Spider-Man learns to crawl, but only later does he learn to fly!

Rating: 9/10 (18 April 2006)

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man is full of energy, zipping and zooming across the screen with gleefully wild delight. The former Evil Dead creator's visual style for quick zooms and he's zany sense of humor is present throughout the film, but Raimi has also brought along his heart and passion for the comic book to his film. The film was written by David Keopp, fresh after writing David Fincher's Panic Room, and his script gets a few things right and a few things not so right, but in the end this is a pretty amusing and exciting sci-fi/adventure that's sure to keep you entertained.
The cast of Spider-Man does a quite a good job, but I'll be honest when I first heard that Toby Maguire was going to be playing the role of Spider-Man I thought to myself, "Who? That nerdy kid from Pleasantville?", so obviously I had my doubts as to if he was up to the task of pulling off the part of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Why Maguire is perfectly suited for the role of Spider-Man is because he can easily pull of the nerdy/boy-next-door look that is required for Peter Parker. Another good job in casting was getting Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn aka "The Green Goblin". Dafoe goes all Nicholson on us, and doesn't hold anything back; he's in full-on snarl and growl mode, and his voice and mannerisms fit well with the character he's playing. I particularly enjoyed the scene where he talks to himself in the mirror, showing his multiple personalities, a scene that's gone somewhat similar in Peter Jackson's The Two Towers.
The special effects on the other hand aren't quite as flawless as the casting, but for the majority of the film they do work to one degree or another. In the scene where Parker discovers his powers and jumps along the roof tops it's pretty obvious that's a computer effect, but watching Spider-Man battle the Green Goblin on the Queensboro Bridge in the film's finale is quite something. The shots that seemed to take my breath away the most were the dramatic shots of Spider-Man swinging his way all around Manhattan and the cinematography by Don Burgess really helps add to the vibrant look of the film, which is very cool.
However, there are a few little things and one big thing I didn't like about Spider-Man. First off, the little things. Personally I think Mary Jane looked a little "skanky" in the beginning of the movie. Was I the only one that thought that? Secondly, I wasn't surprised that Peter Parker lived with his Aunt and Uncle, but it certainly would have been nice to know exactly why that was. Then there's the overindulgent Macy Gray cameo that was completely pointless. And lastly, and most importantly I really didn't like how they decided to do the Green Goblin. If you've read the comic book series Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis the Green Goblin was created by Norman Osborn injecting himself with a green plasma in a syringe, and then psychically and literally turning into a green monster, which looked much more menacing than the space suite and helmet they ended up using the film. I thought that was a really, really bad choice, because of two reasons. One, it seemed a little strange that the Military would actual end up wearing a goofy looking helmet like that, and two, it just wasn't dark enough for me. But put aside those few complaints I think the film is still pretty good, but it could have been a little better. As for right now I'm giving this film a score of a seven, it's a pretty good film, with a good cast and some fun action sequences that's also able to get us involved with the characters and enjoy them on a small emotional level, so for those reasons it is a success, but it certainly could have used a little tweaking here and there.