[7]

Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead) takes the reigns and casts Tobey Maguire as the famous web-slinging superhero. The script is ripe with pointed dialogue, but I'll be darned if the cast don't pull it off more often than not. Raimi's approach is decidedly 'comic booky', full of color and frenetically paced, with all the grace notes and emotional high points bent toward operatic. As Peter Parker and Spider-Man, Maguire, with his big, soulful eyes, is easy to empathize with. His take on the character is more introverted than you might expect, but inviting. (If I wanted to watch a douche bag save the day, I'd re-watch Iron Man.)

Kirsten Dunst is given short shrift as love interest Mary Jane, though she gets to show a little of her acting chops toward the end. Willem Dafoe makes a decent villain out of the Green Goblin, though I’m on the fence about his costume. James Franco plays his son Harry, a friend of Peter’s. I wish the movie afforded more time to the relationship between Peter and Harry. It would have punched up the dramatic climax of the movie, especially given that Harry is supposed to become a future archenemy just like dear old dad. Franco’s scenes with Dafoe are also slighted. There were times I wanted to stop the movie, rewind and dig a little deeper for dramatic potential.

J.K. Simmons steals the show as Peter’s cut-throat newspaper boss, while Cliff Robertson (Oscar-winner for Charly) and Rosemary Harris do wonders as Peter’s loving aunt and uncle. If anyone in the cast feels the most natural in their parts, it’s those two. Together they provide the film a much-needed emotional anchor.

Every superhero movie needs as many iconic moments as it can achieve, but the action sequences in Spider-Man are par for the course (and the CGI character animation is usually unconvincing). The most memorable moment in this film is a love scene. When Spidey drops down behind Mary Jane in the rain? And she rolls his mask down just far enough to kiss him on the lips? Now that’s the stuff.

Oscar Nominations: Best Visual Effects, Best Sound