Actually an incredibly written movie.

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2013)

I first saw Spider-man as a 7 year old kid, and obviously I enjoyed it. I flogged the crap out of our VHS copy, so much so I think the tape started to deteriorate. But of course I liked it when I was 7, it was a Spider-man movie! However, unlike a lot of things I liked at 7, this movie holds up incredibly well. In matter of fact it actually gets better every time I re watch it. The casting, the acting, the practical and CG effects, the direction, they all stand up as still being fantastic after 12 years. But it's the focus of the script that really makes this movie so fantastic. The film, at its most simple, is about Peter and MJ. It's also about Peter becoming aware of the responsibility to use his powers for good. This film is so focused because it knows what its focus IS. This is why 2012 SM is so bad (imo). It seems to decide that its story arc is that of Peter's parents, but that fizzles out after 20 minutes. It seems the sequel will try and pull this story back in, but its importance just wasn't explored properly in the first film. Instead it got distracted and copied 2002s central plot with the love story. Which they obviously needed to do but could have focused on much less, as I mentioned, they have Peter's parents to focus on. 2002 SM didn't! All there was to explore was Peter and MJ and it executed it perfectly. Even the sequel handled these ideas well. MJ and Peter finally end up together and Peter begins to question his responsibility to be a hero. The third could have made a prefect trilogy; the ingredients are in there. Peter's dark side is exposed and he himself becomes the villain. Peter's actions causing MJ fear and ultimately stop loving Peter is a tragic end to the tale, but it's perfect because of that tragedy. Sadly this all got muddled up with too many extra villains and unfocused execution. ANYWAY, Spider-man is a fantastically written movie! 10/10! (or more, 8/10!)