May (Web-only) 2002

ARTICLE TOOLS

Find similar articles E-mail this page

The big-screen version of Spider-Man has finally arrived. For almost a decade, studios bickered over the rights while fans argued over the actors. Titanic director James Cameron wrote a script and seemed poised to helm the project, but the title went finally to Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, A Simple Plan). It apparently paid off: the movie grossed $114 million dollars in its first weekend, almost the entire cost of the film's production. The Webbed Wonder has torn asunder Harry Potter's box office record.

In a feat rarely achieved, a blockbuster action movie is also getting good reviews. Most critics found it high-spirited fun. The cast is extraordinary. Raimi couldn't have done better than Tobey Maguire as the awkward photographer Peter Parker, Kirsten Dunst as sweet and seductive Mary Jane, James Franco as Parker's friend Harry, and Willem Dafoe (who has played Jesus and various devils) as the Green Goblin. The cinematography is bright, vivid, and at times breathtaking. And scriptwriter David Koepp has the patience to develop characters we care about. Even in the battle scenes, Raimi never stoops to bullying the audience with chaos and explosions. He always keeps us grounded in action that reflects specific personalities and serious choices. Spider-Man is one of those rare adventure movies in which character, not violence, is the backbone of the film.

You probably know the film's story: On a class field trip, Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, and after a fever, he wakes up with strange new powers. Maguire gives Parker just the right mix of exhilaration, bewilderment, and fear characteristic of boys who are becoming men. But Parker's powers are more than a coming-of-age metaphor. They raise questions about ...