One of the greatest superhero films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2004)

Although I am not terribly fond of spiders (or arachnids, for that matter), I am a big fan of the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic books from Marvel as well as some of the issues from even before "Ultimate Spider-Man" came out. I heard a lot about the big-screen version of Spidey, and finally, when the movie came out on video some time ago, my mother bought it for me and I watched it immediately, and I was surprised at how well this film turned out.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is a high-school nerd who lives with his aunt and uncle (Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris) in New York, is best friends with rich boy Harry Osborn (James Franco), and is head-over-heels in love with the beautiful Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), who happens to be his next-door neighbor. One day during a field trip to Columbia University where scientists have created fifteen genetically-enhanced spiders, one of the spiders escapes and bites Peter on the hand. Soon, Peter gains the proportionate strength, speed, and agility of a spider, and decides to use his powers to win some money at a wrestling match. When his uncle is murdered by a thug he failed to stop earlier, Peter learns the hard way the true meaning of his uncle's earlier advice to him ("with great power comes great responsibility"), and utilizes his powers to protect the people of New York as Spider-Man. At the same time, Harry's industrialist father Norman (Willem Dafoe) experiments with a human performance enhancer on himself and becomes the homicidal Green Goblin, who then challenges Spidey's vow to fight crime and the good of all.
I really enjoyed this film, and there has been nothing like it since maybe either "Superman" or "Batman". Tobey Maguire does an excellent job as Spider-Man and his alter-ego Peter Parker, who, to me, is Clark Kent blended with Jimmy Olsen. Willem Dafoe steals the show as the psychotic, glider-flying Green Goblin with an air of psychotic wittiness that is matched only by Christopher Walken (it should be interesting to note that Dafoe starred with Walken in the film "New Rose Hotel"; maybe Dafoe picked up a few pointers from Walken. Hmmm...). Kirsten Dunst is fine as Peter's true love who fights for herself in one scene, then becomes the standard "damsel-in-distress" (no offense meant to her, though). The rest of the cast does fine in their roles, but it is the excellent musical score (courtesy of Danny Elfman) and the story itself that make this film worth a look (or as many looks as you want). "Spider-Man" is a great film, and one of the best films ever made.
In my humble opinion, I give "Spider-Man" a 10 out of 10 on a scale of 1-10.