Spider-Man

Spider-Man

(Film Review)

When I started up this blog at the start of the year, I really wondered how to start things off. I’ve ventured into the world of blogging before, but never with any degree of success. Doing another introductory blog didn’t really appeal to me, so I took some time to contemplate exactly what I wanted to do with my blog and I decided what did appeal to me was pop culture. Comic books and superheroes are high on my list, but the blog will be rather varied. It’ll cover movies, music, television shows, videogames along with the occasional foray into more serious topics, but those will be far and few between. However, without an introductory blog, I figured I might as well jump right in. Then, came the difficulty of selecting the first blog.

Several possible different topics and review ideas were considered, but eventually and obviously rejected. But, looking back through my DVD collection the other day, I was reminded of the character that got me into comic books in the first place and to this day remains my favorite comic book character.

Spider-Man

Released May 3, 2002

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Defoe, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, Rosemary Harris, Cliff Robertson.

Runtime: 121 minutes. (2 hours and 1 minute)

Rating: PG-13.

Directed by: Sam Raimi

“With great power, comes great responsibility” is probably the most recognizable line from the Spider-Man franchise and it was with this in mind that I hoped Sam Raimi would approach adapting the comic book to film. Spider-Man is a global icon, certainly one of the most recognizable names from comics the world over and translating that to the big screen could certainly be a challenging task for anybody. For the most part, it’s a task that Sam Raimi seems more than up for. As comic-to-film adaptations go, this is one of the better ones, in my opinion.

With the majority of the audience well aware of the story of Spider-Man, the film starts off running as we’re given the origin of his character pretty early in the film, along with setting up many of the character dynamics that will carry the rest of the film. On a science class field trip, young Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider to receive the powers that will change and define his live forever.

Just as the film didn’t waste too much time fleshing out an elaborate origin story, I won’t go too much into the plot. By this time, just about everybody has seen the film. In fact, I would be hard pressed to find somebody who has not. Peter Parker, having been given the powers, neglects the responsibility part of it and instead decides to try to impress the girl next door (literally), Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). This doesn’t go quite as well as he might have hoped. In fact, it ends about about as badly as it can and by the film’s second act, he’s decided to take his Uncle Ben’s words to heart.

From there, he has to deal with the emergence of his arch-nemesis, the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), who is both one of the film’s strong and weak points. Norman Osborn is a very intriguing character played by an excellent actor in Willem Dafoe, but isn’t given as much to do as I would like. The Green Goblin is the biggest villain in the Spider-Man universe, but compared to the scheming machinations of his comic book counterpart, lacks any kind of real plan other than trying to destroy Spider-Man. His plan starts off as straight forward revenge and then gets stuck in that mode. There are some really well done scenes in which Norman and his alter-ego converse with one another, revealing the depth of his psychotic personality. More scenes like this could’ve really helped the personality of his character. But, not to say I don’t enjoy the antagonist in the film, but since the hero is usually only as good as the villain, I wished they’d done more with the Green Goblin.

I initially had doubts about Tobey Maguire coming into the film, but most of those were erased by the end of the film. If not the first choice, I really believe Tobey Maguire was the right choice for Spiderman, as he showcases both sides of the character well, played with geeky perfection as Peter Parker and with conviction as the superhero Spider-Man. Kirsten Dunst is impressive in her limited time on screen as the object of his affections, who has always been a good character actor, showcasing some strength amidst the uncertainty in her life. James Franco does well in his scenes as Harry Osborn, though seems a little too confident for somebody who is really supposed to be an emotional basketcase after years of rejection by his father, but still a joy to watch him here in this movie.

All of the issues I have with the film are relatively small, although enough to keep it from being the best yet don't change how much I enjoy the film. Rather than focus on some of the things I don't like, such as the Green Goblin's costume, let me instead tell you a few of the things that I absolutely loved.

For example, the casting is perfect. Some of the roles I have yet to mention are just scene stealers, such as Cliff Robertson, whose role as Uncle Ben is small, yet pivotal. Rosemary Harris does an amazing job as Aunt May and I can’t imagine anybody else but J.K. Simmons playing the editor of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson. Even smaller roles like Betty Brant (Elizabeth Banks) are really great to watch here. Let me clarify here as well that even though some complained about Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn being over the top and I had a few issues with the character as well, I thought he did a great job and in fact, wish we’d had more time to explore his character. Again, let me state, great job casting.

While not quite as iconic as some other superhero themes, the score for Spider-Man (which I’m listening to right now as I write) really fits the wallcrawler well. I think the music was really well placed throughout the film, highlighting the character and really adding to the overall film experience. Then, of course you have the climax of the film, the third act, which was the stuff from which comic books are made of. Hero versus villain, the fate of the girl of his dreams in the balance and if you’ve ever read the classic Spiderman #122 , you can see exactly where the inspiration came from as this was almost directly lifted from its pages, although with some obvious alterations.

However, the end of that comic book didn’t have audiences cheering, which was actually what occurred at the end of this film. It’s definitely deserved, as this was a pretty faithful adaptation from the comic book to the big screen, especially in comparison to some of the other superhero films put out there and even the later additions to this franchise. Kudos go to Sam Raimi, the cast and crew who were involved in bringing Spider-Man to the big screen.

It’s far from a perfect film, but even with its flaws, it’s about as good as it gets when it comes to Spider-Man. It’s a highly satisfying action film that doesn’t rely on violence to provide its thrill and in my opinion, it’s a movie that gets all the little things right and the big things too. From the nuances of the various relationships in the movie (Peter-Uncle Ben, Harry-Norman, Spiderman-New York, Norman-Peter, Green Goblin-Spiderman, Peter-Mary Jane to name a few) to the big blockbuster action scenes, they do them all well. Best of all, the film makes you smile by the end of it. Walking out of the theatre, who didn’t look up at a tall building and wish you could just shoot a web to carry you around the city? That’s the mark of a great film and an amazing reminder of just why I admire the character so much. When it comes to this movie, Spiderman does whatever a spider can and better than I thought it could be done.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

(As an extra treat, here is the original teaser trailer they first used to get audiences excited about the prospect of Spiderman coming to the big screen. Pulled for obvious reasons, I still remember getting pretty thrilled seeing this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-r7qymfa0Q I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!)