The web-heads triumphant debut on the silver screen

Rating: 10/10 (11 November 2017)

When I was a kid, Spiderman was always a character that I was aware of, but never much cared for apart from the 90s animated show, so when I went to see the movie in the summer of '02, I was pretty excited to see it and it didn't let me down. From it's superb direction and themes to it's acting and effects, Spiderman is a revolutionary movie in the superhero genre.
The movie follows a high schooler named Peter Parker who is an outsider and can't bring himself to open up to his childhood crush, Mary Jane, but after being bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, Peter discovers that he has gained new abilities, but after his uncle is murdered, Peter decades to use his powers for good and learn what it means to have power and responsibility.
One of the more difficult tasks with bringing a character like Spiderman to the big screen is to give the audience plenty of background information on the lead character in order for us to care about him because if there is too much focus on the heroes origin then it tends to slow the movie down but if the viewer is given too little then they won't connect with the hero. This is something Sam Raimi is able to hit the right notes with by setting up our hero in the few minutes of the movie as we see Peter as a nerdy outsider, allowing the viewer to get to know him better, while another part of the movie's charm is the grand and beautiful style added to it thanks to the bouncy and attentive directing from Sam and writer David Koepp's engaging dialog which allows the story to unfold and allows each character to develop as the movie progresses and while Koepp's script might have an out-of-date touch to it, it feels like Burton's Batman when it comes to format and dialog and can come across as a bit off-putting, it still adds to the movie's charms and makes it a lot more timeless.
While Spiderman's origin is incredibly simple, it feels akin to Donner's Superman, telling the whole story of how the hero comes to be while Rami and Koepp approach the movie with a great deal of respect for the original 60s comic book by maintaining all the major elements of the story like the spider bite and Uncle Ben's murder but don't try to put their own spin on it, rather they adjust certain facts to apply to modern day and the end product is an enduring and touchingly inspiring origin perfectly suiting the character and Sam is able to get the tone of the movie just perfectly by letting the movie have a sense of fun, but never forgets the core message of the story and gives ample devotion to the serious stuff too.
As for the look and feel of the film, Raimi takes great care to be as faithful to the world of Spiderman as possible and New York looks amazing, not even Batman's Gotham City bears a flawless harmony of elegance and reality that Raimi has made. Sam's trademark dynamic camera works fits this kind of movie perfectly and every single shot in the movie is full of momentum and a wonder to be hold. Sam's concept for Spiderman is also supported convincingly by some top-notch visual effects and action with Spidy swings though the Manhattan streets with agility and elegance and while some of the CGI is a bit wonky at times, the visual effects in the movie are flawless for the most part while Raimi provides us with plenty of entertaining battle scenes throughout the film, climaxing in a ferocious and grand face-off that's more extreme and primeval than most other action scenes in superhero movies.
As with most comic book movies, Spiderman would be nothing without a stellar cast and it certainly delivers that in spades. Toby Maguire is an eye-opener as Spiderman/Peter Parker. Much like Robert Downey Jr. or Hugh Jackman, Maguire absolutely encompasses almost everything needed for Spiderman. He brings a good-heart-ed, timid, compassion to his performance but also skillfully portrays both the geeky side and heroic side of the character with remarkable ease while his enthusiastic looks assure the viewer that he looks like a teen, but even wearing the suit, Maguire exhibits a boyish boldness as well as a bit of innocence but nevertheless is fearless when he battles his foes, clearly Rami and Sony took a risk with Maguire and it pays off wonderfully. Kirsten Dunst is a believable Mary Jane and gives a wonderful performance plus the chemistry between her and Toby seems to ooze off the screen whenever they are together. James Franco is wonderful as Harry Osborn, bringing the character's conflicts with his father and his relationship with Peter to life in a wonderful way. Rosemary Harris is wonderful as Aunt May as is Cliff Robertson as Uncle Ben and J.K. Simmons steals every scene he's in as the fiery and grumpy J. Jonah Jameson while on the other side of the coin is Willem Dafoe as the evil Green Goblin/ Norman Osborn. When he is Norman, Dafoe portrays a more fatherly figure to Peter while displaying sighs of what he will later become, but when he becomes insane, Willem fully grasps his madness and goes as over-the-top as one can go and uses a richer voice tone for Norman while using a hoarser voice and psychotic laugh for the Goblin without going too cartoonish but still maintaining a conniving and threatening persona that invokes dread throughout New York, truly one of the finest villains in all of comic book filmdom.
If I did have an issue with the film, it would the Green Goblin suit as it does look like something out of Power Rangers, but apart from that, Spiderman is a truly fantastic comic book movie. Definitely one to watch.