A Really Good, But Not Quite Great, Superhero Movie

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2015)

Let me get this out of the way; I LOVE Spider-Man. Spider-Man has been my favorite superhero since I was 10 years old, mainly due to his extreme relatability and his sheer selflessness as a character. And, as you may have guessed, I do think the original Sam Raimi "Spider- Man" is a very, very good movie. That said, I don't think it's a GREAT movie. I don't think Marvel would give us any GREAT movies until 2003 when we got "Daredevil" and "Ang Lee's Hulk" (And I know that it's extremely controversial and perhaps unwise for me to say that, but that is my honest opinion), and while there IS a great movie buried deep in here, there are is one BIG problem that keeps it from being great.
That problem is the romance. This film tries to make the romance the heart and soul of the movie, but when the two leads have so little chemistry and so little reason to truly be in love, you're in big trouble. Such is the case with Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker and Kristen Dunst's Mary Jane Watson. Mary Jane is a very unlikable character here to be perfectly honest; she's unsupportive, weak in her convictions and honestly seems to mess with Peter a fair amount, even if not intentionally. And of course, she is quite possibly the biggest damsel in distress in comic book movie history. She's not so much a character as a plot element inserted to help PETER develop. To be fair though, Peter isn't much better. Throughout the film I am completely stumped as to why he loved Mary Jane apart from her beauty. There is simply no other reason for him to be attracted to her, and it makes Peter seem very shallow romance wise.
The effects are also EXTREMELY dated too. When I was watching Spider-Man swing across New York, I didn't feel like I was watching a real superhero. I felt like I was watching a cut scene from an Xbox 360 game.
That said, if the romance had been executed better, this would truly be a great superhero movie. Apart from a mediocre Kristen Dunst (And her performance is NOT her fault. The script simply gave her nothing to work with), most of the acting is good. Tobey Maguire is fairly on and off. He perfectly captures the awkwardness and geekiness we know and love in Peter Parker, and he can really give us some true emotional depth in the more touching and tragic scenes of the movie, but he never really gives the alter-ego of Spider-Man much personality. And, of course, he has no chemistry with Kristen Dunst. I'd give his performance a B; not anything mind-blowing, but decent. Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris and Willem DaFoe are all fantastic in their roles; I can't imagine anybody more perfect for the roles of Uncle Ben, Aunt May and Green Goblin, it was like watching the comic book characters come to life. For a die-hard Spidey fan like me, it was a riot to watch them breathe so much life into these roles.
Then of course, there's J.K Simmons as J.J Jameson...What can be said about this performance that hasn't already been said? At the end of the day, all I can tell you is this; there's a reason why Spider-Man fans want him to come back as J.J in the new "Spider-Man" films. Simmons alone was born to play this role.
The pacing is some of the best I have ever seen in an action or superhero movie. There is not a single moment in "Spider-Man" where you will be bored or disinterested, it's very fast paced and does a perfect job of grabbing and holding onto your attention in both action and character development. Sure, Mary Jane doesn't really develop much beyond crushing on Peter, but Peter's transition from immature teenager to selfless guardian of New York is handled very well, and Norman Osborne's descent from well-intentioned scientist to schizophrenic madman is tragic, terrifying and captivating all at once. The action sequences are all spectacular, feeling extremely source to the source material in style and choreography without coming across as goofy or over the top.
And lastly, the musical score. Danny Elfman's "Spider-Man" score is rousing, exciting and truly iconic to a Spidey fan like myself. It's impossible for me to listen too without smiling, and it really captures the tone of the movie and character perfectly.
"Spider-Man" is a really good movie, but I'm not quite willing to call it great. Yes, I do have only 2 criticisms of the movie, and only one major, but the fact remains that when the romance is the heart of your story, you damn well better make it work. And "Spider-Man" really, really doesn't. However, the movie get's nearly everything else right, from MOST of the character development, to the casting, to the action, to the score, to the pacing...Yeah, it's still a really good movie. I personally just don't think it was GREAT. Now the SEQUEL on the other hand...