Spider-Man might seem like a cheesy superhero flick but in actuality…….well okay it is a cheesy superhero flick but it’s a lot of fun and does have all the essential elements of a comic book movie adaptation. Even back then as a kid, I was a major Spider-Man geek, but I never saw the Sam Rami movies because I was too young to see them at the time. While it’s true that Spider-Man movies have evolved into more serious groundbreaking blockbusters, this movie still proves that it’s still solid fun even if its campiness may turn some moviegoers off.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is your average dork who is picked on by almost everybody in high school. On a field trip while trying to take pictures of his crush Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) for the School paper he gets bitten by an escaped radioactive spider that gives him super abilities that relate to the power of a spider. At first, Peter tries to use powers to win money to buy a sweet car to impress Mary Jane, but through unfortunate circumstances, his uncle ben gets shot and he quickly pieces together that the killer was a guy that Peter allowed to escape during a dispute. Fueled by guilt, Peter Parker dedicates his life to stopping crime as Spider-Man just at the same time that Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe) becomes the green goblin after a failed science experiment. Things start to get hectic for Peter Parker as he must balance his day-to-day life of being a normal person and being Spider-Man at the same time.
The narrative is very simple to follow and the flow seems to always bounce from being campy fun to surprising action-packed drama. Some of the ideas they throw in may seem ridiculous and over the top, but in a strange way it works. They play out all the stereotypes you would expect in a cheesy superhero movie in such a passionate way.Director Sam Rami has claimed to be a huge Spider-Man fan and the passion he brings to the source material shows. Yet with all the goofiness that happens, it still manages to be very thought-provoking and down to earth at times. There are surprisingly a couple of moments that feel very dramatic and shocking. These moments can have many effects on some of the characters regardless of the situation.
The characters have a good amount of time dedicated to making them likable and fun to watch even when they are playing on stereotypes that we are all familiar with. Spider-Man (AKA Peter Parker) himself is the likable doofus that has to learn about the responsibility of his powers. He does get into a lot of goofy situations but I also like how they take time to develop his personality thru well-paced character-driven moments. Mary Jane is the damsel in the distress and yes she does need to be saved all the time. You’d think it would get old very fast but the character just feels so in the moment that you got to give her kudos for putting her all into what is essentially a basic character trait. The Green Goblin is over the top and funny and Willem Dafoe embraces the silliness of what it means to be a goofy comic book villain. The secondary characters like Aunt May also embrace Comic book Stereotypes while also giving them interesting personalities.
The cinematography goes for a comic book style by incorporating fast-paced motion with some great action sequences. I can tell the people went all out of their way to make the action fun and thrilling. The shots of new york can be pretty to look at sometimes and all the characters look like comic book characters that have sprung to life. This is the most noticeable in the costumes of Spiderman and the Goblin. I can also tell the people went all out of their way to make the action as fun and immersive as possible. It may seem a little phony sometimes when they use CGI for the character stunts, but it still works because the action is so exciting. There is something about seeing Spider-Man swing through the city that strangely feels satisfying to me.
The music is done by Danny Elfman the same Composer who has scored a lot of Tim Burton's films. His dramatic choir and over-the-top compositions match with how action-packed the movie is. It also really works whenever the movie gets slower or dramatic.
As a kid, I remember liking Spiderman a lot but only for the merchandise. I’ve never seen the movies because I was still very young at the time. After a decade and a half of waiting I can gratefully say that this movie does provide great action and a lot of fun campiness, but it manages to sneak in some clever character building and thought-provoking themes. It’s no wonder why everyone likes this movie and I’m happy to say that it is worth seeing.
(Final Grade: A-)