{"id":17867,"date":"2002-05-03T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2002-05-03T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=17867"},"modified":"2014-04-21T09:21:39","modified_gmt":"2014-04-21T16:21:39","slug":"review-spider-man-dir-sam-raimi-2002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2002\/05\/review-spider-man-dir-sam-raimi-2002.html","title":{"rendered":"Review: Spider-Man<\/i> (dir. Sam Raimi, 2002)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>The fans have waited nearly 40 years for a big-screen adaptation of the Spider-Man<\/a><\/i> comic book, and for the most part, Sam Raimi\u2019s film does not disappoint. <\/p>\n

Tobey Maguire is very impressive as Peter Parker, the teen-aged wimp who acquires great strength, super reflexes, and the ability to climb walls and spin webs after he is bitten by a genetically engineered spider; even after he wakes up with a buff new bod, he still has the beaming grin and nervous demeanor of a high-school geek. <\/p>\n

Raimi, working from a screenplay credited to David Koepp, powerfully captures the moral issues at stake as Peter grows into the web-slinging super-hero; unlike Superman, whose parents merely died in a planetary accident, and unlike Batman, who witnessed the death of his parents and took up crimefighting as a form of revenge against criminals in general, Spider-Man fights crime almost as a form of atonement, after his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) is killed by a felon that Peter could have captured but, for reasons of pride, chose not to. As one columnist has put it, \u201cSpider-Man devotes his life to fighting wrongdoers, knowing he is one himself.\u201d Willem Dafoe also has some riveting moments as Harry Osborne, the techno-tycoon who goes mad and becomes the villainous Green Goblin.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the film is marred by overly expository dialogue, shallow supporting characters, unconvincing CGI effects, and a few excessively campy moments. It\u2019s great that Peter\u2019s Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) is portrayed as a devout Christian, but you wish the character wasn\u2019t so two-dimensional; still, the film does underscore the fact that Spider-Man\u2019s sense of responsibility is traceable to his upbringing, and if faith has played a part in that, then so much the better.<\/p>\n

Internet Movie Database<\/a> | Movie Review Query Engine<\/a> | USA: PG-13<\/a> | BC: PG<\/a> | ON: PG<\/a> <\/small><\/font><\/p>\n

\u2014 A version of this article was first published at the website for <\/i>BC Christian News.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fans have waited nearly 40 years for a big-screen adaptation of the Spider-Man comic book, and for the most part, Sam Raimi\u2019s film does not disappoint. Tobey Maguire is very impressive as Peter Parker, the teen-aged wimp who acquires great strength, super reflexes, and the ability to climb walls and spin webs after he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[2170,2169,2168,1148,2171,2172],"class_list":["post-17867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bcchristiannews","tag-david-koepp","tag-sam-raimi","tag-spider-man","tag-spider-man-2002","tag-tobey-maguire","tag-willem-dafoe"],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Spider-Man (dir. 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