Spider-Man

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Those were the last words given to young Peter Parker before his Uncle Ben was murdered back in Amazing Fantasy #15. Since then, it has been a roller coaster ride for this young science student to become the superhero of today. The superhero I’m referring to is Spider-Man.

Now before I begin my review for the Spider-Man movie, I feel that I should give you some quick background from where I come from. I’ve been a Spider-Man fan since I was 5 years old. Not only have I read the comic books, but I also watched Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (remember Iceman and Firestar?) on Saturday mornings, and the 90’s Spider-Man series on FOX, and played most of the games for GameBoy, Super Nintendo, and Genesis. Yeah, I guess you can say I know a few things about web head and that is really going to give a different view point about the movie than from any other ordinary movie critic.

First of all, I LOVE this movie. David Koepp did an excellent job writing the screenplay. It seemed about 60 years of Spider-Man history was jam-packed in a couple of hours. Toby Maguire (The Ice Storm & Pleasantville) gives an outstanding performance of our hero, Peter Parker. Not only must Peter deal with the issues of being a superhero, but he must also deal with reality when it comes to the issues of money, popularity, job finding, the loss of his family ( note I said “family” not just his Uncle Ben), and the love triangle between his childhood friend Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn, played by Kirsten Dunst (Bring It On) and James Franco (Deuces Wild) retrospectively. Although the movie does seem to be slow at times, I think it did a pretty good job capturing this mini subplot within the movie.

Now with all action movies, we need a super-villian. With a gallery of rogues that Spider-Man has, it could be difficult to choose. On one hand we have Dr. Octopus, Lizard, Mysterio, Vulture, and Shocker. On the other hand we have Hobgoblin, Venom, Kingpin, Sandman, Kraven, and Electro. But the most appropriate choice for the 1st movie would non other than Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin. Not only is he super evil, but he is super cool. The jet glider, pumpkin bombs, and costume have been copied and duplicated throughout the years. The Green Goblin truly has set the standard of what it must take to be a villain.

When you mix all these elements together, you have in your hands an incredible movie which brings to life a favorite childhood hero. When I first saw the trailers on TV, I thought that the CGI was going to ruin the majority of the fight scenes in the movie. Much to my first opinion, the live action and CGI blended quite well. The acting is incredible, the storyline enjoyable, the special effects are awesome, and the scene breaks are funny. One other thing that I notice in the movie is the entire set of background characters. We have Betty Brant and Eddie Brock (someday will become Venom) in The Daily Bugle (Does that mean that Smythe and Ned Leeds, possibly the Hobgoblin, are close by?), and the statement from Peter that he got fired from Dr. Connors (will become the Lizard in an accident) laboratory. I bet you didn’t know that the movie Blade is based the character that debuted in the issues of Spider-Man. A team-up of those two would be something.

As you are reading this, Spider-Man 2 is already in the works and production of the movie will start shooting approximately next May. Even if you are not a Spider-Man have, I’m sure you will find this movie enjoyable and fun to watch. Keep in mind though that it does go over 2 hours and includes the ORGIN of how Spider-Man came to be (I liked the fact that it’s EXACTLY from the comic book and not some made up one to fit a 2 hour slot). Coming from a comic book fan, I highly recommend this movie to anyone. Young and old, fan and not, anyone can enjoy the adventure of our favorite web slinger.

Review written by dxjason 5-5-2002

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