what a refreshing step back to a time of innocence

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2009)

What an odd way to describe a Spider-Man movie of all things huh? Well, let me explain.
After I saw Spider-Man 3 in 2007, the disgusting display of incompetent film making and lazy attempts to make money and simply get by on the name alone, left me with nothing but a raging hatred in my core for everyone involved in that abomination of a movie. Watching part 1 again reminded me of how magnificent this franchise used to be. I can't believe these characters that I fell in love with- Peter Parker, Mary Jane, Aunt May, Harry, J. Jonah Jameson, are people that I actually wanted to commit felony acts of violence against in part 3 (particularly Mary Jane and Harry). It was so bad and personal, that I even said that if they continue making more Spider-Man movies in the future, that I would like nothing more than Kirsten Dunst NOT to return (a complete contrast to my views of her in parts 1 and 2, where I loved her). Seeing part 3 even made me second guess myself as to whether the first two actually deserved perfect 10s as I originally scored them. Well, seeing them again reminded me that they ABSOLUTELY deserve 10s, and that's why I'm writing this review. I'll stick to talking about part 1 here.
**Great job adapting the comic to the big screen. They captured the campy humor of the comics perfectly, with lovable corny one-liners done just well enough to be corny, but not excessively that it becomes a joke.
**At it's core, this movie is basically a love story about a nerd awkwardly trying to win over the girl he loves, with things getting a tad bit complicated having to deal with the fact that he's got superhuman powers. This is a romance story story running parallel to a superhero movie, and it's interwoven with expert craftsmanship, it completely engrosses you.
**I've gotta give it to Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, they did some great acting here. All of their scenes feel so genuine. Who can't relate to those little moments that they had together? Like every time they happen to meet up by chance, they would say "Oh hey!!!" with a genuine look of surprise as their faces light up with happiness, followed by awkward, nervous conversation masked by their smiles, with Peter consciously making sure to minimize dead air in the conversation. Again, the most authentic thing in all of this is the "oh hey!!!" part. Not sure about everyone else, but in my experience, this is THE default greeting between a male and a female that are moderately close, upon unexpectedly meeting each other (less close could result in a simple, less upbeat, "hey what's up," and more close could be running up and giving them a hug).
**There's a certain *simplistic nature to this movie that you become fond of. There's a very dense, linear approach that pretty much forces you to love the characters, and want to see the nerd win the girl, and save the day.
**If I had to do one thing differently, I would change the Green Goblin's costume. It was too over the top and cartoonish, they should've modernized the look, make it look like something that would be issued by the military for combat. They wouldn't wear a mask that looked like that..
Parts 1 and 2 compared to part 3 are like day and knight. Regardless of The Dark cloud which is part 3 hanging over this franchise, these first two installments are the best superhero movies made in terms of pure enjoyment.