good, not great

Rating: Null/10 (14 July 2002)

I've just seen 'Spider-Man'. Good, but not great. The first part of the movie I spent thinking 'yeah, yeah, I know all this' - how PP turned into Spidey, the wrestling bit, how his uncle got killed. That's the difference between this movie and that all time great comic book film 'Batman' - the story started right away. Everybody knows who Bruce Wayne is, how he came to be the Batman. So why loose 60 minutes telling it? Plus, there was so much more atmosphere to it. And all these memorable scenes. For me, there are only two in 'Spider-man': Norman Osborn talking to his reflection in the mirror, and aunt May saying the 'Our Father' when the Green Goblin attacks her and summons her to finish the prayer. On the plus side: great cast, good acting, spectacular action sequences. And yet, I somehow missed the delightfully wacky direction of Sam Raimy which made me like 'Darkman' and 'The Quick and the Dead' so much. As if Columbia reigned him in: this is a major motion picture and has to do well at the box office, so no experimenting with the direction. Style wise, Warner Bros. took a bigger chance with their super hero flick. To end on a positive note: as far as I could tell, there were no real holes in the script - something I can't say about my beloved Bats movie.