Just another superhero movie

Rating: 5/10 (20 April 2011)

Comic book adaptations are ten-a-penny these days; and while Tobey Maguire, so often annoyingly dopey, is a natural to play Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man's alter ego, overall, I found this film ordinary. There's some good stuff: I liked the idea of Parker trying out his super-powers in a wrestling competition, but his subsequent development into a full-blown superhero seemed accelerated, and a wasted opportunity. I also found the Green Goblin, with his static mask, a frustrating enemy - his failure to move his jaw when speaking makes one feel like one is reading a static strip, not watching a moving picture. The film gains some tension towards the end, but whereas 'Batman Begins' grew on me in spite of myself, 'Spider-Man' didn't; and there's some overplayed moralising in the mix as well. In some ways, comic books boil down a story to its essence, and the rest is all in the visuals; the same is true for this film, and for me, there's not enough complexity to make it truly interesting.