Spider-Man

WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this review. While getting ready to review “Spider-Man” I was shocked to discover how many people didn’t love the film as much as I did. This is a piece of solid entertainment! Let me tell you why and hopefully you’ll find yourself with a newfound affection for it.

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is an intelligent but socially awkward high-school senior. He pines for the girl next door, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) but she hardly notices him. When a school field trip goes wrong and a genetically engineered spider bites Peter, its venom alters his DNA, giving him spider-like powers. Learning that with great power comes great responsibility Peter becomes Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Norman Osbourne (Willem Dafoe) has become desperate. Without any test subjects available, he decides to test his company’s super soldier formula on himself. Driven insane, he becomes the Green Goblin.

This movie is not without fault, that’s true. Being made in 2002, some of the effects have become dated (particularly the CGI effects during the parade sequence) and in the wake of this one’s success, it has been imitated so often that many will call the plot standard stuff for a superhero film. Those are not deal breakers. These special effects were good for their time. Criticizing those would be like criticizing a movie made in 1931 for being in black-and-white or for using stop-motion effects to create monsters. As for condemning the plot, I think you have to keep 2 things in mind. First that this is a superhero origin story; that like all horror, romantic comedy, and action films, it follows a certain structure. The second is that this was one of the first big superhero films of the new millennium and that it can’t help if it’s been imitated.

“Spider-Man” is a film with a lot of heart, both in terms of the enthusiasm and the characters’ relationships. This is the first installment in a trilogy. That means everything that’s set up in this film will later pay off in the other sequels and all of the relationships introduced here will evolve over time. First, we’ve got Harry and Peter. The relationship these two have with their father figures will create tension between the two, tension that is heightened by Mary Jane, whom both of the men are after. This triangle is the core success of this trilogy of films. Peter is so earnest and likable that you want the girl next door to fall in love with him, but you also want the two guys’ friendship to last. All three of these characters have their own struggles to deal with and all of this superhero business doesn’t make it any easier.

This picture really feels like a comic book movie. I don’t mean only in the sense that it’s about Spider-Man, I mean in the way it makes you feel and the way it’s put together. There are some deaths in this story, but for the most part, it’s very light and optimistic. There are moments where it gets genuinely emotional and they’re made even more poignant because this is a very colorful world filled with wonder and amazement. Which socially awkward geek doesn’t dream of waking up one day as a knight in shining armor, capable of saving damsels in distress and of swooping in to save people from burning buildings? This isn’t a dark story about how awful it would be to suddenly be different from everyone else. It’s the beginning of a legend worthy of lasting from 1962 till now, an “Amazing Fantasy”. Even the villain in the film (wonderfully performed by Willem Dafoe) is sinister, but not too sinister. The way the Green Goblin prances around in his costume and makes quick jabs at Spider-Man feel like they were ripped right off of the pages of the issues he originally spawned from. When I watch this movie, it reminds me of the old Christopher Reeves “Superman: The Movie”. There’s a certain cheerfulness and earnestness present. It’s like your best friend coming over after a long trip and telling you about this grand adventure he had while abroad. It’s filled with danger, but it’s more exciting than frightening because deep down, you know things are going to be all right. Maybe not immediately, but in time things will work out.

Watch this movie again and I think you’ll be surprised to find how much you like it. Did you forget about that memorable kiss in the rain while Spider-Man is hanging from his web? What about that infinitely quotable sequence in which our hero gets his name and fights his first-ever opponent… Bone Saw (Macho Man Randy Savage)? I guarantee that if you’re dismissing this movie you’re forgetting how easy it is to sympathize with the plight of Emma Watson as Mary Jane. She’s perfect as the beautiful but still somewhat attainable girl you’ve been pining for throughout high school but have been too nervous to approach. This story perfectly captures the enthusiasm that was present in the character’s origin. It takes your inner child out for ice cream and then takes it for a shopping spree at Toys ‘R Us. Even I’m guilty of misremembering how much I love “Spider-Man” so I implore you not to make the same mistake. (Theatrical version on the big screen, January 21, 2014)