Spiderman
Spiderman
Spiderman - 
Overview
Positives
Negatives
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Brief Review
Spiderman is an enjoyable blockbuster that brings the webbed superhero to life with some good acting from Tobey Maguire. The central villain, Green Goblin, is well presented and Willem Dafoe steals the show with a memorable performance as the schizophrenic Norman Osbourne. The fights are few and far between but excellent choreographed and come together with a decent soundtrack to deliver a decent box office hit.
Full Review
The 2002 release of Spiderman was one of the first Marvel attempts at the big screen and in many ways is a mixed bag of good and bad. The story follows the origins of Spiderman with the brilliant Tobey Maguire bringing the webbed superhero to life. The plot works well but the main focus here is on Spiderman and Green Goblin that steal the spotlight from all the other characters.
Willem Dafoe plays Norman Osbourne and the notorious Green Goblin to perfection and the mental breakdown is authentic and believable. He effortlessly steals the show for me and his scenes are a joy to watch. The breakdown from respectable businessman to mentally insane lunatic is paced well and acted out to perfection.
Out of all the villains in the Spiderman universe, I felt Green Goblin was a good choice to start the franchise off with and the fights between Goblin and Spiderman produce some truly memorable moments. One in particular sees Norman Osbourne tormenting the hero, telling him the people of the city will eventually come to hate him and the speech is delivered with such power and authenticity its hard not to believe him.
Unfortunately, with the exception of Willam Defoe and Tobey Maguire, I felt the rest of the cast fell flat and weren't that memorable. Its clear the rest of the cast struggled to keep up with the excellent standards of Maguire and Defoe and consequently aren't that memorable. It's not to say they're all terrible as they do a good job - Harry and Mary-Jane are good with the lines they're given but nothing really stuck out for me.
The main focus in the film is the contrasting fall of Norman Osbourne to become Green Goblin and Peter Parker's rise to heroism as Spiderman and the film does a pretty good job of showing it. It's interesting to watch and the camerawork is excellent - especially for the dizzying web slinging scenes through the street. On top of that, Spiderman's suit looks excellent with a modern twist that fits in well with the world.
Overall, Spiderman is a good action title with excellent special effects that combine with the brilliant performances of Dafoe and Maguire and a memorable soundtrack to deliver an enjoyable film that guides you perfectly into the universe of Spiderman and sets it up nicely for future sequels.