The Amazing Hype Machine

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2002)

Warning, Slight spoilers.
As I write this review, Spiderman is sitting at the number 99 spot as the best 250 movies ever on IMDB. Directly following is "The Graduate" and further down the list are "Battleship Potemkin," "Bonnie and Clyde," "Toy Story," "Brazil" and "The Great Dictator" to name just a select few that are being considered inferior to Spiderman.
Now I'm not some film-school elitist that thinks scoffs and thinks that Spiderman is trash because it's based on a comic book, but I do think that hype has created a nasty, nasty product. The movie is one of the better comic book to film translations, yet that's only possible because of the lack of all but a few great comic book films.
Spiderman's fun, very fun, and there's a definite energy to the film. I've seen it two times; the first was of my own volition, and the other two times were because my friends hadn't seen it and the wanted to see it badly. I agreed, and though I tried to enjoy it upon subsequent viewings, there were too many things that stuck out as things that could've been improved upon.

There's no reason to go into the story, as you can find that in essentially any review. Peter Parker in love with Mary Jane, gets bit by a genetically-altered spider, gets powers, while his best friend's dad creates a different personality within him, known as the Green Goblin. Action and love scenes follow.
Now I gotta say, I love the action scenes. Some of them have a definite cartoonish feel, but overall they're well done. Some complain the CG looks too fake, or the web-slinging isn't realistically portrayed, but we're supposed to be believing that a guy can have spider powers from a spider bite. It's excusable, and believable, and I never really questioned it.

However, what I did question were moments where basic common sense would be a necessity. Mary Jane, played by Kirsten Dunst has to be one of the most ignorant characters ever on film. Tobey Maguire, as has been stated many times, is great as Peter Parker, but despite slight changes in mannerism playing Parker and Spiderman, one does not see the split dichotomy as is seen in other comic book translations. The reason we, the audience can believe that Lois Lane and Vicky Vale would be unable to identify the main character is beause of the vast difference between a bumbling Clark Kent and a brash Superman, or the low-key Bruce Wayne and very cynical and no-nonsense Batman. Peter Parker is Spiderman in a costume, and Spiderman is Peter Parker without the costume. And let's be honest, Tobey Maguire, fabulous as he is in this role, has a very unique voice. During moments in the film, I wondered how MJ could possibly NOT figure out that they were both the same, considering that Spiderman and Parker use the same line within 5 minutes of saying it (I was in the neighborhood.)

Another moment is the instance where The Green Goblin knocks Spiderman unconscious and temporarily paralyzes him, why does he not simply take off Spiderman's mask? Would it be because he was trying to show his integrity in being a good business partner? Look, this is the same character that had killed several innocent civilians, and his former board members. Respect isn't a main priority for him. Perhaps the question remains to be unanswered.
My other qualms seem to focus on a number of things including the writing and directing. The first hour of the movie is great; it is much like the first hour of Superman, showing the genesis of a superhero. Parker is insecure, but then grows confident as he continues to develop his powers. But the movie moves fast after that, trying to cram as much in as possible. The Green Goblin and Spiderman don't have their first conflict until about an hour and a half into the film, so there is little time for development of the conflict. Likewise, the love story was written poorly. The same sentiments that are expressed in lines like "When you look into her eyes, and she looks into yours, you feel... etc." could have been done so more subtley and without as much cheese. In general, this love subplot was needed, but could have been tightened up.
I love Sam Raimi as a director, but he seemed a little bit unsure if he wanted to go the tongue-in-cheek route as some of his earlier efforts (the Evil Dead trilogy) or a more profound and serious work (A Simple Plan.) The movie seemed half and half, and some moments that would have worked quite well as tongue-in-cheek (the Aunt May "from Evil!" scene) are played out more seriously. In fact, the best moment of the film, perhaps because of the presence of the charismatic Bruce Campbell was the wrestling cage scene where Randy Savage in an over-the-top fashion says, "Hey! You're going NOWHERE!"
It may seem like I hated the film, but actually, I enjoyed it quite much. The action scenes were very fun, and a lot of the film centered around web-slinging which is fun. I'm one of the few that enjoyed the score. Though it's not as memorable as some of Elfman's other scores (particularly most of his Burton efforts) that could simply be dismissed because the story was not as dark as one for which Elfman usually composes.

One thing that deserves mention is the acting. While Dunst is passable, Maguire is great. He plays the insecurities of the role perfectly. Willem Dafoe is quite simply one of the most versatile actors of his generation; being able to play several differing roles from a sympathetic Sargeant in Vietnam, to a snarling vampire, even to Jesus Christ himself, he has a talent. Unfortunately, there were few scenes that allowed him to show his true acting caliber. Luckily, he pulls these off perfectly.

In terms of comic book films, Spiderman fans should be overjoyed. While I think it's definitely the most pure "fun" of the comic book films, I enjoy several better. "Superman" while it hasn't aged well, still has a great story and acting in it, "Batman" showed the dark side of comics and placed it more in realism, and "X-men" displayed the maturity and incredibly tragedy that is usually found in comic-books, but are usually overlooked by those not familiar with them.
The film is recommended. The ranking will go down in time, but for now, enjoy it. Just watch out for the hype.