It rocks!

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2002)

Pardon my language, but it does rock. It rules. It's beyond what I had imagined. After seeing a movie that fulfills almost impossible expectations, a little teenage language can be forgiven, I think. Let's not forget that Spidy is a hero with a cult following, so, naturally, there will always be those who see sacrilege in the few (good! necessary! favourable!) changes the creators of the movie made with respect to the original comic. To those: Come off it! This is a great film; it has the perfect balance of action, drama, laughs and the mandatory romantic element. And, of course, in this kind of event cinema, everything hinges on the right choice of a leading man, and in this aspect, Tobey Maguire is absolutely perfect (am I overusing this word?) as the slightly nerdish Peter Parker. As Auntie May rightly points out, Spiderman is not Superman; Peter's process of discovering and learning to control his powers are among the most hilarious scenes in the film (that spider web thing isn't as easy as it looks). Kirsten Dunst is as lovely as always, and Willem Dafoe would make a good Goblin even without the mask on. Speaking of the villain, not only are we given one whose motivations are understandable, but being who he is, he even opens the door to the sequel.
All I can say, if the rest of the movie summer comes on as strong as this film, then we're in for a memorable year indeed. Not to mention the possibility of multiple sequels. 9 out of 10.