2.5 stars

Rating: 6/10 (12 June 2002)

Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) is a very smart, very socially awkward high school student who lives with his aunt and uncle. He is in love with Mary Jane Watson (a.k.a., "M.J.", played by Kirsten Dunst), and has been since she moved in next door when they were both children. One day they are both on a field trip, and a genetically altered, radioactive spider bites Peter. He feels ill and goes home to fall asleep. When he wakes up he begins to figure out that his body has changed. He is far stronger, can stick to surfaces, and then there are the webs.
Meanwhile, Peter's best friend's father, Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), runs a large company attempting to sell advanced technology to the military. When an experiment in human augmentation stalls, he decides to make himself a human guinea pig, and he begins his transformation into the extremely schizophrenic Green Goblin.
That's just the set-up. There's a lot more story, as Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, and then, with the help of his uncle, figures out what Spider-Man should stand for. Tobey Maguire does a better job of this transition than most actors one might have thought of casting for a superhero role would have, but he isn't given enough to work with. And Kirsten Dunst has even less to do. Willem Dafoe might be the stand out, but only because he is supposed to chew the scenery and does, quite effectively.

Director Sam Raimi is apparently a huge fan of the comic book hero, and he has given this film a distinctly comic book feel, starting from the comic book opening credits. This can be charming at times, but, for me at least, falls flat at many others. The dialog is unintentionally funny far too often.
I'll sum up here with my summary as we left the theater on 5/17/2002: This movie somehow manages to be both entertaining *and* lame.