Does whatever a spider can!

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2002)

I was anxiously waiting for this movie. The "buzz" seemed to be awesome, but apparently they didn't allow screenings very far in advance. (Ebert and Roeper won't do their TV reviews until opening weekend) This usually does not bode well. Very likely, it was to be full of gosh-wow FX but nothing much in the way of a script.
I was not disappointed. All the characters were just right and the actors wonderfully chosen. Some liberties were taken with the original stories to make it into a movie. Mary Jane Watson becomes the girl next door that Peter Parker has had a thing for since he was six. (In the comic, he doesn't meet MJ until after he's been Spidey awhile and had a short-lived relationship with J Jonah Jameson's secretary Betty Brant). The bit with having the webbing come out of him instead of being a brilliant off the top of his head invention was neat. It sped up the plot and set up some amusing scenes as he tried to learn how to use this ability.
Danny Elfman's music is, as always, a great counterpoint to the super-heroics.
As far as younger kids are concerned, there's no sex or bad language, but lots of action {read: violence) and the Green Goblin may be a bit scary.
Cool stuff. Eight stars.