The most faithful comic to film adaptation ever!

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2002)

I must admit right off, I was incredibly biased in favor of Spider-Man before I saw it. I was a huge fan of the comic and an even bigger fan of director Sam Raimi. Heck, I even have the posters for the Evil Dead series on my living room wall. My sister has my favorite childhood chair, which was covered in Spider-Man wallpaper. If this gives you some kind of idea where I'm coming from, and you're looking for an objective review of this movie, you might want to go elsewhere. But if you're a fan of either the comic or Sam Raimi, you'll know where I'm coming from.
The reason I say this is the most faithful comic to film adaptation ever is the tone of the movie, not the strict following of the traditional Spider-Man story. The way Peter Parker and Mary Jane meet is different, but their relationship is still remarkably faithful (there's that word again) to the comic, and other things have changed, as well. But in the end, the soul of Spider-Man has been kept intact. And that's no small feat in current Hollywood productions.
The humor is still there ("Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman"). The teen angst, and moral questions still abound. My hat's off to Raimi for so successfully distilling the essence of Spiderman, the comic. I look forward to the second one (and possibly Evil Dead 4?) soon from this gifted director who is finally being given his due.