Flashy CGI cannot account for script flaws

Rating: 5/10 (2 May 2002)

With Hollywood fully embracing CGI special-effects, and the audiences eating it up like the Twizzlers from the concession stand, the stage was definitely set for one of the most visually challenging comic book interpretations in film history.
Spider-Man is not an easy character to put on screen. He doesn't simply fly through the air to his destination. He swings from one web to another, sticking to walls, jumping towards open windows, and grabbing whatever he has to grab in the mean time. The Green Goblin himself is difficult, riding on a jet-coaster that hovers and shoots off at great speeds, as well as fire a large arsenal of weapons.
With this said, the special effects were impressive. Sure, they looked kind of cartoon-y at times, but hey, after-all it's a comic-book interpretation, right ?
It wasn't the special effects that disappointed me in this movie. It was other elements. When I first heard that Willem Dafoe would be playing the role of the Norman Osborn\Green Goblin, I was excited. Here was an actor who had the talent to pull off the role, and the sinister grin to keep it consistent with the comic-book character.
However, and this is important, there's a plot alteration in the movie that makes it different from the comic-book. Because Norman Osborn is trying for a military contract for body armor, the Green Goblin ends up wearing this armor and a helmet\mask throughout the movie. This ends up making him look like a Power Ranger on a gliding coaster ! Worst, it doesn't allow us to see that sinister grin that Willem Defoe has. The same grin that initially got me excited about him getting the part ends up being molded on the front of a plastic mask - and the viewer doesn't get to see Dafoe as the Green Goblin, only Harry Osborn. Dafoe's Green Goblin had potential to be better than Nicholson's Joker, before they put a mask on the Green Goblin. Even worst, it introduces a very bad plot hole : Wouldn't you think the military would know the true identity of the Green Goblin upon sight, if he is flying around in recently military-demonstrated body armor ? That is a VERY big flaw in the script !!
One of the pleasant surprises in the movie was J.K. Simmons' performance as J. Jonah Jameson. He played the role perfectly, right down to the toupee.