Webtacular!

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2014)

I remember the hype, all the fuss and the excitement of this film coming out in what seems like all those years ago. I remember seeing it, then seeing it again and loving it even more on the second showing. By the time the two disk special edition DVD came out I pretty much worse the disks out. I was besotted by this film, it's look, it's feel, it's heart, it's characters and it's action. This, coming from a non Spiderman fan!
I never liked spider man, I was always a Batman fan but you know what this film did something, it changed my mind about a character who graced the screen in spectacular fashion and caught me well off guard.
Spiderman really is amazing in this well shot, well acted and very well directed piece of superhero cinema. The film tells the story of Peter Parker (played wonderfully by Tobey Maguire) a geeky kid with only one friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) and a crush on his next door neighbour MJ (Kirsten Dunst). It's while out on a field trip Peter gets bit by an engineered spider and overnight is gifted or perhaps cursed with spider like abilities. At the same time we have Norman Osborn (Willem Defoe) trying to keep his company beyond the competition with performance enhances. With the army breathing down his neck he takes it upon himself to have a human trial, with life changing results.
The film first and foremost has a wonderful pallet of colours that really bring out the comic book feel. Director Sam Raimi gives every scene a wonderful sense of Americana and comic book colours with every single frame of film. At the same time the cast all give wonderful performances to boot. Tobey and James play their friendship and hardships out beautifully, and play the teen angst well. Kirsten Dunt can come across as a little whiny in parts but it's got to be said, in the whole trilogy this her least whiny performance. Of course Willem Defoe dials in the villain performance with pure ease when in green costume yet his most interesting turns come when he is loosing his mind, talking to himself. Great and creepy moments indeed.
The action is relentless and the film is soon done and dusted and it really is a thrill a minute, as ever with the superhero genre the origin story is slightly tedious but Raimi sprinkles enough character plot points so it's hardly noticeable.
Danny Elfman steps in with his wonderful music scores to provide something almost a little more special than that of his Batman score and that's no mean feat. His music adds real muscle to the action scenes but also heart to the moments where that extra beat is required.
It certainly had been a long time since viewing this film but I'm glad to say its aged beautifully. The special effects while slightly (and only slightly) dated look as good as I remembered and of course the ending is worth the wait...
Turn up the volume as Elfman's score kicks in to full super heroic melody as spider man soars, swings and sweeps through New York city. Consider me a spider man fan, yes it's all down to you Sam Raimi!