Almost made it

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2002)

Okay, here's what I was thinking when I went in, based on what I'd heard and from the previews:
1. Too much CGI. It's too distracting for a whole person to suddenly become an effect.
2. Questionable casting. Okay, I wasn't sure on this one. I'm not familiar enough with the Peter Parker character to have known ahead of time if Tobey was an okay choice.
3. Great script. I'd just heard that this was a really good story filled with rich characters who we'll really care about.
4. Sequel coming. Warners screwed up Batman, so now there's room for a Marvel character... let's bleed this property dry! Profits! WOO HOO!
Now that I've seen the movie, let's examine these one at a time:
1. CGI: It wasn't that bad. I was very surprised by how good it looked and how it added to the sense of wonder. I found myself actually thinking "that's ep]ing cool!" So there's no worry here. Spider-Man, while he never moves his mouth (even when yelling the requisite NOOOOOO!!) does swing through the city in a manner befitting a superhero.
2. Casting: I have absolutely no problem with any of the casting (even Randy Savage was good as Bone Saw). Anyone who can't see Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man has missed the point. You should only have to see him as Peter Parker. That's been a real problem in super hero movies. You should cast the secret identity, not the hero. Christopher Reeve is Clark Kent first, and Superman second. And I feel that I should mention JK Simmons (simply because everyone else has). He was funny. It would have been very easy to slip into Perry White mode, but he avoided that and came out as the anti-Chief.
3. Script: This is where it was lacking. The whole movie is nothing but cliche after cliche. We have to have MJ be a sweet wholesome girl who would only go for a nice guy. She's the type of girl who would never waste her time with a jerk. Oh, and she has to be dating the biggest jerk in the world. Why? Well, that's what you do in movies that take place in high school. Now Spider Man makes his appearance. The whole city thinks he might be a bad guy at first. Why? Well, that's what you do in super hero movies. While the dialogue wasn't filled with little inside jokes that made you want to wretch, the characters weren't fleshed out enough. I do see potential for the future. Which brings us right to
4. Sequel: They're out to make money. We all know that. But there's a difference between something like this and something like X-Men. Now I'm not going to pretend to know what went on behind the scenes of either of these movies. But the feeling I got from watching them, was that X-Men was just trying it out. If it worked well and made enough money, great. Let's try it again. With Spider-Man, I really got the feeling that they were just making sure that a sequel could be made, that this was nothing more than a money making machine to them.
I almost liked this movie. I really wanted to. But overall, it's not worth it. I'll see the next one, and maybe it will have been improved. But this is far from the best comic book movie ever made. If you want good comic book movies, check out Ghost World, From Hell, or Unbreakable.