"With great power, comes great responsibility."

Rating: Null/10 (9 June 2002)

The Marvel Comic phenomenon finally crawls onto the silver screen in the big screen adaption of a cult classic superhero who, after being bitten by a genetically-enhanced new breed of spider, finds himself with arachno-mutant abilities! Set in high-school, high-school aged Peter Parker (played by Pleasantville's Tobey Maguire) is having enough troubles in his life - his Uncle Ben is killed and he lusts after Mary Jane Watson (Dick's Kirsten Dunst) - without having to save the citizens of his city! But a mysterious Green Goblin explodes onto the screen - ahem - scene to rain on Spidey's parade by destroying anything and anybody that gets in his way!
To be honest, I wasn't even going to bother with the big-screen experience of this film simply because Spider-Man was never a favourite superhero of mine (I liked the Batman phenomena much more!) but I'm glad I did! The visual effects are nothing but spectacular - each shot of Spiderman swinging from building to building from his silk-web-rope stuff is superbly choreographed and executed. The fight sequences and stunts are amazing to watch, while the hopeless romantics who view this will love the storyline between Parker, Mary Jane, Harry and Spider-Man. Also, the scenes in which Peter is trying out his new-found powers are extremely charming and funny.
Now, onto the performances. The not-so-obvious casting of Tobey Maguire in the lead role was an inspired idea. The fact that he's not a conventional Hollywood leading man works to his advantage. Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin is great both in and out of costume while his son Harry, played by Freaks And Geeks star James Franco is good as Peter's best friend, although his character is a little stereotypical. Kirsten Dunst (who is just getting better and better) is wonderful as Spidey's love interest Mary Jane, despite the fact that for the 2 hours the film runs for we see her have strong feelings for a milestone four guys (OK, so 2 are the same person, but she didn't know this!). The charismatic high-school couple share great chemistry and hot up the screen in a particularly memorable scene where he rescues her from 5 thugs in the pouring rain.
Overall, this is a truly inspired comic-book to silver screen movie. Not since the first two Batman movies has a superhero film come as close to perfection as this (although admittedly, X-Men wasn't far off!). No doubt there is a sequel already planned and scripted - but that's definetely OK by me! 8.5/10.