Good story, but could hardly have been executed worse

Rating: 4/10 (30 July 2014)

I give this movie a 6.7 out of ten, but I rounded down on the integer rating because it deserves a rating lower than what i gave it. The story is good, and there wasn't very much that I would have changed with that. The character is good as are his various predicaments. Spiderman is a very classy superhero that has some pretty cool abilities. So I give credit to the guy who originally came up with the character and story whose name I haven't bothered to look up. The storyline gets an 8/10. However, the rest of the film gets about a 3 or 4/10. The special effects are less than realistic, and some of that is probably due to the advancement of CGI in '02, but there isn't much of an explanation of making the blood that drops from Spiderman's cut arm look like ketchup when it hits the floor. I'm not that pleased with Toby McGuire's acting either. Peter Parker is often described as mild-mannered, but his constantly star-struck face makes him seem more like an awed three-year old than a quiet high-schooler. The guy getting carried out on a stretcher after fighting the pro-wrestler is hardly convincing in his cries of pain. The other main roles of Aunt May, MJ, and Dr. Osborne/Green Goblin are also not performed with anything spectacular. Even though I'm not really a fan of James Franco, I think he was the only actor with a decent performance in this movie. I feel that the main issue with the movie lies in the fault of the screenwriters. The Green Goblin firing out cliché threats to accompany his missiles makes for more of an annoying than menacing villain. Peter Parker is given so little personality that some of his attitudes contradict each other. Mary Jane is also just sort of there, and not really given a personality. And I'm not really that up on which superheroes are in the DC and Marvel universes, but I do know that Superman and Spiderman are in different fictional universes. So, yes, Aunt May, you are right that your nephew is not Superman because in your world, Superman isn't supposed to exist even in the imagination. Even the film score was very lacking at times. The Green Goblin should not have background like Dracula during the climatic scene. And somebody must think that Mary Jane looked like Tweety Bird while getting chased by the guys who jump her in the street because there is no other explanation for the flute solo in that scene. On the whole, I would not suggest watching this movie to anyone except people that are genuine fans of the character.