Messy, and only about the dollar.

Rating: 5/10 (10 January 2010)

I'm a fan of the Spider-man comics printed from 1960 through 1980ties. The golden Era of Marvel and Comics in general. These years the Spider-man stories were PURE ART..the stories, the drawings, everything was to say the least..GENIUS.
Everything else coming from Marvel after this, being it Comics, Movies or whatever, is pure GARBAGE. Violent, gloomy..for some reason they think that the more people who dies in extreme violent ways, the better it is. WRONG. Originally. When someone died, it was a serious matter. Not today, about 20 people get killed and the bystanders still clap and smiles when Spidey saves Mary Jane. What about the massacre just happened !?
This has almost nothing to do with the original spider-man.. My main beef is with the script, not the actors or the effects. But to briefly go there, Tobey don't remind me of PP and Kirsten Dunst don't remind me of MJ.
The people behind the original Peter Parker and Spider-Man did a lot of thinking when they created the characters. What they created WORKS. Why change it ? Why did they change his net shooters to organic ? The thought of a human throwing organic web makes me wanna throw up, same with the hair or whatever it is that enables him to climb.
Peter Parker arguing with Uncle Ben, telling him not to "act like his dad". This is very out of character for Peter Parker. Peter Parker refusing to stop the mugger that later kills his uncle. In the original it's because he just wants to mind his own business. In the movie, it's sort of to get back at the wrestling manager who cheated him. Again, this is very out of character, Peter Parker does not contain this kind of malice.
When Peter Parker find the mugger, he doesn't do anything to save him when he falls out the window. He don't even try. He is facing him unmasked, making it necessary to kill him of course. Again, why change the original story ? Here Spider-Man simply catches the mugger and leave him to the police. Spider-Man is a Super Hero, not a Killer !
But of course, I forgot, if someone is not killed every ten minute, the movie becomes boring ! or so they think.
Mary Jane being in love with Spider-Man. She is starting to have a thing going with Peter Parker and suddenly she starts making out with Spider-Man, someone she just met, tongue and all..just wrong on so many levels.
As so many things in this movie, it is just there, just for being there, for no reason as it never really lead to anything, or has any consequence. Mary Jane is pretty off character, as this serious, dull girl. A bit nerdy actually. Totally different from in the comics. In the comics there's no reference to her having an abusive dad, there she is living with her mother and have no domestic problems at all.
The thing about her father is never used for anything later in the movie, so why was it even mentioned ? Strangely, even though she looks like this nerdy, quiet girl, she still hangs with the cool bunch in the school. Can't they just make up their mind and simply put her in a category ! Just another annoying little thing.
Aunt May and Uncle Ben are kind of underdeveloped. You never get any sense of their personalities. Small passages like Uncle Ben just having lost his job keeps you alert to what next what will happen to him now, but of course, this is never mentioned again and was just there because they didn't know what else to put there.
Peter Parker fighting Flash Thompson in the can tine using his super powers and throwing webs all over. None wonders about why the weakling Peter Parker suddenly can beat the strongest guy on campus...or why he is suddenly moving in bullet time ! Stupid really. I had still a vague hope for the movie before this, but not after. This is by the way the only reference to Flash Thompson, a huge character in the Spider-Man universe.
From a movie standpoint, also if you forget that this is Spider-Man, it is kind of boring. Doesn't change pace, is never really thrilling, kind of rushes you through the movie which is over before you know it. No real character development. Suddenly we're at the final fight which Peter Parker just wins with no real problems.
This movie proves that a good franchise can always sell when converted to a movie, as long as is it well advertised. They make you buy the ticket and after there's nothing you can do.