It seems they come out fewer and further in-between, but every once in a while the pop film industry redeems itself. Not being a comic book fan, I found Spider-Man compelling, visually colorful and entertaining. In the end we learn something about ourselves, at least subconsciously, by seeing our hero face the inevitable reality that in spite of all his powers, he is still ultimately helpless to solve the world's problems.

The film starts out with the most strangely depicted college life I have ever seen on film. Peter Parker (Tobey Maquire Wonder Boys [2000] The Cider House Rules [1998] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [1998]) rides the school bus to college every day, not even the nerdiest girl will let him sit beside her. At school he is picked on by the cool kids until one day, on a field trip to an entomological laboratory (did Aunt May have to sign a permission slip?), he is bitten by a genetically altered spider.

The rest is history. Parker discovers his powers. Enraged by the murder of his uncle, Ben Parker (a very personable Cliff Robertson Renaissance Man [1994] Brainstorm [1983] Charly [1968]), Peter goes of a crime fighting spree. He eventually finds his match in his best friend's father, Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe American Psycho [2000] The English Patient [1996] Body of Evidence [1993]).

This was filmed and took place entirely in pre-Sept. 11 Manhattan, and it shows. Immediately after the WTC incident, trailers and posters had to be pulled from theaters depicting a spider web connecting the two ill-fated buildings. During the movie I never saw one wide-angle shot of the New York skyline.

There were, however, some great shots of Tobey Maquire. I particularly enjoyed shots of the back of him when they were no doubt filming him lying down over the facade of a building laid horizontally so he could "climb" it. I insist that the highly overrated Brendan "The Mummy" Fraser and Josh "40 Days and 40 Nights" Hartnett are essentially dogs. I hereby add Maguire to my list of best looking males on film (that you rarely hear about), in order:

1) Brad Renfro Apt Pupil [1998] The Cure [1995] The Client [1994]
2) Michael Pitt II Murder by Numbers [2002] Hedwig and the Angry Inch [2001] Finding Forrester [2000]
3) Tobey Maquire
4) Tom Everett Scott Boiler Room [2000] Dead Man on Campus [1998] An American Werewolf in Paris [1997]

Overall, you can tell they were having fun producing this and knew they were working on a winner. I loved all the brilliant hues of orange, blue, and brown reflecting off glass and concrete as Parker flits through the Manhattan skyline. Maquire reports to the AP that though a scene with him hanging upside-down kissing co-star and obligatory love interest Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst The Cat's Meow [2001] Dick [1999] Interview with the Vampire [1994]) was difficult to film, he did derive some pleasure from it.

Worry not, there is more to come. A little less than a month before the release of this film, Reuters reported that a sequel is already in preproduction, with shooting to begin early 2003, featuring much of the original cast. Impressed with the approach the writers are taking, Columbia Pictures chairperson Amy Pascal has made Spider-Man one of her top priorities.

Dunst already has a long list of acting credits at imdb.com. This young starlet has shown incredible range from an early age, especially with IWTV, and I hope to not see her typecast for too long as the emotionally-troubled adolescent protected by the male protagonist.

Now they did do a good job explaining--as best as you have a right to expect in a feature length--how he got his special powers, and how he is forced to pick a persona (you'll love it). I did find myself wondering how he was able to show up unexpectedly at a crime in progress. How does he pick from among the hundreds of crimes that must be happening at any given moment in New York City? Why is his domain limited to the Island? How did Osborn establish his Green Goblin persona?

On the other hand, there were some holes in this film that didn't need to be filled. Why does Parker live with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris Blow Dry [2001] The Gift [2000] Beau Brummel [1954]) and uncle. Why is college so much like high school? What happened to his parents? Why this passion to fight crime? These are idiosyncratic details too delightfully odd to be thought up by strictly Hollywood folks.

Looking forward to the next installment, already listed in imdb.com's database, I hope to see Parker develop emotionally as a character. Here we see him naively reject everything in single-minded pursuit of his nebulous goals. I hope he will shed his black-and-white Paul Stojanovich-esque worldview and learn how to change what he can and live with what he can't.

Even Superman must do that.


Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12