- It strikes me as strange that X-Men and Spider-Man, the two films most directly responsible for launching the current wave of superhero movies, were both perfectly mediocre. Why did people see these and want more? In the case of Spider-Man, a lot of it must have had to do with nostalgia. Well that, and the film's generally impressive visual effects. Prior to the last decade, it's unlikely that web-swinging could have looked anything but stupid. After all, we all remember the 70's TV show, right? Whatever other issues the film may have, I'll admit that the web-swinging in Spider-Man looks pretty great.
- The story is basically the same one summarized at the beginning of every Sunday The Amazing Spider-Man comic. The spiders are genetically modified now instead of radioactive and the web-shooters have become more organic, but not much else has changed over the course of forty years. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) still lives with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), and he's still an awkward science nerd. He has a crush on dreamy girl-next-door Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and he's friends with the reluctantly rich Harry Osborn (James Franco). After Peter develops his powers, he lets a robber go only to have that same robber kill his Uncle, once again teaching Peter the hard lesson that "With great power, comes great responsibility." No big surprises so far, but nothing to be embarrassed about, either.
- Naturally, there is also a villain in this story. The filmmakers went with the quintessential Spider-Man meanie, The Green Goblin aka Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), who has always fallen on the theatrical side, even by supervillain standards. Although Dafoe does his best to help out the role, especially during his various schizophrenic debates, there's only so much he can do for the character's tired Frankenstein-like origin and laughable countenance. Are we really to believe that Osborn spent a few days in the machine shop making that mask before launching his campaign of terror? Regardless, one immediately regrets that they spend so much time hiding Dafoe's naturally terrifying visage behind a plastic Halloween mask. When he and the equally costumed Spider-Man do battle, it feels like a trick-or-treat gone wrong.
- The overall impression given by Spider-Man is that it is very much a paint-by-numbers exercise in blockbuster moviemaking. There is mushy dialogue when there needs to be and serious conversation when necessary, but nothing much you'd remember ten minutes later. Outside of J.K. Simmons' terrific cigar- and scenery-chewing turn as J. Jonah Jameson, the rest of the actors all submit perfectly adequate performances. The Green Goblin makes Spider-Man choose between saving Mary Jane or a tram full of children because that's what comic book villains have been doing for half a century. Because it was filmed in 2001, the film also features Macy Gray and angry New Yorkers. Because it was directed by Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell have cameos. It's pretty sad when the first film in a series already feels like it needs an infusion of new DNA...
- The film also features Bill Nunn, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, Lucy Lawless, and Stan Lee. No sign of Steve Ditko.
