Spider-Man
Director: Sam Raimi
Stars: Tobey McGuire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst
Rated: PG-13 (stylized violence and action)
Notes for Parents: “Spider-man” is filled with mostly cartoonish violence and thrills, but there are several moments which may be too intense for youngsters. It’s chiefly appropriate for mature pre-teens and teens.
If the opening weekend sales haven’t convinced you already, be assured that “Spider-man” is not another lame comic-book knock off film. Director Sam Raimi and his team have done their level best to bring the comics to life, and for the most part succeeded admirably. While hardcore fans may be irked by missing characters and tweaked plotlines, those of us who just think Spider-man is cool and remember a little about the comics and the show will no doubt be thrilled.
In case you somehow escaped the wave of publicity and the decades of comic books, “Spider-man” tells the story of young Peter Parker (Tobey McGuire), a high school student who is bitten by a genetically engineered spider. The spider venom mutates him, giving him the powers that the spider had: the ability to climb walls, amazing strength and reflexes, and the very cool “spider sense,” a sort of precognition that warns him of danger. Spider-man’s ability to shoot webbing from his wrists is also a part of the mutation – a change from the comics, where he built the web shooters himself.
A foil for our young hero is provided by the deliciously warped Green Goblin, known during the day as Norman Osbourn (Willem Dafoe). The Goblin is the result of a scientific test gone awry; scientist Osbourn tries out a performance-enhancing drug on himself, and it splits his personality, giving him an alter ego to go with his super strength and coordination.
“Spider-man” has been years in the making, with studio arguments and other complications, but it benefits from the delay. The special effects that make the film work didn’t exist three years ago when the film first came up as a possibility. Spider-man’s web-swinging through Manhattan looks pretty darn cool, courtesy of a solid team of animators. There are shots that just look fake, but for the most part, the computer-generated Spidey looks good. They even have him nailing the poses familiar to fans of the comic book!
Where the film suffers is in the relationship between Peter Parker and crush Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). McGuire and Dunst are both talented actors, but the chemistry between them is tepid for most of the film, and their dialog together ranges from sappy to painful.
The film’s other flaw doesn’t appear until the end, when after an hour and a half of good-timey cartoonish violence we get an intense, feel-every-punch fight between the Goblin and Spider-man. It’s jarring after all the thrills-and-spills fights of the rest of the film.
Fortunately, most of the film is spot-on. From J.K. Simmons as editor J. Jonah Jameson, who looks and sounds exactly like in the comics, to Peter’s boyish delight in discovering his powers, the vast majority of the film’s pieces are top-notch. Peter is very well written, his actions clearly those of a regular guy suddenly given great power. His initial impulse isn’t to help other people, but to help himself. Between solid scripting and McGuire’s very natural performance, Peter Parker is a guy you can believe in, and he provides a solid foundation for the delightful fantasy of superhero Spider-man to rest on.
Overall, “Spider-man” is a great summer action film, with humor, wonderful characters, and delightful in-jokes for Raimi fans (watch for cameos by brother Ted Raimi and old time friends Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless, as well as one by Spider-man creator Stan Lee). Younger children will probably find the Green Goblin and the final fight sequence too frightening, but pre-teens and teenagers will no doubt love it.