Spider-Man

So many people have called this film a classic of superhero cinema, and, looking back on it, there is definitely a lot to love while watching. The film is fun and action packed, although a little uneven at times.

The story focuses on the origins of Spider-Man, also known as Peter Parker, played by Tobey Maguire, his relationship with Mary Jane Watson, played by Kirsten Dunst, and his battles against the evil Green Goblin, played by Willem Dafoe. The story was paced quite well, jumping into him getting bitten by the spider very early on, yet still giving a good amount of time to build his character before he officially becomes the Spider-Man we know and love. I would say that the first reveal of his full costume was a little messy because of weird editing, but that was one of the only times the story didn't run smoothly.

The acting, on the other hand, was actually mostly whatever for me. The only performances I really enjoyed were Tobey Maguire's earnest, awkward and nerdy take on Spider-Man and Willem Dafoe, who is clearly hamming it up and having the time of his life in every scene he is in, and it is a joy to watch. Also, I enjoyed Cliff Robertson's performance as Uncle Ben and how he is played as a father figure, yet still a flawed human being all the same. My biggest issues were with Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn, played by James Franco, due to the former seeming kind of...shallow as a character and the latter being an absolute jerk most of the time. I never bought Mary Jane as being in love with either Peter or Harry, as it seemed she was phoning it in the whole time, and Harry just always seemed to be kind of a terrible person, constantly throwing Peter to the curb and never really being nice to him outside of telling bullies to stop being mean to Peter.

Now that my grievances are out of the way, what did I think overall? Well, I quite enjoyed a lot of the film, and I'd say it has held up slightly better than X-Men did, if only because the story works better. The flaws were there, but they didn't detract from the experience, so I would definitely recommend this movie all the same.

Next time is a film I know very little about. It stars Ben Affleck as a blind man who deals out justice to criminals. Find out what my thoughts will be next time when I review Daredevil.

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