Someone needs a second viewing...

Rating: 4/10 (29 June 2002)

Either I need to see this movie again, or the people who are giving it the thumbs up need to see it again. Unless forced, I doubt I will watch Spider-Man again. Hopefully, the sequel will be leaps and bounds above this one. I feel as though the makers of this film "phoned it in." I do like this genre of film (Superman, Batman I, and X-men), but I almost had to walk out of this one. My supporting details are as follows:
1. Lack of chemistry between Maguire and Dunst. Yes, I know they were dating in real life, but they seemed like they were strangers. I almost fell asleep during the hospital scene and at the finale. 2. Maguire's lack of charisma. This movie should have been fun. The fun thing about Spider-Man was that he was a wise-ass, cocky teenager. Yes, Peter Parker was supposed to be dull, but Spider-Man is not. 3. Dafoe. Yes, comic book movies are an excuse for hamming up the villain role. But Dafoe made Schwartzenegger's Mr. Freeze look like Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor. The costume was bad (i.e., terrible), but Dafoe was bad even as Norman Osborne. 4. Writing. Most of the memorable comic book movies offer fans new information or a new story. This one was a mix of several famous storylines, complete with themes that had the subtlety of a sledge-hammer.
5. Effects. I thought the swinging looked cool, but the Sonic the Hedgehog bouncing was too much. Yes, he's agile. But he's not made of Silly Putty. For some reason, the Goblin bounced a bit too much. Only at the end of the movie, did I feel that we were looking at a man in a costume, instead of some CGI creation.
Overall, the problems with this movie are the fault of the director. I like Sam Raimi's previous work. However, with this genre you have to have suspension of disbelief. As they said about the Superman movie, you have to believe a man can fly. At no time, did the movie pull me in far enough to make it the enjoyable fantasy it should have been. I think James Franco and the actor playing J.J. Jameson were the lone standouts.