"you want to know what I think? it's spidery.."

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2002)

Okay.. lame title but after all the trailers and adverts surrounding this movie in the tv and cinema and newspaper, it's hard not to think about not watching it when it opens. Fortunately, this movie opens on Wednesday during Labour Day here so I have a chance to watch it early.
I am a fan of Spiderman since the early years in print so I have a slightly higher expectation of this movie since it was announced.
The main question is.. how well will Tobey Maguire represent the Peter Parker we all know from the comics? The answer is a yes and no. He has his moments in certain scenes but some scenes with Mary Jane or M.J. stumped me. Perhaps I didn't read his character well in this movie.. or they want to show his obsession with M.J. through facial expression - but I find his silent and grim smile slightly disturbing. Maybe that's just me..
The other actors did their parts well especially J.K. Simmons as JJJ. And Aunt May is bigger than I imagine her to be..
As for the overall feel of the movie, it's fun and heart stopping everytime he climbs the walls and swinging over skyscrapers. It is certainly a better watch in comparison with a certain other "insect movie" currently showing.
The story follows well with the comics except for one thing.. how he got his web ability. It was artificial and scientifically created in the comics but in this movie, they made it a natural side effect of the spider bite. Oh well.. they can't fit everything into a 2 hours movie - look at LOTR but it's understandable.
As a last note, the pace is okay and some 'look at my face to guess what I am supposed to be feeling' scenes could be omitted. All in all, a great and wholesome fun movie.