The Flipcritic

When it comes to major movie adaptations of comic book superheroes, DC Comics has always had the upper hand. SUPERMAN is the perfect example of this trend, being the best and most memorable of its kind. BATMAN was a box-office smash and had a uniquely dark perspective of the caped crusader. When Marvel tried to counter with their own characters in the 80s, their attempts where laughable at best. Anyone remember CAPTAIN AMERICA or THE PUNISHER?

However, in the last decade or so, Marvel Comics has begun to turn the tide. With the release of BLADE, BLADE II, and X-MEN, Marvel has shown that it is finally taking their characters and status (or once-held status) very seriously. They now take a real shot at establishing their movie presence with their latest release, Spider-Man.

The movie details the webslinger's origin (which any true comic book fan already knows by heart... myself included). Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire of WONDER BOYS and PLEASANTVILLE) is a social misfit who loves his longtime neighbor Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst of CRAZY BEAUTIFUL and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES). At a science class fieldtrip he is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, and upon his return home, he discovers his new superhuman abilities with a sense of wonder that any teenager would feel if he gained extraordinary powers.

As Peter learns to deal with his newfound gifts, he attempts to impress Mary Jane (MJ) via wrestling. It is here he gains his moniker, and through a tragic event, learns to accept the great responsibility that he is obligated to meet. He then encounters his first great foe in Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe of SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE), a military scientist who gains super powers by the necessity of saving his life's work, but is driven mad in the process. Osborn discovers who Spidey really is and who he loves, which leads to the film's climax.

SPIDER-MAN is a skilled film, a textbook comic adventure. It does nothing new, but it performs its tasks extremely well. It plays almost eerily like BATMAN, which may be explained by Danny Elfman's score which emanates a kinetic verve. Though the two films have the same music-maker, SPIDER-MAN has a lot more action, joy, and color. It's as if the comic book had been splashed on the screen.

Fans loyal to the comic book will notice a few changes (none of which are upsetting). The original storyline had Peter Parker being bitten by a radioactive spider (in reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis at the time), but in the film, the spider is genetically enhanced. The original Peter Parker designed special webshooters to release web-fluid that would be incredibly strong, but would disintegrate after a few minutes (otherwise New York after a few years would be littered with web). The film provides that the webbing is part of Parker's new abilities.

I was also surprised to realize how intertwined characters' stories are, (which is pretty much consistent with that of the comic book). The lives of the movies' protagonists and antagonists resemble those of a soap opera.

Examples:

1. Peter loves MJ, but is MJ involved with his best friend Harry who also happens to be Norman Osborn's son.
2. Norman treats Peter more as a son than he does Harry.
3. Peter lets a thief go, then that thief harm's Peter's uncle.
4. Norman struggles with his realization that his nemesis is really Spidey.
5. Etc.

You get my drift.

As for the special effects, my feelings are mixed. There are many moments where Spider-Man's skyscraper swinging is breathtaking. Indeed this film would never be successful in earlier years when CGI effects were limited. I appreciated how the film was able to show me the physical possiblity of swinging from one building to another, and how such activity could strain the human body. There are also some MATRIX-like sequences to please the teenies.

But there are also moments where Spider-Man's abilities look cartoon-like and hardly that of a human being. As Roger Ebert wrote, "Spider-Man is about as convincing as Mighty Mouse." Consider THE MATRIX or CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, where heroes could fly, but had the appearance of weight and mass. You could feel the impact of their bodies and how they respected their flight. When Peter Parker jumps from building to building, it looks a bit silly.

When it comes to the acting though, I have no complaints. I like the way Kirsten Dunst was able to make her character adjust to the wide variation of situations she was facing. Willem Dafoe has always been an excellent actor, and I'm glad that he has found a big-time bad-guy role that he can sink his teeth into. I thought his performance was delicious, reminding me of a certain Jack Nicholson as The Joker (they both have really nasty laughs). No wonder this movie reminds me of BATMAN.

And when it comes to Tobey Maguire, all my expectations were met. He is perfect as Peter Parker. I don't know why many people doubted him for the part, because I thought of him first when they brought it up. His understated, subtle performance captures Parker's guileless charm. He doesn't exude anything, yet he captures your attention and never lets go.

Director Sam Raimi has done a fine job by not trying to do anything over-the-top (see every BATMAN sequel to see what I mean), which lends a lot more weight and plausibility to the story. It's just solid directing with a few flashes of energy. His fans will notice some scenes that are remarkably similar to Darkman and the Evil Dead series. He's also not afraid to toss a few cornball moments into the story and turn them to his advantage. It's also humurous to see Bruce Campbell, Randy Roffo (also known as Randy "Macho Man" Savage), and no less than Spider-Man's creator, Stan Lee, in the mix.

I truly hope Marvel continues to produce adaptations as well-crafted as SPIDER-MAN. They'll be releasing a barrage of movies in the next few years (DAREDEVIL, THE FANTASTIC FOUR, SPIDER-MAN 2, X2 and my favorite character HULK). And if they continue to keep the quality of the films high, DC will have to watch out. I also hope Spidey goes back to squash the spider which bit him.

Posted by FLIPCRITIC at May 3, 2002 12:00 AM