Spidey rules New York and the world

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2002)

It had been a long time since I had seen something of my beloved superhero Spiderman. I'd grown to love the Spider man TV, but I quit watching it, after I'd seen them all twice or so. I then later saw, that they were still making new ones, but I have to say, I'd kind of grown out of animated series. I never started do dislike the animated show, but you kind of grow out of all TV shows, because they run for much too long. This even happens when you love the show. You just can't help it. And after a while you start forgetting about your once loved ones' and you turn your head to new things. Yesterday I turned my head to a new old thing'. I turned my head to the Spider Man movie.

This movie was supposed to be big. It had made about 750 million at the Boxoffice and it was listed among the best 250 movies at IMDB, but still I had my doubts. Why you ask? Well, I'd seen some of the music video's and they gave me the impression that the effects were really bad and that the film would be like Blade, a two hour music video. How wrong was I?

First of all, none of the songs from the Spider Man Soundtrack are featured in the film, like it is done in the Blade films. The songs can be heard in the background, playing on a radio or so. Second of all, although the effects were bad, I did not mind a bit, since the movie was so awesome, that I did not even notice most of the time.

What was great about the movie, you might ask? Well I can tell you what was not in a nutshell: the effects. The rest was pure genius and truly inspired by the comics and the animated series. First of all I have to give credit to the casting bureau. All of the parts were casted really well. Everyone fit in like a glove. Then credits of course go to the director (Sam Raimi) and the cast. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) came over as a real big nerd (even worse than I remember him in the animated series), M.J. Watson (Kirsten Dunst) was very gorgeous, charming and likeable and Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe) was really great as well. The scene, when he's talking to himself in the mirror was really great. The grimaces he made, from one shot to the next, were really awesome.

The director must also be credited, for bringing everything fabulously to the screen. I mean, there was nothing really innovative about it, but he was very solid and knew exactly what he needed and wanted. Last but not least I think I owe my thanks to the writers and to Danny Elfman. The writers of this film really succeeded in making up a story and dialogue in the film, that capture the figure that is Spider Man. He is a boy, who could be me (if he looked different). He was very human, a bit shy around magnificent beautiful women, a bit of a loner but basically a very nice guy. Then he gets to have extraordinary power. What is he to do? What will he become? What will happen to his loved ones? Throughout the film we observe the evolution of Peter Parker to become Spider Man. We see what power his new found strength brings and what responsibility. We see his powers upside, but also it's downside. So despite Peter Parkers nonhuman strength he remains a very human and normal figure which the viewer can relate to and that is what makes Spider Man such a great comic figure. A very big thanks to everyone involved for giving me the best two cinematic hours in a long time.

9 out of 10