"SPIDERMAN"

Spidey has always been my favorite superhero, so a couple years ago, when I found out they were FINALLY making a movie about him, I was incredibly excited. Would he look like the comic? Who would play him? Who would his nemesis be? Who would direct it?

When I received answers to most of the above, I was even more thrilled.

But I was also terrified…..will Hollywood screw it up? Will it end up too silly or too 'feel good'? Will it actually have a plot, or be dominated by f/x in order to hide a cheesy storyline w/ no substance?

Well, when I heard that actor, Toby Maguire (Pleasantville, Wonder Boys) was playing Peter Parker/Spiderman, I was immediately skeptical.

"TOBY MAGUIRE??? HE'S A WIMP! HE'S BORING! THE DUDE HAS NO PERSONALITY! HE HAD BETTER NOT DARE DESTROY MY SPIDEY!!!!"

Well………….he didn't.

In fact, Toby was outstanding, as was the rest of the cast.

Yes, I loved "Spiderman", and here's why (don't worry, I won't spoil it)….

First, we all know the comic's storyline how Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, thus resulting in his transformation into a human w/ spider capabilities…..sling webs, climb walls, kick ass. We're also familiar with his various enemies/villains. This initial installment in the sure-to-be-a-franchise movie has the Green Goblin as the pain in Spidey's ass. Greeny is played by the awesome actor, Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Last temp of Christ), who has an uncanny resemblence to the Gobmeister and simply nails GG's evil (and innocent) split persona.

Next we have Peter Parker's love interest, Mary Jane, who is impressively played by the stunningly beautiful Kirsten Dunst (Interview w/ a Vamp, Drop dead Gorgeous). And though Dunst may be Barbie and Maguire is Richie Cunningham's love child, they have a touching chemistry b/t them which makes the love story aspect of the movie very believable. You can't help but root for them to hook up.

With all the actors in place, the question was whether or not the director, Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Quick & the Dead) could pull off this grandiose of a film. The answer: HELL YEAH!

Not to mention an involving soundtrack scored by the always-delightful Danny Elfman (Tim Burton movies).

As we all know, Spiderman is a comic longtime in existance. Raimi's job was to sum up the basis/theme of our hero and all the relating characters…. within 2-3 hours, while making it exciting as hell. HE SUCCEEDED.

Again, I won't give the film away, but I have to state a couple of the impressive aspects:

1. Peter Parker's transformation into Spidey. We didn't get it w/ Batman or the X-Men, but we did here. We were treated to witnessing Parker's surprised by what happened to him and realized his potential. This included his trial and error with swinging on his webs and squashing himself into to walls, buildings, etc. It also included his shocked reactions to his newfound abilities, everything from his facial reactions to his dialogue, which I felt were dead on.

2. As the camera followed him on his webslinging throughout the city, I felt I was on a rollercoaster! I felt I was discovering it along side him.

The storyline followed the comic. The acting and dialogue fell right in line. The effects were very impressive. The music complimented every scene.

After years of anticipation, Spiderman is finally here! And he kicks cinema ass!

A-

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