I'm tired of all the nitpickers. **Possible Spoilers**

Rating: 10/10 (8 May 2002)

Wow people, I'm just shocked that some people not only didn't enjoy this movie, but are just hell-bent on smashing it to pieces. Now, I already posted another review of this movie that infact praises Spider-Man. I gave it a 10 out of 10 rating, and I recommended it to everyone who hadn't seen it yet. I am a true child of the movies, I love going to them, I love Hollywood, and I will love it until the day I die.
First off, I'm not trying to come down on anyone in this post, I'm posting a general statement to people who nitpick about movies (but with references to Spider-Man). I'm not an employee of any movie studio, nor am I some marketing exec trying to brainwash you guys. I am nothing more than a movie buff who was pleasantly surprised at what turned out to be a very well crafted movie.
Ok, the action left something to be desired, I wish I could have seen some more hand-to-hand combat between Spidey and The Green Goblin. I wish I could have seen some more scenes of Peter Parker discovering his new skills. But as I type this, I am reminded that what makes good movies is the fact that you are left wanting more. Spiderman is a comic that has as many dramatic and heartfelt elements as it does action elements. Sam Raimi did a great job of capturing the motivations of the characters, choosing to develop them rather than have them be pawns being moved from one action scene to the next. Sam Raimi does a similar thing with his classic "Darkman", where our hero is a tortured sole caught between two worlds and must hide his true self away from his loved ones. Tobey Maguire plays the part perfectly, putting just the right amount of geekiness in his character. But even before he gets bitten, there is a twinkle in his eye, I could see something about Peter Parker that was more than just the geek exterior, and it prevented his character from becoming a stereotypical nerd (which a lesser actor would have done easily). Kirsten Dunst is cute, but her wet t-shirt/sweater/dress/whole body scene was purely gratuitous (remember Halle Berry in Swordfish?). I hate her a lot less in this movie than in her other movies, and she was actually convincing as Mary Jane, right down to the hair color. James Franco as Harry Osborn is very good, and looks like he could be Willem Dafoe's son in real life (it's the cheekbones). I'm sure we will see more of Franco's Osborn in the sequel. Which moves us to Willem Dafoe...yes, the mask is a bit halloweenish, but it's a realistic twist on an otherwise unrealistic character. His portrayal of The Green Goblin was dead on, even the voice was good. His performance was multi-layered and very intoxicating. Even as he is going crazy, the scenes with his son are very interesting and even believable. The "talking to the mask" scene was pretty silly, but Dafoe does the best he can, and that's all I ask.
All in all, Sam Raimi's Spiderman is a great film. It is one of my all time favorites (along with a laundry list of others)and deserves to be part of the ranks of Batman and Superman. I believe it captured the spirit of the comic book perfectly, and without a "re-imagined" feel to it, it feels authentic and even a little 50's-ish. Finally a summer blockbuster with some substance to it, and a over hyped movie that delivers on its hype (at least in my opinion).
Frankly I'm just tired of the nitpickers who insist that everything has to be perfectly adapted from the book. Look people, it's a MOVIE. Our physical representations of feelings we all get from reading the book are not going to be exactly the same as the filmmakers', nor should they be. Let's face it, the movie will almost never be as good as the book, so don't ask it to be. I'm a big reader, and when they turn books into movies, I have certain doubts about the adaptation, but I just sit back and remember that a movie cannot capture everything a book has to offer. As for the people who saw it and didn't like the lack of action...well...I can sympathize, but go see it again, you might appreciate the story more when you see it a second time.
The bottom line is that people who viciously nitpick about stuff that they can't do any better themselves are missing out on the good stuff about Spider-Man, and I think that it pays to be a little more realistic when it comes to movies. Let the books be books, and let the movies be movies, and we'll all get along better that way.