Great Comic to Screen Adaptation

Rating: 9/10 (11 May 2002)

Never before have I been excited to see a certain movie. I wasn't excited at all to see Star Wars Episode I then, nor am I excited to see the coming Episode II. Spider-Man though, had me hanging (pun intended) since they mentioned it was going to the big screen. I've been a Marvel Comics fanatic pretty much more than half my life, and I was afraid it wouldn't live up to expectations. But after seeing it on the opening night (I just had to), I just couldn't believe it. The opening credits, the introduction of the main players in the story, the retelling of Spidey's origin - is perfect. Let me put it this way: Kirsten Dunst IS Mary Jane Watson, Willem Dafoe IS Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Tobey Maguire is definitely the perfect Peter Parker/Spider-Man just as Christopher Reeve is Superman or Michael Keaton is Batman. Maguire actually pulls off the character better than I'd expected, managing to exude the perfect geeky awkwardness in his encounters with MJ, as well as nerdish enthusiasm during the scenes in the laboratory and the exact over-exuberant reaction you'd expect from someone who's just discovered that he can do whatever a spider can. They all have played their respective roles to perfection, not to mention the supporting cast: Rosemary Harris as Parker's beloved Aunt May, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson and James Franco as Harry Osborn (who we might see in the sequel as the 'resurrected' Green Goblin). Perfect casting. A lot of credit goes to director Sam Raimi, for his depiction of Spider-Man has done this film justice. This movie owes a lot to the success of another Marvel comic to big screen adaptation of 'X-Men', which is the standpoint for all future superhero films. Great film, from start to finish. Go see it.