The Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbed Up The Water Spout!

Rating: 7/10 (16 August 2007)

I am a huge fan of Spiderman and I have been an avid reader for many years, so to see my favorite superhero of all time come on to the big screen for the first time was a huge and satisfying thrill.
The film is a great comic book movie and perfect beginning for a series of spiderman movies in the future, the plot is an origin story and is always usually the hardest story to do. The story is of Peter Parker a nerdy high schooler, whom is bitten by a radioactive spider and his life changes in a way he couldn't have ever imagined. He acquires a muscular physique, ability to cling to surfaces and crawls over and up walls and shoot webs from his wrists. But the fun has only just begun as rich industrialist Norman Osborn administers a performance enhancing drug on himself and becomes the crazed psychotic The Green Goblin! now Peter has to become Spiderman and go at war with the Goblin whom has chaotic plans for new york and wants to ruin the spider.
The acting of this film is above par and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin steals the show and delivers a brilliant and manic performance, James Franco does an exceptional job portraying Harry Osborn showing a wide range of emotions, J.K. Simmons was perfectly casted as J. Jonah Jameson and delivers some hilarious one-liners, Cliff Robertson gives a heartwarming performance as the gentle Uncle Ben and Rosemary Harris is as sweet as ever as Aunt May. Tobey Maguire did a great job with the Peter Parker side of the character but I had a hard time believing him in the Spiderman role at times, and Kirsten Dunst was very dull and weak as Mary Jane and miscast in my opinion.
The action sequences of this film are great but rather short, and some of the cgi is laughable but the film overcomes that. Compared to films like X-Men or Batman Begins this is a considerably lighthearted superhero film, but doesn't suffer for it and works better that way anyway.
I will note however that a major downer on this film was the costume of the Green Goblin, now the costume in the comics wouldn't have worked either but this costume was like a bad power rangers costume and they definitely could have tried harder than that.
Some great scenes were the Unity Fair attack scene, the burning building scene and the final fight between Spiderman and Green Goblin which was quite gritty and graphic.
A great film and definitely worth seeing if you're a fan of this genre and I would recommend it to casual movie gowers as well.