Raimi Now Has Two Mediocre Comic Book Films On His Resume

Rating: Null/10 (5 May 2002)

Have you seen the original Superman? How about Burton's first Batman? OK, didja catch Raimi's own Darkman? If you answered 'yes' to any of the above questions, you've no reason to catch Spiderman. You've seen it already. And if you saw the first two titles, you've seen BETTER!
Raimi apparently still wants to be thought of as a "serious director," because the heavy-handed doses of melodrama drag this film so far down it makes Bette Midler's 'Beaches' look like an action-packed thrill-a-minute rollercoaster ride. The sappy dialogue and characterizations make for 'groaner' material from start to finish. There's too much talk and not enough webslinging. Too many teary eyes; yet no developed personalities you really care about. No actor could deliver those cumbersome scenes well, so the blame falls squarely upon the filmmakers, not the actors (who did their best for the most part).
The story is derivative of just about every comic-to-screen adaptation made in the last thirty years (especially Superman). The imagery is nothing new (remember those parade balloons from Batman? Hope you liked that scene -- it's 're-imagined' in Spiderman). The CGI is CGI -- to a degree where there is little or no suspension of disbelief. Again, nothing ground-breaking. Don't even expect Raimi's signature ingenious camera work, because with the exception of one scene, there's nothing special here.
The hype around this film is both stupefying and alarming. There's really nothing new to see here. Except maybe Dunst in a wet T-shirt. Which you can see in the trailer. When the hype whirligig subsides, Spiderman will prove as disposable as The Shadow. Or Mantis. Or even Darkman.