Swing Time

Rating: Null/10 (4 May 2002)

In my limited experience with the comic book superhero genre, Spider-Man has always struck me as one of the more human characters of the breed. Rather than a near-perfect muscleman from a distant world or a brooding bachelor with enough money to buy half the eastern seaboard, Peter Parker is a gawky, geeky teenager who still gets tongue-tied in the presence of the girl next door. His manner as a masked vigilante is touched with a pleasing balance of pathos, anger, and humor. Thankfully, Sam Raimi has managed to translate that into a pleasing film that proves to be one of the better comic-book films since Tim Burton relinquished the Batman series.
The first part of "Spider-Man" is an origin story, setting up the universe for the uninitiated and for future films (which, if the opening weekend audience is any indication, are a certainty): On a class trip, Peter (Tobey Maguire) gets bitten by a genetically-enhanced spider that injects genetic coding instead of venom. Suddenly Peter's eyesight is perfect, his body is buff, his wrists shoot webbing at inopportune times and he can dodge a bully's punches like Keanu Reeves limboing with bullets. At first Peter's mystified (although, oddly enough, not alarmed) by the change. Then he embraces it, leaping across the rooftops of New York with an awkward joy that's almost infectuous.
It takes a tragedy to get Peter to turn his newfound powers to crime fighting. Maguire is best in these moments, filled with the sorrow and self-reproach that guides his crusade. And crusade Spider-Man does, foiling petty thugs and taking New York by surprise. In between, Peter attempts to make headway with his crush Mary-Jane (the very charming Kirsten Dunst) and gets cash by selling photos of his alter-ego to a local tabloid (JK Simmons, as the editor of the rag, steals every scene he's in).
Every superhero needs a supervillian; Spider-Man's is an airboard-flying meanace known as the Green Goblin. The Goblin is the Hyde personality of Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe), a wealthy mogul who's only slightly less embittered and mean-spirited when he's not wearing a mask. Osborne's son is Peter's best friend and Mary-Jane's current boyfriend, creating some very interesting dynamics in the main characters.
The special effects have a slightly campy feel to them, yet this serves the movie well, giving it a surreal aura that looks and feels like a comic-book drawing come to life. And thankfully, although both major participants are wearing full-face masks, Raimi manages for the most part to avoid having the major fight scenes come off like something out of a Power Rangers episode. There's also some good chemistry between Maguire and Dunst, particularly in the much-publicized kiss in the rain. Overall, this fun time at the cinema gets the summer off to a good start.