A Spider Can

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2002)

Not too bad for a throwaway summer flick. Tobey and Kirsten fan their romantic flames in classic fashion, delaying and denying their PG-13 attractions to each other as long as possible, even until the inevitable sequels. Dafoe is remarkably adept in his way-over-the-top out-for-blood-though-tortured villain. And the action-packed special effects are marvelously stunning, overcoming their cartoonish shortcomings (SpiderMan's jumps remind me of the Mario Brother's Nintendo games) by turning up the violence (when a madman drops a bomb, oh yes, innocents do die). But the real star is the script, expertly weaving campy dialogue with clever self-deprecating humor (SpiderMan's world wrestling debut was far and away the highlight of the film). It's always more refreshing when a summer movie knows its place and plays up the fun instead of pretending to be important.