Review of:Spiderman (2002)
Director:Sam Raimi
Rating:PG-13 for stylized violence and action.
Starring:Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco, J.K. Simmons
The legendary Spiderman finally makes it to the big screen after years of quagmire in red tape. The wait is definately worth it as the technology might not have been able to demonstrate the abilities of everyones favorite web slinger back then. Tobey Macquire brings a wonderful warmth to the character of Spiderman. Peter is your everyday undervalued teenager who feels like he is invisible to everybody. The one person that he wants to notice him is his next door neighbor Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). On a fateful day when the school is going on a field trip, Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider. The bite takes Peter from wimpy teenager to buffed up hero. Slowly realizing that he has new abilities like climbing walls, and some webbing that he can shoot out of his wrist (which is a variation from the original comic), he decides to try to make some profit out of the situation.
Following the original story almost to a fault Peter Parkers Uncle Ben must pay for a rash decision made by Peter. Burning forever into Peter the mantra that Spiderman lives by "With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility." From that moment on Spiderman/Parker try to do the right thing..
To really bring out a great lead man you need to have a great nemesis for him to battle. William Dafoe does such an excellent job his work could be compared to Jack Nicholson's in the first batman. It starts off with his look. Even though we know that he is a respected scientist, something about his mannerisms tell a different story. William Dafoe goes back and forth from respected scientist to deranged green goblin at the drop of a hat. His strenght is he empowers each character with just the right degree of himself to make the performance believable.
Norman Osborn needs to secure a government contract within a two week
period, but his associates want to go back to step one on the project. The project is a gas that increases the human perceptions:strength, speed, senses, in other words an evolutionary boost. Trying to secure this contract becomes top priority to Norman Osborn. Like any old great horror movie the mad scientist makes a fateful decision. Unbending to the pleas of his fellow scientist, Norman undergoes the human experimentation on himself with disasterous results. Becoming the insane genius the Green Goblin (a tag put on him by Jonah), Spiderman's foe is born.
J.K.Simmons brings a nice spark of life to J.Jonah Jameson. You will see J.Jonah always on the other end of a cigar, and always trying to get the edge over the competition. When he finds out that his paper has sold out the past four days with Spiderman storys he decides to run with the idea. Making Spiderman the primary focus of his paper, he puts out an add for good pictures of the wall crawler. Peter Parker takes the assignment.
The career of Spiderman is a strange twist of different things. Peter Parker seems to have been groomed for the role of hero by his straight laced Uncle Ben and kindly Aunt May. With the strength of characteer passed on from his relations, and a will bent on helping his fellow man, the things that actually make up the strengths of Spiderman were born way before the strange powers came.
The Spiderman comic has been known for its complex story lines and it transfers to the big screen very well. The complex nature of the relationships on film maybe aren't delved into heavily, but we get enough of it to know what is going on with the characters.
The stage is set for an epic battle between good and evil to commence. For a young man to try to uphold the mantle of hero, and a father battling a mind that has become a scary weapon against anyone who dares to get in his way. Let the battle commence, and let the audience enjoy a comic translation that does great justice to its origins.
