ITS A LOT BETTER THAN STAR WARS!

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2002)

I am not much of a fan of comic-books-turned-into-movies, they've never really interested me (except maybe last year's X Men). I went in with mixed expectations, I'd seen reviews comparing it to Star Wars Episode II, and seen the two flicks go head to head in the ratings war...
...AND SPIDER MAN IS THE SUPERIOR OF THE TWO!!! There are some predictable/cheesy moments (re comic-book moments!!) and there is less action than I expected. There is also a lot less romance scenes to endure, but these are believable and suspension of disbelief is not an absolute necessity!
The movie follows the basic plot line of the early Marvel comic books, where we learn how Peter Parker received his super powers and how he figures out how to use them. The Green Goblin I remember was this mutated freak/creature, not an 'ordinary' man decked out in corny-looking armor complete with really corny mask. His hover sled looked cool though.
My only real gripe is the slowness of the story, I did expect to see more of Spider man's web slinging action and the villain wasn't really menacing enough.
Anyhoo, for those who love C.G.I, there is plenty of that to look at. The C.G.I is used as a narrative tool to move the story along (Spider man and his jumping, swinging around) but doesn't devolve into a cartoonish, fake mishmash of events that drags on for 45 minutes or more. Lord of the Rings is a favorite flick of mine where the C.G.I was also used to its best effect!
CONCLUSION?
This flick is so much better than the boring, over-rated, over-hyped, cartoon-fest called Star Wars II! If Mr Lucas has not learned from watching the vastly superior LotR, he should at the *very* least sit down and watch this movie a dozen times to see how CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT *should* work!!
7/10