Spiderman: Why Don't They Just Trap Him in a Giant Bath Tub? (Spider-Man / Spider-Man 2 (DVD))

Member Name: garrymac

Product:	Spider-Man / Spider-Man 2 (DVD)
Date:	10/07/02 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning effects, Great stroyline, Sticks mainly to the original series

Disadvantages: The licence has not been used to it's full potential

Hi there Spidey fans! Alright so Marvel comics guru Stan Lee impersonations don't work very well in type I admit it.

So what can you say about Spiderman the movie 2002? The answer is so much but yet so little. One thing I can garuantee is that you do NOT need to be a spiderman fan to enjoy this movie. In fact my girlfriend practically begged to see it again after the first time and she hates superhero flicks.

For those people who have missed out on the spiderman legacy so far the jist of the movie is that the main character, Peter Parker (played by up and coming actor Tobey McGuire) is bitten by a radioactive spider and then inherits it's spectacular powers such as superior strenght and agility, a 'spider-sense' that warns him of impending danger but more importantly the ability to stik to practically any surface and shoot webbing from his wrists.

The movie follows Parker as he tries to come to terms with his new found abilities while trying to juggle the hassles of his everyday life. At first he tries to use his 'talents' for his own selfish purposes such as beating up on the school bully and trying to impress the love interest Mary Jane Watson (played by an EXTREMELY HOT Kirsten Dunst).

He soon realises though that he has to put his superpowers to better use and thus the qoute which will haunt you through everything to do with spiderman, the comics, the cartoon, the video games AND the movie is born. 'With great power comes great responsibility'.

The villian in the movie is called Norman Osbourne but it's really his alter-ego the Green Goblin who is the real villian. The Goblin is a result of tests that Osbourne has performed on himself which have turned him into a madman. To make matters worse, Osbournes son Harry is our heros best friend and Norman Ousbourne himself is also quite fond of young Parker as well.

The movie is not as light hearted as the rest of th
e Spiderman legacy with Spidey's 'trademark' cheesy sarcastic comments making rare appearences throughout.
Instead this outing takes a leaf from the original Batman movie's book and goes for a darker approach with Parkers suffering being displayed clearly throughout the movie but none more so than at the end (which I won't spoil for you).

As mentioned earlier, Spidey virgins will love this movie to bits as it keeps you entertained from start to finish. Harcore Spidey fans such as myself though may find their knowledge of the series as a burden as there are several alterations from the original story.

The main example of one of these 'alterations' would be the fact that Parker actually shoots his webbing directly from his wrists instead of a self made projector like in previous encounters and so gone are the days of Spidey running out of web fluid at a vital moment that we have all grown to love.

The acting in Spiderman is not exactly oscar material for the most part but the cast do take to their characters well. Tobey McGuire again does not have much to work with as his character is plagued by bad experiences all througout the movie and unfortunately the only time you 'might' see him smile is when he has his mask on although Parker/Spidey is definently a step up from doing the voiceover for Cats and Dogs.

Willem DaFoe who plays Osbourne/Goblin is perfectly suited to the role mostly due to the fact that, like Christopher Walken before him, he has been typecast into the role of either a sleeze or a bad guy.

Kirsten Dunst is excellent as Mary Jane Watson and although I personally feel the character herself was not very likable (she seemed to change her mind about who she was in love with more than she changed her bra), Dunst plays the part out flawlessly.

Spiderman is indeed a fantastic movie to see. It's not exactly what you would call a thinker and there was a
lot more potential for the movie (Dr Octopus anyone?)but it's great for just letting your imagination run wild for a while. The attention to detail is astounding with Spidey dodging streetlights as he swings between buildings.

You can't really go wrong when major superheros have their first major big screen outings and I've yet to see a bad one (I do NOT class the Shadow and the Phantom as major superheros by the way)so lets just hope that the Spiderman sequels don't got the same way as the Batman movies went.

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