Rare to find film that's true to original story!!!!

Rating: Null/10 (4 May 2002)

This review will be easier for fans of the comic book to identify with more than casual fans that know little of Spiderman. In order to comment on this movie I need to explain my approach to viewing Spider-Man (SM).

Marvel Comics (MC) have almost always done better at providing the reader with a good backstory, a backstory that readers could identify with. Unfortunately MC has not been able to translate their good story telling into film productions. Films such as Captain America, Spider-Man (1970's), The Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange and Howard the Duck cemented the idea that MC could and should not do film work. For me all this changed with the First Blade movie. Blade was at the time of the movie release a little known comic book hero. Only consistent readers of MC would even have an inkling of who this character was. Even so more attention to detail was paid to this film than any other MC film. The action scenes were top notch and I like the sets used to film the movie. I hate Batman The Movie type sets. Blade used many real location scenes for that film and it made the movie feel much more real. Superman the Movie did this also. Primarily the city shots were in many cases shot in real cities and not on sets. SM also feels as though it takes place in the real world and not some Gothem set type location. For me this is a real plus.
I read & collected SM comic books as a grade schooler in the 70's and as a teenager in the 80's. I could really relate to Peter Parker and his everyday life problems. I remember the horrible attempt at making a SM movie and television show in the 70's. SM's costume was fine but he wore his web shooter (he only had one) on the outside of his costume as he did his web cartridge belt. This ruined the overall appearance of SM. Also, he fired webs that were as thick as 1 inch rope. I never did understand how he could manipulate the web shooter to fire a line of web or make a net of web. Actually, I never understood this in comic form either. SM would fire these artificial webs in such variety and size that it just seemed impossible that he could carry enough web fluid in his cartridges to spin as much web as he did or make such complex and various web creations. This movie rectified all this by allowing SM to create his own webbing internally. This makes so much more sense. Kudos to the movie writers for making this change.
Next, (Spoilers Ahead) this SM movie has followed the origin of SM to the letter. Uncle Ben's death at the hand of criminal Peter Parker allowed to escape previously. This part of the origin of SM is critical to how his views are shaped. In the comics Peter Parker did live with Harry Osborn and after the Green Goblin, who is Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn's father, dies almost identically to the way he died in this movie Harry discovers his friend Peter is SM and becomes the new Green Goblin. The way this movie ended it left that door open. Also, Peter Parker doted on MJ for years and was never able to reconcile his feelings for her. Eventually they did get married but not after years of off again on again dating. I liked the way this movie did not take the easy way out and have Peter & MJ getting together. The obvious pain they both felt after Peter, who wants nothing more than to be with MJ, turns her down because of his alter ego, sense of duty & fear of danger to MJ is palpable. By ending the film here leaves the audience feeling saddened even if they can understand Peter's reasons.

As for the casting, excellent!!!!! When I originally heard that Kirsten Dunst (KD) was going to play MJ I was disappointed. She seemed just a little too perky for me. In the comics MJ was perky but it seemed like a front that was being put on to hide other issues. KD was able to capture that aspect of her character better than I ever suspected. Also, the chemistry between KD and Tobey Maguire was great. I am a big fan of Cliff (Three Days of the Condor) Robertson and it was good to see him playing Uncle Ben. William DaFoe was right on the money with his Green Goblin role.

Lastly, Sam Raimi has obviously done his homework. This movie was better than The X-Men and at least as good as or better than Blade. SM is just as good as Superman the movie was when it was originally released. SM makes use of the current CG effects without overkill and provides an excellent storyline with characters the viewer can grow to appreciate. I hope MC is able to keep up the good work. I have my doubts though. I have read reviews for the upcoming Hulk film and it appears that they are really going to screw with the origin of that character. Hopefully Daredevil will stick to the true origins. For now I'm going to enjoy this work of art.