the star of the movie is the special effects (sigh...)

Rating: 5/10 (9 May 2002)

A feel-good superhero action flick. The chief selling point is, of course, the special effects and relentless pace of the action that completely overwhelm the thin script and reduces much of the film to being something like a ride at a major studio theme park.
Luckily we are treated to some wonderful acting moments by Tobey Maguire, but there is no acting at all when he's replaced by a CGI Spiderman. It's a shame, really. Christopher Reeve and Micahel Keaton at least got to act when in costume.
William Dafoe is always a great actor to watch. (I initially had hoped that he would play The Joker in the original Batman film -- and I stand by my opinion that he would have done as good or better job than Nicholson.) The problem here, of course, is not a CGI issue, it's that you can't see his face behind the Goblin's rigid mask.
The woman who played Aunt May was very good. Uncle Ben's part was way too syrup-y with heavy implications. I didn't know the story, and yet I could tell almost instantly that their conversation in the car was the "fateful last conversation they'll ever have which shall cause emotional angst for Peter." Other performances ranged from good to mediocre.
It's my personal opinion that the superhero genre is being milked by the studios because of their instant revenue via eye-popping effects, not because they make outstanding films. "Superman" is still the best example of a superhero film that actually had a really good *story* to tell... but that was made back in the days when actors didn't have to compete with special effects. If "Superman" had been made today, it would probably would have featured acting and writing on the scale of the "Lois & Clark" TV series with CGI battles and effects making up more than 50% of the film. I suspect we won't see any more good superhero films until some studio has the balls to do "Watchmen". But hey, maybe that's why "Watchmen" hasn't been made yet -- so much story that it's hard to condense properly into a 2-hour film.
Forget the standard 4-star ratings systems these days. That doesn't provide any useful context in today's movie-going reality. Here's a better system:
Worth seeing at full price, worth seeing at matinee price, wait for video/DVD, or don't bother even renting it.
This movie rates between matinee price and wait for video.