Here comes the Spider-Man!

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 2006)

Although a huge Spider-Man fan, I must confess I've never read a single Spider-Man comic. Everything I know about the character comes from the cartoons. First the classic one with that song. Then the updated one from the 90's which took a more adult stance, and allowed us to get behind the masks and see the people inside. And now finally, Spider-Man gets the big budget treatment, given a distinctly absurdist spin by one of my favourite directors, Sam Raimi.
Sam Raimi is a self-professed Spidey fan, and his enthusiasm for the character shines through warm and bright. Raimi has taken care to ensure the emotional core that always drew people to Spidey in the first place is still intact.
The story begins on the day Peter Parker is changed into Spider-Man. Parker is a gawky teenager who lives with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He pines for the girl next door, Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). He's friends with super rich Harry Osborn, the son of industrialist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe).
When Parker goes on a field trip to Columbia State University, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider, and is thus transformed. He can now shoot webbing from his wrists, he has superhuman strength and agility, and he can stick to walls.
At the same time, Norman Osborn goes through a transformation of his own. Pressured by his superiors to perfect a new type of super suit, the experiment goes wrong (the film is admittedly a bit vague on this point) and Osborn is driven insane. With the new suit and a hi-tech glider, he becomes the Green Goblin, and sets out to grab power.
Meanwhile, Peter's new-found abilities go to his head. He beats up the school bully, and gets off on the adrenaline rush. He feels he can now win the heart of Mary-Jane, but first he needs cash. He goes into wrestling, and there's a great scene where we see Peter try out new designs for an outfit. I got a genuine feeling of exhilaration when I saw the final Spider-Man suit.
But Peter's odd behaviour hasn't gone unnoticed by Aunt May and Uncle Ben. In a very poignant scene, Ben tries to teach Peter about the dangers of power. Thankfully we still get the classic line "With great power, comes great responsibility." But Peter doesn't want to listen.
When Peter goes into the wrestling ring, he comes out a winner. The wrestling promoter doesn't give him the money he wants, and is then robbed. But Peter makes no effort to stop him. Just for the sake of revenge. Peter's power trip has sent him sky high.
And comes crashing down to Earth. Uncle Ben is killed, and in a fit of rage, Peter wants vengeance. Only to find the murderer is the same man who robbed the promoter. The man Peter let go. A man who ends up dead after going through a window. A man Peter doesn't try to save.
Filled with remorse, Peter takes Ben's words of wisdom to heart, and puts his powers to good use. As the amazing Spider-Man.
One thing that struck me about Spider-Man was how aptly cast it was. Tobey Maguire is pitch perfect as Peter Parker, finding the right amount of shy awkwardness and balancing it with teenage angst. But unfortunately, he seems a little lost in the Spidey suit. He never really comes alive.
Kirsten Dunst is a fine actress most of the time, but spends half of it screaming as Mary-Jane. When she's not though, she makes an impression, displaying a touching vulnerability when her acting career goes nowhere.
Willem Dafoe is suitably manic, but we never really get behind the Green Goblin's mask. Sam Raimi explored this territory to far greater effect in his earlier effort Darkman. Dafoe goes rather over the top, and his performance falls into cliché. Still, there are some scenes involving the Green Goblin's psychosis I liked, such as the supremely eerie scene when Norman argues with himself in a mirror.
James Franco is an insipid Harry Osborn. He walks around the film with a tortured puppy dog look that is very irritating. He is definitely the most shallow character in the film, and if truth be told, contributes nothing.
Cliff Roberts and Rosemary Harris are great as Uncle Ben and Aunt May. There is a lot of warmth to their characters, and they're utterly believable.
But who could forget J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. He is 100% spot on in the part. Capturing everything. The mannerisms. Gruff voice. Temper tantrums. You perk up every time he's on the scene. It's just a pity he doesn't get more to do.
Honestly though, Spider-Man is a little disappointing. It doesn't quite fire on all cylinders. The components for a great film are all there, but somehow it doesn't add up to a satisfying whole.
The first half is effective as Peter comes to terms with what he's become, but as the special effects take over, the human element gets lost in the crowd. Some of the action scenes are unimpressive, and the latter half is not as compelling as it should be.
When I first saw Spider-Man, I loved it because it was gratifying to see things following the path of the cartoons. But after watching it several times, I now realise it is a rather flawed film, marred by a disappointing climax.
Personally, I prefer Spider-Man 2. It is a far superior film, because it is much more well rounded, and makes better use of it's characters. It also irons out the flaws the original had. Spider-Man is perfectly watchable, but it's not up there with Superman or Batman.
A good film, but not a great one. Although the classic song on the end credits was a nice touch!