TheFranciscos.Net

Spider-Man

To make it simple: This movie ROCKED! Going into this movie, I (as well as every comic fan in existence) had very high hopes for this movie. There was a lot of hype surrounding this movie, which was good because it made everybody aware of this film. The problem with that though is that everybody’s expectation is so high that it’s very rare that the actual thing will live up to it. Well, I’m glad to say that Spider-Man is the exception to this rule. The movie was more than deserving of the hoopla it’s received.

The acting: Tobey Maguire was excellent as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He played the meek boy-who-has-a-crush-on-the-incredibly-hot-girl-next-door role very effectively. Of course, we all knew he could act – see Cider House Rules and Wonder Boys for further testament on that. But what was surprising was that he could pull off a lot of the action sequences with a great degree of success.

I’m also a big fan of Kirsten Dunst. Some of the movies she’s been in are some of the best that have come out in the past few years. The films she’s starred in, like The Virgin Suicides, Crazy/Beautiful, and even Bring It On, show that she has versatile acting abilities. How was her acting as Mary Jane Watson in this movie though? Well, as usual it was an excellent performance from her, but my problem with her being cast in this role is that in the comics, MJ is a model. Kristen is definitely not the model type, and so this is probably the reason why they changed the role of MJ from being a model to an actress. It’s just a minor thing really, but if you’re a hardcore comic fan, these things tend to bother you.

By the way, if you’re a Kirsten Dunst fan and you’re a guy – make sure to look out for the rain showers sequence…. ooo-la-lahhhh! Nice!!!!! Whoever thought of that particular scene should be give a huge raise!

The rest of the cast was pretty good – Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was good, even if his acting was a bit over-the-top. JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson was excellent and he played that role perfectly. Bruce Campbell’s bit part as the ring announcer was great as well (Bruce has been working with Sam Raimi since the Evil Dead days).

The CGI work was also excellent – only in CGI could Spider-Man really work. The swinging around the buildings, the webs shooting out of Spidey’s hands, the acrobatics – all these things would not have been possible to show without the use of CGI. They also did it in a way that it looked very natural. There were only a few times where the animation seemed a bit too cartoony. Sam Raimi did an excellent job in making the transitions from CGI and live-action seamless.

So what did I think of the film overall? It was excellent. Although I still think that among superhero movies, “Superman” and “Batman” are still the best, “Spider-Man” is in that league. Well-acted, well-directed, and great story combine to make this movie a solid 4 out of 5 stars.