This Looks Kind of Familiar

Rating: 7/10 (8 November 2002)

"Spider-Man" is a very entertaining and well produced movie. The special effects are very realistic and seamless with the live action. But as I watched it, I had the feeling of deja vu.
The story is simple. Nerdy teenager Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a genetically altered spider and begins to take on the characteristics of the insect. He then begins to battle the forces of evil in the city and faces off against another genetically altered being called The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe).
The similarities between this film and the first two Superman movies is more than coincidental. For example, Parker is orphaned and cared for by an aunt (Rosemary Harris) and uncle (Cliff Robertson) who dies tragically as was the case with Clark Kent. Spider-Man battles the super human Green Goblin. Superman battled three super villains. Spider-man's rescue of the heroine Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst)from the top of a collapsing building is almost identical to Superman's rescue of Lois Lane in the first Superman movie. J.K. Simmons plays a Perry white like character called J. Jonah Jameson and so on.
The boyish looking Maguire is surprisingly good in the lead role and Dunst is suitably fresh and innocent as the girl who loves Spider-Man but the one that Peter Parker can't have (shades of Lois Lane?)and veterans Robertson and Harris are good as the aunt and uncle. Dafoe on the other hand, is way over the top as the villain but then how else could he have played him. Simmons equally hams it up as the newspaper editor.
Even though "Spider-Man borrows heavily from Superman it is nonetheless a very exciting and entertaining two hours thanks mainly to Tobey Maguire.