'Spider-Man' puts refreshing spin on comic book film genre

By Marshall Fine
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

SPIDER-MAN: (Rated PG-13 for comic-book violence, horror elements.) 3 and one-half stars (Good to Excellent) A terrific comic-book adventure, rendered with wit and technical know-how, though some of the computer-generated figures look more mechanical than real. Still, a terrific ride for adults and kids alike. Starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst. Directed by Sam Raimi. Columbia Pictures. Rated PG-13 (comic-book violence, horror elements). 125 minutes.

"Spider-Man" is the ideal match of man and material. Raimi is a lover of the fantastic and outrageous and the long-running Marvel superhero is nothing if not a multipowered fantasy. And then there are the villains he seems to attract: the Green Goblin in this film, and similarly grotesque comic-book bad guys like Doctor Octopus, Kingpin and Spidey's evil doppelgangers, Venom and Carnage.

The script, by David Koepp, is relatively faithful to the source material: the characters and adventures by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee that first appeared in 1962 and, beginning in 1963, transformed the comic-book genre.

The Spider-Man character — alter ego of normal teen Peter Parker, who is bitten by a radioactive spider and develops spiderlike powers — was one of the first superheroes with personal problems. He was a science whiz with a nerd image and a popularity deficit who had a crush on a girl in the in-crowd. And he lived with an elderly aunt and uncle who had no clue what he was going through.

"Spider-Man," the movie, builds on that base, finding the tragic dimension of a young man who has superhero status thrust unwittingly upon him during a school field trip to a science laboratory. That's where Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), bespectacled science whiz and budding photographer, is bitten on the hand by a hybrid superspider.

He practically collapses into bed that night at the home of his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), his elderly guardians, then awakens transformed. He no longer needs his glasses and his body has buffed up overnight. He also discovers that his senses and reflexes are so refined that he can watch the school bully throw a punch at him, duck it and still have time to do a double-take before the punch reaches full extension. He can climb walls effortlessly, jump great distances and lift several times his own body weight. And he has developed the ability to shoot strong webbing from little openings in his wrists.

Peter tries to capitalize on his powers by entering himself in a pro wrestling exhibition. If he can last three minutes in a cage match with the menacing pro wrestler Bone Saw McGraw (Randy Savage), he'll win $3,000, enough for a small used car. But his victory leads to a tragedy that alters his life and causes him to reassess what to do with his powers.

The film offers a parallel tale of transformation, involving industrialist Norman Osborn (wittily played by Willem Dafoe), the millionaire father of Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco). In an experiment, he unleashes an evil personality, the Green Goblin.

The woman in the middle is Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), the most popular girl in high school who lives next door to Peter but barely knows he's alive. They become friends, even as she starts dating Harry, Peter's post-high school roommate.

Raimi balances the film's efforts to walk an emotional tightrope with enough laughter to keep things light. Koepp's dialogue is sometimes laughably true to the source material. At one point, the split-personality Osborn mutters to himself that he must track Spider-Man down and "instruct him in the matters of pain and loss."

The acting moves from the cartoony to the operatic and back again, with surefooted wit. These people have big feelings to express, but Raimi keeps the performances in proportion, finding the humor without drawing unintentional laughs. Maguire has an open-faced goodness that includes a darker edge of doubt and recrimination, giving this character a sensitivity you wouldn't expect in a film of this kind. Kirsten Dunst, as Mary Jane, is equally good; Dunst may be the best young actress of her generation, a full-fledged star waiting to explode.

Raimi also draws a wonderful, plummy performance from Dafoe as the Green Goblin. Rosemary Harris is solid as Aunt May and J.K. Simmons is hilariously perfect as unscrupulous newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson.

Of course, the key question is: How good is the aerial stuff — the web-slinging and web-swinging? Raimi and cinematographer Don Burgess find the sweeping, swooping camera movements to impart the sensation of defying gravity and the sheer fun of approximating flight.

"Spider-Man" turns out to be an unexpectedly rich experience: exciting, complex and way larger than life.

Rated PG-13 for comic-book violence, horror elements.