Sam Raimi’s long awaited take on the Spider-Man comic book series is yet another movie that takes on the identity of its primary character.  This is two distinct films, tied together rather haphazardly, but still delivered in an honest, playful, sweet and most of all, human way.  With a first half, effective creating a human side to things, introducing, setting things up and laying the groundwork, then a fairly obvious shift into comic book mode, with all of the characters, their actions, their words and such, becoming almost cartoonish, Spider-Man is entertaining, heartfelt, a bit typical at times, but still a worthy start to what could be a long and prosperous series.  What makes this film work so well is that Raimi shows the human side, both good and bad, to the webslinger, while not always resorting to the expected reactions, instead having a character that stays true to his morals.  Superheroes are not always these happy, gleeful crime fighters ready to save the world, but rather tortured souls who feel like they have not only been blessed, but cursed as well, with their abilities.  Raimi shows how Parker feels almost an obligation to what he has been given, and it’s a tribute to Maguire, how he pulls of giving Parker a believable range of tortured emotions

Think about how you would react, if you woke up one morning and found that all of a sudden, you could see better, sense things before they happened, climb walls with your sticky hands, and shoot a cool web-like substance from your hands?  Well, you would probably react the same way that Peter Parker (Maguire) does, you would play with it, laugh a silly little “look what I can do” kind of giggle, and maybe even use it to your advantage.  Parker is a high school science geek, and photographer.   Typically, he is picked on by the school bullies, lusting after the pretty girl in school (Dunst) and fascinated by the little intricacies of the scientific aspect of life.  During a field trip to lab, Parker is bitten by a genetically enhan

 People often forget that most of the comic book superheroes that we see, have their basis in normal everyday people, who somehow gain extraordinary powers or abilities.  Plausible? Most definitely, if the setup is there, likely, not really, but then again, who goes to the movies for realism.  

The key to the film’s success, along with it’s slight misgivings, stem a bit from the casting.  Maguire and Dunst are indeed magical as Peter and M.J., showing a definite chemistry together.  Maguire is an actor who has always been very adept at showing a playful, yet emotional innocence, and then a gleeful, yet shy joy in the discovery of things (as in Pleasantville).  In his role as Parker, he gives the character the aspect that is missing from most adaptations, it shows that he is indeed a normal person, who has discovered that he can do extraordinary things, then grapples with how to deal with it morally. Dunst is sweet, cute and adorable, just as she has to be, without ever being distracting or over the top.  I believed every one of her scenes, especially with Maguire.  There is also a great scene-stealing role as the animated, exaggerated Daily Bugle editor, that is quite memorable.  Dafoe isn’t given as much development or background as to his character, and seems to be trying a bit too hard to be mean and nasty at times, without justification.  Overall, Raimi has cast his movie perfectly, and given them a smart, energetic story, that only stumbles mildly while transitioning between tales. 

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