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Craig Younkin
Movie Review
Spider-Man
By Craig Younkin Published July 15, 2002
US Release: May 3, 2002
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Starring: Tobey Maguire , Kirsten Dunst , Willem Dafoe , James Franco
PG-13
Running Time: 121 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $407,681,000
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Starring: Tobey Maguire , Kirsten Dunst , Willem Dafoe , James Franco
PG-13
Running Time: 121 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $407,681,000
B-
A decent film worthy of a look
"Spider-Man" starts the special effect riddled season of summer this year. The heavily hyped film has been a draw for quite some time for many directors including James Cameron and David Fincher, finally landing in the hands of Sam Raimi, most popular for directing the "Evil Dead" movies. His first Spidey outing is an incredible looking, well acted film, but audiences, other than the true fans of the comic book, will leave the theater wanting more than what has been presented here.
Based upon the popular Marvel comic book character, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is your average kid, dealing with bullies, puberty and the rest of the the problems that come with being a teenager. One of his biggest hurdles is trying to work up the courage to talk to his next door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), whom he has loved since he was six years old. Mary Jane is in with the cool kids but Peter's status in high school is way out in left field.
That all changes on a field trip when Peter is suddenly bitten by a genetically altered spider. The next morning Peter realizes that he can see without glasses and what he sees is a buffer, wall climbing, building swinging and bully fighting version of himself. Upon gaining these new powers, Peter's first thought is to exploit them, enlisting in a wrestling contest where he could gain $3,000 if he lasts in the ring with a pro for 3 minutes. Only that turns out to be too good to be true and out of anger and greed, Peter accidentally causes the death of his Uncle (Cliff Robertson). Peter remembers the last thing his Uncle said ("With great power comes great responsibility") and so from that point he uses his powers for good instead of for his own selfish profit.
Across the way, the father of Peter's best friend Harry (James Franco) is also going through a physical change. Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) is a scientist working on performance enhancing drugs for the military, but is currently in danger of being shut down because human testing has proved to be a failure. Upon hearing that he is about to lose funding, Norman uses himself as a guinea pig to prove that the drug is safe, but the experiment goes wrong and he gains the insanely violent alter-ego of the Green Goblin. The Goblin then proceeds to wreak havoc on the city and Peter knows that he is the only one who can stop him. So does the Green Goblin, who tries to lure Peter over to the side of evil.
In addition to being physically at odds with each other, the two men also face personal demons; Peter feeling the guilt of being the cause of his Uncle's death and the normal Norman dealing with his evil alter-ego. The first hour and a half of Spider-Man is a movie fans dream. Director Sam Raimi gives us an easily identifiable hero, as well as special effects that are utterly fantastic. Watching Spider-Man swing himself from building to building, climb walls, beat the crap out of bullies and baddies, while never getting a scratch on him is an absolute joy to watch. The effects do look manipulated and even a little weird sometimes, but they are more than passable and still offer a sufficient amount of excitement.
Maguire manages to be even better, showing a vulnerable, shy, and yes, even funny lead hero, proving all the cynics who said he couldn't play the role wrong. He makes sure his character's personal struggles are taken seriously but still makes things fun for the popcorn-flick wanting crowd. His new physic is also amazing. He is supported very well by Kirsten Dunst, only because this movie is strictly set-up for larger things to come, there is no heat in their romance. Dafoe hams it up nicely as the villain but is not as successful in striking us with any great fear. But J.K Simmons is brilliant as the editor of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson. The energy he puts into this character makes him absolutely hilarious.
"Spider-Man" does fall victim to the last third though, really because it could of benefited from just a little more plotting or a shorter runtime. What we get is something that feels a little tame and too much like those old comic book movies where the hero must continually save the damsel in distress over and over again. Showing us two hours of this turns to overkill and I found it getting too predictable to care. The communication between Maguire and Dunst also begins to turn pretty sappy after a while, while the final battle sequence between Maguire and Dafoe isn't as spectacular as it is set up to be.
There are also action scenes here that should remind you of other movies, including "The Matrix", "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome", and the still reigning superhero champ, "Batman". But that is only a small point. Hopefully now that the origin story has been completed, director Sam Raimi and the rest of the cast can really add more and become more daring with this franchise in the upcoming sequels. Still, this is a decent film worthy of a look.
Based upon the popular Marvel comic book character, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is your average kid, dealing with bullies, puberty and the rest of the the problems that come with being a teenager. One of his biggest hurdles is trying to work up the courage to talk to his next door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), whom he has loved since he was six years old. Mary Jane is in with the cool kids but Peter's status in high school is way out in left field.
That all changes on a field trip when Peter is suddenly bitten by a genetically altered spider. The next morning Peter realizes that he can see without glasses and what he sees is a buffer, wall climbing, building swinging and bully fighting version of himself. Upon gaining these new powers, Peter's first thought is to exploit them, enlisting in a wrestling contest where he could gain $3,000 if he lasts in the ring with a pro for 3 minutes. Only that turns out to be too good to be true and out of anger and greed, Peter accidentally causes the death of his Uncle (Cliff Robertson). Peter remembers the last thing his Uncle said ("With great power comes great responsibility") and so from that point he uses his powers for good instead of for his own selfish profit.
Across the way, the father of Peter's best friend Harry (James Franco) is also going through a physical change. Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) is a scientist working on performance enhancing drugs for the military, but is currently in danger of being shut down because human testing has proved to be a failure. Upon hearing that he is about to lose funding, Norman uses himself as a guinea pig to prove that the drug is safe, but the experiment goes wrong and he gains the insanely violent alter-ego of the Green Goblin. The Goblin then proceeds to wreak havoc on the city and Peter knows that he is the only one who can stop him. So does the Green Goblin, who tries to lure Peter over to the side of evil.
In addition to being physically at odds with each other, the two men also face personal demons; Peter feeling the guilt of being the cause of his Uncle's death and the normal Norman dealing with his evil alter-ego. The first hour and a half of Spider-Man is a movie fans dream. Director Sam Raimi gives us an easily identifiable hero, as well as special effects that are utterly fantastic. Watching Spider-Man swing himself from building to building, climb walls, beat the crap out of bullies and baddies, while never getting a scratch on him is an absolute joy to watch. The effects do look manipulated and even a little weird sometimes, but they are more than passable and still offer a sufficient amount of excitement.
Maguire manages to be even better, showing a vulnerable, shy, and yes, even funny lead hero, proving all the cynics who said he couldn't play the role wrong. He makes sure his character's personal struggles are taken seriously but still makes things fun for the popcorn-flick wanting crowd. His new physic is also amazing. He is supported very well by Kirsten Dunst, only because this movie is strictly set-up for larger things to come, there is no heat in their romance. Dafoe hams it up nicely as the villain but is not as successful in striking us with any great fear. But J.K Simmons is brilliant as the editor of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson. The energy he puts into this character makes him absolutely hilarious.
"Spider-Man" does fall victim to the last third though, really because it could of benefited from just a little more plotting or a shorter runtime. What we get is something that feels a little tame and too much like those old comic book movies where the hero must continually save the damsel in distress over and over again. Showing us two hours of this turns to overkill and I found it getting too predictable to care. The communication between Maguire and Dunst also begins to turn pretty sappy after a while, while the final battle sequence between Maguire and Dafoe isn't as spectacular as it is set up to be.
There are also action scenes here that should remind you of other movies, including "The Matrix", "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome", and the still reigning superhero champ, "Batman". But that is only a small point. Hopefully now that the origin story has been completed, director Sam Raimi and the rest of the cast can really add more and become more daring with this franchise in the upcoming sequels. Still, this is a decent film worthy of a look.
Craig's Grade: B-
Craig's Overall Grading: 340 graded movies
| A | 10.9% | |
| B | 41.8% | |
| C | 31.8% | |
| D | 15.3% | |
| F | 0.3% |
