Arachniphobia

Rating: Null/10 (10 May 2002)

Peter Parker is in the midst of adolescent angst when something strange happens. He turns into a spider. Instead of finding this fact worrisome, he sews himself a costume and starts to swing.
Tobey McGuire is about the only actor around who could pull off this high-wire act. He's got the right amount of boyish charm and childish enthusiasm. He looks just dorky enough in glasses and without them he looks like a 1950's All-American boy. His crush on M.J.(Kirsten Dunst) is palpable, even if Dunst lacks charisma, McGuire takes moondog to a new level.
The first half of this film is interesting as Peter discovers, and masters his powers. But what follows, with Spiderman battling The Green Goblin is stilted and uninspiring. Willam Defoe, a fine actor, was a bit too intense as Spiderman's arch nemesis. He needed to have a little less of a problem embracing his evil side. It would have made it a lot more fun, if he just let loose, and played it more for laughs. James Franco, so wonderful as James Dean, is positively enervated as Parker's wealthy friend. The special effects were cheesy and cartoonish, which suited the subject matter, but with each new film of this sort a certain amount of computer magic is expected. It was passable, but if you notice it, chances are that it isn't doing the job.
There were some funny moments as Peter enters a wrestling match, seemingly outmatched by Bone Saw McGraw (Randy Poffo). But it is J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, the cigar-chomping editor, who steals every scene he's in. The words comic book implies humor, but more often than not there isn't much that is comical about these films. J. K. Simmons, shedding his Nazi persona from "Oz", looked like he was having a bit of fun. So did I.