Pretty good movie, especially for a comic book

Rating: 8/10 (6 May 2002)

I gave this movie an 8 out of 10. Out of the comic book movies I've seen (all the Batmans, all the Supermans, X-men, Spawn, and a few others that I can't think of right now), this ranks at the top along with the first Batman. Out of all the movies I've ever seen, it's good, but not the greatest.
Let me start out by saying that I never read the comic, but followed the latest incarnation of the cartoon and watched the 80's version when I was a kid. So I'm not the most die-hard fan, but I know the basics of the story. There were a few changes to condense the storyline into a two hour movie, but the movie stayed very faithful to the spirit of Spider-Man. The fact that Stan Lee was an executive producer must have helped with this.
The casting of the main characters was good. I thought Willem Defoe as the Green Goblin/Norman Osbourne and J.K. Simmons as Jonah Jameson did the best, although Simmons appeared in a dissapointingly small amount of the movie. Tobey Maguire did an excellent job as Peter Parker. I was a bit worried about seeing Kirsten Dunst as a red-head, but after the first five minutes, it was no longer distracting, and she did a good job as Mary Jane. James Franco performed well for the character he had.
The story was pretty good, but not great (it's based on a comic, after all). It's not the typical good vs. evil (although it's close), it's a bit deeper. Harry Osbourne is not portrayed as a completely evil person. He's a business exec trying to save his company and his place in it. Once he becomes the Green Goblin, there's still the distress he has over the actions he commits as the Goblin. And Peter Parker is not all good. He eventually becomes a hero, but not after his initial apathy towards the people of the city. And in keeping with the spirit of Spider-Man, he has problems in his personal life both related and unrelated to his superpowers.
The special effects were also good but not great. This is not so much a fault of the creators, but of the technology itself. It is some of the most convincing animation of a human form in action yet created, but the images still look a bit cartoonish. Hopefully the technology will be better by the sequel.
Anyway, to sum it up, I only make it out to the big screen about four or five times a year, but I'm going to try to watch this movie in the theatres again. I'll get the DVD as soon as it comes out, and I'm looking forward to the sequel. As long as you don't expect this movie to be the next Godfather or Casablanca, and you're not too tied to the exact letter of the comic, you'll probably enjoy this movie.