Who am I? The Human-Spider!

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 2009)

I should really give 2009's 'Avatar' a chance. When I watched the recent trailers, the blue fish people look really fake in the trailer and it makes me either not want to see it or go for a good laugh. In 2002, I said the same thing about 'Spider-Man.' Spidey looked so fake in the trailer and the action/swinging was so slowed down, I almost didn't see it. Nevertheless, I gave it a chance opening weekend and waited a long time in line. Man, I was not disappointed. Somewhere in translation, they sped up the action sequences and you truly believed Spider-Man was swinging from building to building, fighting, etc. But, there was more to this movie, much more.
Director Raimi and writer Koepp added so much depth to the characters, setting and took Stan Lee's age-old teenage comic book hero to new heights, literally. I've always loved the talent of Maguire (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) but you really felt every blow, physical or mental, he went through. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson) and Harris (Aunt May) were absolutely perfect from the comic books I grew up on. Oh, and I always love Bruce Campbell (aside from 'My Name is Bruce') so I am glad Raimi loves to continue to use him. Unfortunately, not everyone was pitch-perfect.
Dunst (Mary Jane "MJ" Watson) was just "okay" though she did seem to act her heart out in each scene. (Strangely, I always envisioned her with rich red and curly hair – of which neither were true, though she did have just barely a red-tint.) And what was with the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn (Dafoe)? Sure, in the 'strip he's either literally green or in a costume – I can't remember him much, he was always my least favorite of Spidey's villains. I guess they needed to upgrade to make him more believable with a horrid mask (again, I'm guess, that's the best they could come up with) which didn't make much scene, since supposedly they made the suit/mask before Osborn went wacko, and it just happened to look sadistic? At any rate, they did a fantastic job, making you truly believe in Spider-Man/Parker and all of his troubles and triumphs while keeping to the core of the always-broke, always-bantered teen who's trying to do good and always vying for the girl (MJ.) Here we have the origin story of Spider-Man, but, like 'Superman: The Movie,' you won't see the super-hero in red/blue tights until about half-way through. You'll be fully introduced to this nerd, his girl-next-door crush, his living arrangement with Aunt/Uncle and the infamous bite that spawned the teen web-slinger.
Meanwhile, in the movie's weakest story, Pete's best friend's Dad experiments on himself with some green smoke that, well, uh, makes him stronger and angry. Not Hulk angry – though he's got the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing going on, but just upset at those that are against the green smoke in the first place and eventually, of course, Spider-Man. This is one of the same problems I had with 'Daredevil's completely underdeveloped super-villain "Bullseye." You're simply asked to believe these two bad-guys have some kind of super-power and that they want to rid the city of the hero because, well, it said so in the comic books.
The only other flaw I could tell (and Raimi never seemed to correct this in the following two sequels) was the length. All three movies (so far) are way too long with scenes that could've obviously been trimmed. Granted, this one is the best paced one, but standing alone, it still could've been cut easily down 20-25 minutes.
Nevertheless, the movie, as a whole, is highly recommended. The fantastic score (one of Elfman's best,) graphics, dialogue, comedy, romance & longing and the setup were all great. It was a perfect introduction to the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. It can easily be viewed by all audiences, and they did a great job of making it almost virtually timeless so it can be enjoyed by generations to follow.
So, thanks Spidey, you not only saved the city and the girl (oops, spoiler), but you might've persuaded me to buy a ticket to help probably the most expensive movie ever, 'Avatar,' make back at least one ticket's worth.