UNIQUE DEPTH FOR A COMIC BOOK MOVIE

Rating: 9/10 (3 May 2002)

Sam Raimi has pulled off what every director would like to: He has presented the struggle between good and evil in a plausible manner without betraying the broadstroke style of the cartoon genre - and he's done it without anything schmaltzy, anything cliched, anything formulized. Quite simply, he has produced the finest cartoon movie ever made. And he's accomplished this despite the overproduced and self-indulgent(hit every sound effect cue)score by Danny Elfman. There is a naivete, rare in Hollywood, in Raimi's handling of what might otherwise be considered pure popcorn fare. With SPIDER-MAN, in spite of the huge franchise this movie represents, Raimi has managed to remain true to his heart felt visions. This seems like a movie made by a director who, like spider-man, has remained an idealist even though he has come up against the forces of the Glittering Goblins of the major studio machine. Let's hope that Raimi continues to deal with material like this, material which pleases the people in its sincerity rather than the material which gains the approval of the critics (like A SIMPLE PLAN)in its austerity.