before or since.
I know, I know, a lot of Dark Knight enthusiasts will poo-poo this assessment. Fine (I'd rank The Dark Knight at #2). The thing is, I like movies that balance the serious stuff with a sense of humor (the Spidey comics did this), which is where the Dark Knight franchise falls short. For example, the man-on-the-street stuff leading up to Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson's initial rant had me absolutely rolling. The ill-tempered and insufferable Jameson was done to a T by J K Simmons ("We can get a picture of Julia Roberts in a thong, we can certainly get a picture of THIS weirdo!"). He actually did the comic book character one better; his performance definitely was the straw that stirred the drink mid-film. This is a good thing, as Spidey isn't quite the wise-ass in the movie that he is in the comic (my only complaint, and it's minor).
That said, Tobey McGuire does a fine job of balancing Peter Parker, the nerdy science whiz kid, with his genetically-mutated Spiderman alter-ego, creating a bona-fide hero that the audience can root for. It seems every super hero has something that drives them to be a crusader for justice, and in Parker's case it was the guilt over failing to use his new spider powers to stop a thief who would go on to murder his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson in one of his many reliably good performances), who was also his only real father figure. As Parker's love interest Mary Jane, Kirsten Dunst is sweet and likable, with just the right amount of sex appeal tossed in. James Franco is good as Parker's spoiled best buddy Harry Osbourne. This leads us to..wait for it..Willem Dafoe, whose portrayal of Harry's father Norman, the arrogant scientist and CEO of Oscorp who puts his own personal ambition ahead of safety for himself and his test subjects, leading to his transformation (via ingesting/inhaling an experimental "performance enhancing" drug) into the thoroughly evil, wildly insane and megalomaniacal Green Goblin, is frighteningly convincing, so much so that you can easily look past the cheesy exo- skeleton outfit he wears. Again, I felt like I was seeing the comic book come to life.
As for the effects/action sequences, I know, they've been panned by some (notably Roger Ebert), but they looked good to me. I actually liked the fact that they weren't overdone. Ebert in particular criticized the CGI in this movie, but to me, ALL CGI looks phony and cartoonish. I thought the effects looked just fine as CGI goes, and the action sequences were first rate. One scene in particular where Spiderman is hanging by his web while holding onto a train car full of kids, and at the same time trying to save Mary Jane, is exceptionally gripping. It all leads up to a nice payoff at the end, with the final confrontation between Spidey and the Goblin.
The fact that this movie came out within a week of the disappointing Attack of the Clones served as a reminder to this former fan of the Star Wars franchise exactly why I like these kinds of movies. It's not about the special effects; it's the people and the story (pity George Lucas forgot about that. Unfortunately so had Sam Raimi by the time he made Spidey 3). What makes Spiderman such a great movie comes down to a good story (lifted from the comic but adjusted to fit the times), along with fun, likable characters you can root for, compelling villains to root against, and good peripheral characters to stir things up (aside from Simmons, Bruce Campbell makes the most of his screen time as a wrestling ring announcer (Ann: what's your name kid? Parker: The Human Spider. Ann: The Human Spider, that's it? That's the best you've got? Parker: Yeah. Ann: Aaaahh, that sucks!)
See this again, and don't bother with the reboot.