The Devil Reviews: Spider-Man

What I disliked.

To be honest, there isn't much to hate about this movie. I've heard hatred towards Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin but I'll get more on that later on. One very minor thing that gets me is the overuse of CGI, I felt like in some places Raimi relied a little too heavily on special effects for action. Which makes the movie look a bit dated in later years when technology has advanced. Of course it's not THAT bad, and there are still some awesome action pieces. But the facts are, the film looks a little bit outdated visually. However that's really just a minor thing. It doesn't really effect the quality that much. The thing that really gets me, is the casting of Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. I don't think she's as bad as people make her out to be, but not great. I find her incredibly annoying in Spider-Man 2, and I can't STAND her in Spider-Man 3. Her best performance in the series is in Spider-Man 1. But I still feel she was majorly miscast. She just doesn't embody the same Mary Jane I know from the comics. She was OKAY in this movie, bad in the other two. But even here she just isn't the mystical bombshell beauty I know Mary Jane is supposed to be. I suppose it's not that big of a deal, but for me it's the film's biggest problem.


What I liked.

There is a lot I like about this movie. But there are three major things and a few minor things that really made it great for me as a fan. The first of which is the directorial style, I know Sam Raimi gets a lot of bashing for making the series cheesy. But I really liked his style of handling the movies. He understood the classic 60's Spider-Man and presented it with passion and style. The visual tone of the movie is perfect, it's something I felt was lacking in the next two. I loved how innocent yet deeply meaningful and serious the tone of the movie was. Raimi's directing and writing style fits the Spider-Man character perfectly and it shines out the most in this movie. The second thing I loved; was the film's main villain. Now I know the Green Goblin suit gets a lot of hate, because apparently it's too cheesy. And I've said before, and I don't mind saying it again: There is absolutely nothing wrong with the suit. The headpiece is a bit weird but cool if you consider the tone of the film and what Raimi was going for. But aside from the suit, Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn was easily the best part of the movie and the best Spider-Man movie villain to date. His legendary tragic arc was told with class, but once he loses his quest against Oscorp executives. He just can't let this power go, he recognizes that there are millions of average people in New York and the few that stand above the rest. These small few are what he feels make the city great. He believes that he and Spidey are the figures that make the city great and the two that the people should lift above themselves as idols. However, in the end the city proves to him that the PEOPLE, the men, the women, the average joes in New York are the people that make a city and a country great. And you know what? Spidey is one of those average joes. To me that was one of the main messages of the film that most didn't seem to pick up on. Dafoe's Goblin was also just a badass, quite possibly the most entertaining CBM villain so far. (notice I didn't say "best")

I was also a fan of the performances overall, say what you want about Toby but he was great in this movie. His presence brings a child-like innocence to the character that lacks in the newer version of the character. J.K. Simmons looks and acts EXACTLY like the comic character. And I've already gone into Dafoe's Green Goblin. But for me the third thing that makes this movie an all-time classic is the story. Now I know stronger story lines have been written in CBMs such as The Dark Knight, X-Men 2, etc. But this one remains one of my favorites. Spider-Man's origin is his best and most meaningful story line in the comics. And the movie did an excellent job of portraying it. Everything from the relationship with Harry and Ben, to the spider bite, to the wrestling match, to the death of Ben, to the killing of Ben's killer, to the birth of the Goblin, to the heroic arc of Peter Parker was great. The pacing of the whole thing never felt off the way it did in both sequels, it is always moving but never too quickly. It keeps the story well fleshed out but never once ceases to be entertaining. The whole story is brilliant in my opinion, and I'd even say it's the second closest comic-to-movie adaptation so far behind Watchmen. Other little things that helped glue it all together included Danny Elfman's brilliant score. The sound of it has become so iconic, I wonder how the movie would have been without it. Also I liked most of the action, the final fight against the Green Goblin is my favorite because of how brutal it is and because it used the least CGI out of them all. The battle in the burning house was cool, especially when Spidey goes all acrobatic and dodges all of the blades. I think the fight at the parade was alright, but I didn't like the overuse of CGI. Another great one was the first fight against Bone Saw, sure it wasn't the best visually but that was the moment when I just knew that Spider-Man was a total badass. His first and best quip is seen right then: "That's a nice outfit, did your husband give it to you?"


Conclusion.

The only real problem with Spider-Man is the age of the film. Outside of that Dunst was just alright. But everything else in this movie is spot-on. It's the strongest Spider-Man film to date, and still one of my favorite CBMs of all time. The villain was among the best, the story and the message was very touching, the characters were well defined and even better acted. The tone and style of the film were perfect for a classic Spidey flick. Add to it the action and the soundtrack; this is the film for the Spidey fans. Literally the only flaw is Dunst (who is not THAT bad) and a little age to the film.

The Devil gives Spider-Man an overall score of: 9 stars out of 10.

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