Spiderman A Good Comic Book Movie With Some Flaws

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2009)

Spider-man is a good comic book movie with some flaws. I prefer the sequel over this one but the original is still a solid comic book film brought to life by director Sam Raimi and the talented cast. Raimi does a decent enough job telling the origin story of nerdy high schooler Peter Parker into the web slinging superhero Spider-man. The cast includes Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-man, William Dafoe as Norman Osburne/The Green Goblin, Kristen Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, and James Franco as Harry Osbourne. Maguire is admirable in his role as both Peter Parker and Spider-man giving us character who is nerdy but is willing to put others before himself. He's a teenager with problems and I think thats why people can identify with him. He's also a man in love with his beautiful neighbor Mary Jane Watson. Dunst as Mary Jane is okay as Peters love but isn't really given much to do besides eventually being the damsel in distress later on in the film. William Dafoe is impressive as Norman Osbourne and his evil alter ego The Green Goblin. I like the fact they made the Goblin a split personality a side effect of the performance enhancers his character takes in the movie. His costume did look a little corny and it resembled something you'd see in an episode of Power Rangers or something but Dafoe makes for an imposing villain none the less. James Franco is good as Norman's son Harry but like Dunst he isn't given much to do either except to show up here and there throughout the movie. Rosemary Harris as Aunt May and Cliff Robertson in a small role as Uncle Ben are effective supporting characters. They both have good chemistry with Maguire making them believable as his characters aunt and uncle. Bruce Campbell has a brief appearance as a wresting announcer and he makes the best of his small part in the film. The special effects are state of the art and the action/fight sequences are well executed but at times you can definitely tell is CG which is okay but not as good as when you see two worthy adversaries without costumes duking it out instead of something created in a computer. The pacing in between the action was a little slow and the dialogue wasn't the best at times. Overall though Spider-man is still an entertaining comic book with just the right amount of action, some suspense, humor, a little romance, and solid performances by the cast that make for an enjoyable movie to watch.