Loads of Fun, But That's it.

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2002)

I gotta admit, this movie was fun and entertaining. However it seemed a little too shallow and underdeveloped. Much of the characters true conflicts are not shown to us through effective, emotional means. Instead much happens through expository dialogue. Don't just tell us what will happen, show us!
Spider-man's plot, isn't too new. We've seen it before in "Superman" and "Batman." This film seems to have borrowed elements from both of those films, thus lacks some originality.
Both of the former explored their heroes' and the villians' characters more in depth. Both films gave us a true feeling of how their heroes/villians felt when saving people or vice versa. "Superman" and "Batman" had their action scenes revolve around the heroes and villians' lifelong conflicts, something that must exist or else there would've been no movie. Yes, Parker's humble beginnings and the Green Goblin's tragedy are introduced to us, but as soon as things kick off, this film seems to rush into violent-action sequences right away. This story "revolves around violence." C'mon give the Green Goblin and Spider-man a little something more substantial to gnaw on.
The film did have some great moments. The web-roping around the city was awesome and breath-taking! If only "Batman" had been filmed with similar technology. Spider-man's evolution was also brilliant. Especially the origin of his name. Minor references to "Gladiator (2000)" and "Superman" were interesting. However, much of the CG animation made the action sequences look too sped-up and unreal, like someone pressed the "FF" button on the VCR or something. It had a "Power Rangers" look to it.
Major plotholes: why did MJ and the Green Goblin not try to uncover Spider-man's identity when they had the chance. They didn't even attempt it. Why does Spider-man have unlimited web-spitting ability? The amount of webbing that he ejected was more in volume than three times his body volume. Spiders take a lot of time to "knit" a web. Why does the web's come out already done? Also, where in the world did a kid like Peter Parker get such an awesome suit? He can't knit it himself. And he surely didn't enlist the aid of Oscorp. There are things that we want to know here, part I. There are other plot holes, but I do not want to have spoilers to ruin an otherwise entertaining movie.
Yes, it feels like a Japanese superhero-cult film and it feels like to vehicle to sequels and merchandise, but it is great, fun way to start out the summer. The first true summer movie of 2002. For its pace and fun I can still manage to give it 3* out of 4*.