It was good, but....

Rating: 7/10 (4 May 2002)

I would like to start out by saying that I am a BIG-time Spider-Man comic book fan. I have collected and read every issue he has appeared in. However, other than the characters themselves, this review is not about the comic book, but the movie. ***By the way, possible spoilers ahead*** Starting with the characters, I believe Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker was excellent and portrayed the true Peter Parker perfectly. Also, the Norman and Harry Osborn characters were well written and acted. However, the best character of the movie was by far J Jonah Jameson. The movie was worth the price of admission alone to see the scenes with him in it. The problem I had was with how Mary Jane Watson was depicted. She is not the shy, damsel-in-distress, oh woe-is-me character that was shown in the movie. She is a fiery young lady to match her Red hair who is full of spunk and gusto. She is brash and outspoken and wild and fun and at this point in her life she is a little self-centered and aloof. They missed the boat completely with her character....but a true Spider-Man comic fan can look past that, because this should be about a stand-alone movie and not the comic. So what about the movie. It started out with great emotion, which is what a movie (any type, but especially and action movie) should bring out. A wry smile and a quiet cheer came up as the geek boy beat on the school bully. Tears were shed at the passing of Uncle Ben. There was a lump in the throat and a quickened pulse during the first fight scene with the Green Goblin. But....for all the emotion that came about throughout most of the movie, there was absolutely none for the final fight scene. This is where the problem was in the movie. There needed to be web and flows, back and forth, hero is down, hero is up, hero is back down and out, hero finds a way, everybody cheers. Instead we got a one-sided fight for the villain for a few minutes, than a one-sided fight for the hero, and then it was over. The way the final battle ultimately ended was very anti-climatic and, I might add, stolen straight out of the comic book, which also made it very predictable and very disappointing. And I haven't even mentioned the final scene yet, which was very sappy, extremely out of place, and seemed forced upon us almost as if they had to hurry up and finish the movie before they could figure out how to properly end it. I gave this movie a 7 as the 3 for the last 1/4 was offset by the 10 for the first 3/4. It's still worth seeing, but for all the hype, and for such a promising beginning, be prepared to be disappointed somewhat when you walk out of the theater.