A good example for how to make a good comic book movie

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2017)

I was 2 years old when it was being announced that Spider-Man was going to be on the big screen, I didn't know who Spider-Man was, until I watched the movie when it came out on DVD. So what was the result of me watching it? I loved it. Sam Raimi himself is actually a comic book fan so he already knew what he had to do when he first directed this, he knew how to develop the characters and to match the original tone Spider-Man is supposed to be. First I will discuss what I like about the movie: I genuinely love the cast. Tobey Maguire is without a doubt one of the absolute best actors to play Peter Parker we've ever had, he has the soft nerdiness the character is supposed to have and it's very easy to care and sympathize with him in what he's going through, while I do agree he's not as good at being Spider-Man as he is with being Peter I still believe he does a fantastic job, he has funny one- liners and he was able to get ripped in order to look like how the character is supposed to look in the comics. I have absolutely no complaints with Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, she's lovable, tough, sympathetic, and beautiful, what more could you ask for? I would've been shocked if James Franco said no to playing Harry Osborn, being that he's known for his work when it comes to comedy it must've been an interesting twist for him to play a more serious role, loyal, dedicated, intelligent, and sometimes delusional, Dane DeHaal should've learned from this before he agreed to star in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson as Aunt May and Uncle Ben were perfect choices, they portrayed the characters the exact same way they were supposed to be portrayed in the comics and I have no problems whatsoever. Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin is perfect, Dafoe himself actually wanted the part and you can see how passionate he was when Raimi hired him, his overthetop expressive behavior in the movie is just how the Goblin is supposed to be in the comics and all the other relevant adaptations of him. If there were any cast members that I didn't know were in this and I ended up being surprised by what I discovered it would be Elizabeth Banks as Betty Brandt, there's not much to say about her other than she's kind, beautiful, and can't be replaced. Last but not least is none other than J.K Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, he's an over-bearing, obnoxious, loud mouth cartoon character in a live-action movie and there's never a boring scene that he's in, every single word that comes out of his loud, obnoxious, non-stop rambling, mouth of his is music to my ears! The camera work in this movie, while not spectacular by today's standards is still very cool to watch, whether it's any scene with spider-sense tingling, an intense action scene, or Spider- Man web slinging through the city. Spider-Man's suit is a very cool design and it stands out as being one of the most memorable Spider-Man costumes. The score composed by Danny Elfman is an absolute masterpiece, it's the overall best Spider-Man movie theme of all time, there is nothing that can top it. The change where Peter has organic web shooters instead of mechanical web shooters like in the comics is so much better because if you're bitten by a spider that gives you spider powers, why would you not be able to shoot webs from your wrists organically? Now for what I don't like about the movie: 1.Some of the c.g effects definitely haven't aged well, especially in the scene where Peter is testing his agility when jumping across a few rooftops. 2. The dialogue stinks, a lot of what the characters say comes out as being either shlocky, awkward, or just plain dumb, 2 examples include "it's you who's out Goblin, out of your mind" and "I think I have a superhero stalker." 3. The acting is extremely goofy, primarily with Willem Dafoe, his over the top behavior is very silly at times especially in the scene where he's talking to himself in the mirror and the scene where he talks to his Green Goblin mask when wondering how to kill Spider-Man. 4. Speaking of the Green Goblin's mask, his suit in this is just flat out ridiculous, the Green Goblin is one of the most expressive characters in comic book history, and they had the best actor to play him, but that's really hard to represent when you have him wearing a plastic mask with a frozen expression, thus he looks more like a Power Rangers character than he does as the Green Goblin. 5. This is the last complaint I have but unfortunately it's also the biggest problem I have with not just this movie but the entire series, the romance in this movie is HORRIBLE!!! The relationship between Peter and Mary Jane is so complicated that you'll be demanding the movie to just bring them together and let things stay that way so that you don't have to sit through how cringe worthy it is. In conclusion while the movie is definitely goofy by today's standards and is nowhere near perfect it's still a very clever and enjoyable adaptation of our favorite web-head. I may not love it as much as I used to when I was younger but it still makes me feel good every time I watch it. Because that's our gift, our curse, who are we? We're Spider-Man fans.