A good and entertaining comic book adaptation

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2002)

Spider Man is another good movie in the new string of comic book films. Everything about this film is good. From the acting to the visual effects and action sequences, it never slows down or becomes tiresome.
The plot is about a nerdy highschool kid who is transformed into a superhero after being bitten by a genetically altered spider. With his new powers he must stop the evil Green Goblin while hiding his love for his neighbor Mary Jane. The acting is better than one can expect for a comic book based film. Toby Maguire does a terrific job at being a nerdy kid who has little confidence and is in love with his longtime childhood friend. Without him in the movie, it would have been a routine action film. The other actors did fair jobs at their performance, but they were nothing special. Willem Dafoe did a pretty good job at the Green Goblin, and he did what he could to make him sinister and disturbed. The talented Kirsten Dunst also did a fine job as Mary Jane, but she didn't have to be saved by Spider-Man three times.
The visual effects were not as bad as I thought they were going to be. They were better than most and they were able to show Spider-Man swinging through the city. The only objections that I had about them is that at most times you can tell when the images are CGI, they sometimes look like cartoons, and there is no weight to Spider-Man when he is leaping of swinging, but they are still exciting effects to view.
Overall, this is a very good action/adventure popcorn movie that delivers in evert aspect. With Toby Maguire's good performance, exciting visual effects and action scenes, and an accurate transfer to the big screen from the comic book, this is a good and entertaining comic book adaptation.