SpiderMan Review

by Ram Samudrala (me AT ram DOT org)
May 13th, 2002

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Spiderman
http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/spiderman.html

One of the big apprehensions about watching a Spiderman movie for me was how they would be able to reproduce the way the wall-crawler swings around with his webbing in a realistic "comic-book" manner. Thanks to the magic of computer graphics, the movie doesn't disappoint in that regard. As someone who has been reading Spiderman for over twenty years, and regularly go over several hundred back issues as interest permits, that alone was enough to make the film work for me.

The first part of the film is straight out of the first appearance of Spiderman in a comic book (/Amazing Fantasy/ 15, the last one in the title for a long time until Marvel published three more continuity stories). The story begins when mild-mannered Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gets bitten by a radioactive spider (in the film, it's a genetically-enhanced spider). He soon discovers he's stronger, faster, able to climb walls by sticking to them, and possesses a "spider-sense" that warns him of danger. Being a brilliant scientist, he even develops a strong form of webbing to enable him to swing over New York City (in the film he can shoot webbing out of his wrist).
Faced with money problems (he is an orphan being raised by his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Roberston)), the first thing he seeks to do is capitalise on his powers. In his rush to make money, he forgets his Uncle Ben's adage, "with great power comes great responsibility", and fails to halt a robbery that ultimately results in the death of his uncle. Faced with the consequences of the choice he has made, he decides to forever use his powers for good. Not everyone trusts him, however, and he ends up being scape-goated by the Daily Bugle's publisher, J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons). Ironically, Peter Parker works as a free-lance photographer at the Bugle since he can capture pictures of most criminal activities first hand (as they are thwarted by Spiderman).

A theme (espoused by Jameson) in the Spiderman books is that he's considered a menace simply because he is a superhero. He is a magnet for supervillains that cause wanton destruction of life and property. Over time, this leads to great introspection by Peter Parker, but ultimately he decides to don his costume again and swing for another day. One of his most famous villains is the Green Goblin, aka Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), whose origin is also chronicled in the film. Unlike Peter Parker, Norman Osborn decides to use his powers to go against Spiderman, and in doing so, ends up threatening the life of his aunt and his new romantic interest, Mary Jane (Kristen Dunst).
The changes the movie makes to the original Spiderman character is worth thinking about: it makes more sense that a genetically-enhanced spider, containing traits that is an amalgam of other spider species', endows Peter Parker his powers. It doesn't make sense that his webbing shoots out of his wrist, particularly without some sort of a metabolic explanation for how it is created. In terms of plot, the film ditches the character of Gwen Stacy, Spidey's "first love", and merges a comic book storyline about her into the film. (Gwen Stacy died by falling off a bridge as Spiderman and the Green Goblin fought each other in /Amazing Spiderman/ 121.)

Tobey Maguire does a great job of playing both the mild-mannered Peter Parker as well as the amazing Spiderman. Comic book readers are used to an older Spiderman, but it's important to remember that Peter Parker was first an high school student before he had to deal with the real world. Maguire does a great job in capturing his earnestness.
For the record, Mary Jane is currently dead after marrying Peter Parker. Aunt May is still alive (and has just discovered yet again that Peter Parker is Spiderman), though she has gotten better from terminal conditions quite a few times. I can't wait for the clones and the all other villains to attack. I definitely recommend checking this film out on the big screen.

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