A fun, flashy faithful adaptation of a great superhero comic.

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2002)

I've been waiting for this movie since 1977 when I saw the 'Superman' film. My patience (as if I had any choice in the matter) was mostly worth the wait. 'Spider-Man' was fun, colorful and faithful to a great (and MY favorite) superhero. When I heard that Tobey Maguire would play Peter Parker/Spiderman, I was skeptical. However, I think he did a pretty good job. My reaction to hearing that Kirsten Dunst would play Mary Jane was more optimistic, as in "Wow!" and "Hoo-ahh!" She was excellent. A good action film MUST have a great villian and Willem Dafoe made for a magnificently, maniacal and menacing Green Goblin. Was I somewhat distracted that when Green Goblin talked his mask's mouth didn't move? Yes. I also had a few other comic fanboy quibbles. For example: how long does it take for Spiderman's webbing to dissolve? In some scenes in the movie, you're led to believe it lasts for hours, while at other times webbing would dissolve seconds after Spiderman shot it. And what was with that scene at the cemetery? I saw 'Spider-Man' on its opening weekend in a jam-packed theater. When Peter told Mary Jane---the woman he says he's loved since they both were 6 years old---that he could only be her friend, some people in the audience actually booed and hissed! I don't blame them. That scene was lame. As for Mary Jane's delayed reaction of softly touching her hand to her mouth: Puh-leez! Did kissing Peter while he was STANDING next to her on a windy day feel the same as kissing Spiderman while he was HANGING upside-down on a rainy night? Those points aside, I really did enjoy 'Spider-Man', as did my wife and my 13-year-old daughter. [WARNING: this movie is NOT for little children. A few kids---about 4 to 6 years old---inside the aforementioned jam-packed theater started crying because they were so scared by the apartment fire scene and the final, bloody confrontation between the Green Goblin and Spiderman. The children's parents had to escort them out of the theater.] I waited 25 years for 'Spider-Man'. I'm so glad that I don't have to wait nearly that long for the sequel because I eagerly await it.