*****a little possible SPOILER WARNING if someone hasn't seen the movie*****

As some regulars on these boards may remember - thanks again, Timmer - I had many doubts about this big-screen movie adaptation of SPIDER-MAN, because I'm one of those few readers who dig Spider-Man the comic because of its highly dramatic inner storyline, the realistic "values", and all the witty and touching message within. I really feared that the movie would just turn into another one of these mindless rollercoastercrashbrrroomklangpopcorn thingies - but God bless Stan Lee and Sam Raimi, this movie wasn't anything I feared it would be.

I really haven't enjoyed a movie like this since MOULIN ROUGE and RETURN TO NEVERLAND - yes, definitely an odd trio when a title like SPIDER-MAN enters here... But the truth is that I laughed 'n' cried 'n' grabbed my seat all the way through the movie. The amount of cold shivers in my spine would have probably melted a refrigerator.

Next to me was seating a group of teenage boys who, when the ending came, commented loudly "This can't end LIKE THIS" - and at that very moment I would have wanted to say to these guys that THEY SHOULD R E A D the entire Spider-Man comicbook saga before saying something like that. In my opinion, this movie adaptation puts together all the most touching and witty elements of the original storyline - even the small changes in the script are totally acceptable because they serve the entire movie so splendidly - and yet also manage to keep faithful to the original story & the spirit in it. Actually, my only complaint is also one of these things I understand totally in the context of film-making; I for one would have LOVED to see Mary Jane revealing to Peter at the end scene that she KNOWS he is the Spider-Man (as she knew in the comics) - but, nevertheless, I understand very well that the romance part is best left for the sequel - this movie was about Peter and his inner battle mixed with another view on the same inner battle (through Osborn), so it's completely enough for one movie... and more is coming, for sure

I can't believe I would someday say it, but in this movie every possible bit of action, combat, chase, etc, was splendidly justified - and I liked it all (I seldom like any action movies). In the trailers first seeing this animated redblue guy jumping all around the screen made me a little bit nervous, but seeing it all in the movie - in the right context - it was only magnificent. Besides, the effect and animation crews on this movie have done some similar groundbreaking stuff on effects since TITANIC - the ol' webspinner's crawlings on the walls are simply spectacular.

But underneath it all is a warm HEART - a very good script with some very good actors; I had my doubts of Tobey Maguire fitting the character, but he does Peter Parker more splendidly than I could ever had imagined. But naturally the biggest role in this movie is Sam Raimi's effective direction and also Mr. Stan Lee's supervision on the entire project - that's probably why the soul and the true heart of SPIDER-MAN is easily felt on the big screen.

This is a movie where the soft and touching parts don't feel like they would have just been pasted on the storyline - this movie IS an actual, totally believable, entirely soft 'n' touching yet incredibly entertaining movie experience. Highly recommended for all who refuse to go seeing mindless rollercoasterpopcorn action - SPIDER-MAN is FAR from anything brainless.

Sincerely,
an itsy-bitsy woooooooooooohoooooooooooooo
KEN (who, by the way, loves spiders)

PS. Sorry, Graham, for not using your "What have you seen" thread - I promise to return there someday.

What I'd like to know is if Danny Elfman was right for Spidey?

Glad to see you liked the movie. And even though I'm not a teenager (but have read the Spiderman story), I too was one of the poeple who were shocked at the end.

Well I'm always the last one but I finally got to see Spiderman and I just want to say that from the moment I saw "The Evil Dead 1 and 2" in my Teens I knew that Raimi was a Genius waiting to happen. I knew nothing about Spiderman the movie and so I watched it with no expectations. From the start I instantly cared about Peter Parker and his chums and was drawn into their inner circle. Tobey Maguire was just perfect as the nerdy, but likeable Parker and although pretty small(like Keaton in "Batman") fitted the "look" and "physique" pretty well of the Spiderman that I remember from the Marvel comics and cartoon. What I loved about this film was the initial build up of discovery by Parker to his new found strengths. I was in stitches during the fight scenes in the school when Parker first gets to clumsily try out his web skills and super powers. None of the film was predictable and we really got to get to know the main characters as "people" and not just 2 dimensional characters. Also, the action scenes were'nt over the top and predictable as most are these days. The final predicament of Spiderman as to whether or not he should save Mary or the children added a nice element of tension to what could have just been an ordinary action scene. The effects were brilliant and the scenes of Spiderman swinging around New York were surprisingly convincing. Willem Dafoe was also great as the Green Goblin, bringing an element of human angst to it that other lesser actors would be capable of. Sam Raimi's direction is perfect for comic strip material as first noted in "Darkman". In my opinion he as an artistic eye that is as good as if not better than that of Tim Burton. At least his character development, narrative flow and storytelling abilities are much stronger than a lot of recent Burton efforts. Danny Elfman's score worked beautifully in the film and seemed to have less of the "Elfman" sound that can sometimes become a bit tiresome. Interestingly, as mentioned above, there didn't seem to be an obvious "Spiderman" theme like we would expect but Elfman's title seem to conjure up more of an "atmosphere" as opposed to a strong "theme". It worked just as well though. Looking forward to the DVD and seeing the sequel.

Gae