It seems strange that two directors who started off making sick horror films on minuscule budgets now sit in the directors chairs of two of the biggest movie franchises in history. However whilst Peter Jackson has taken the whole fantasy genre three steps forward with Lord Of The Rings, Sam Raimi seems content to tread the well worn tracks initially forged by Tim Burton's exceptional Batman films.
Spiderman the movie sticks closely to the back story of Spiderman the comic books with shy adolescent Peter Parker being bitten by a super spider and inheriting it's super powers. However all is not peaches and cream for our boy wonder as his best friend steals his childhood sweetheart and has a Dad who becomes a hyena impersonating super villain. Still at least he doesn't have to worry about the elevator being broken any more.
The films desire to adhere to it's classic comic origins betrays it. Hence we get golden hearted old corn balls meeting out wisdom that seems to have come free with a cereal packet, and a love story rife with lumpen clichés that even Anakin and Padme wouldn't consider uttering. It almost seems that screenwriter David Koepp pasted the leftovers of his old blockbuster scripts together to pen this. Either that or he mistook mindless repetition of the Superman movies for homage.
Unfortunately this wastes the great acting talent on show. In his first lead in a mainstream movie Tobey Maguire shows that his subtle gestures and reserved facial expressions become more entrancing the bigger the part gets. Whilst he never gets into scene stealing form of Wonder Boys and The Ice Storm he gives himself over to the part of the awkward young man totally, with no hint of vanity or ego, and almost single handedly invests dramatic weight into the story.
The chemistry between Maguirre and Kristen Dunst as the love interest (and yes the character can be summed up in those two words) sparks beautifully, until they open their mouths and the dialogue ruins the mood. However one does have to wonder whether the Dunst's peanut enhanced wet T-shirt was is an acceptable way to cram semi-nudity into a family film
William Dafoe has a field day as the Green Goblin and clearly learnt a few tricks from Jack Nicholson's performance as the Joker in Batman. His aura, projection and presence seem worthy of the theatre as they burst out of the screen. However he is given to little time to flesh out the details of his character, so instead we have tomake do with a silly laugh and some evil stares most of the time.
The action sequences are executed with the best style money can buy, but unfortunately they all seem to have been stolen from other films. The flo-mo effects from The Matrix are ruthlessly copied, sometimes shot for shot, whilst the set pieces all seem to have been executed more memorably elsewhere. The most fun is had when Peter first discovers his talents and sets out swinging across New York with boyish enthusiasm making the odd misjudgement or two. However before long he simply slugs away with the bad guys like a body stockinged Rocky Balboa whilst swinging from building to building like a mute Tarzan.
Much of the blame for the films blandness must lie with it's director. Sam Raimi has many styles, the shock horror of The Evil Dead, the stooges humour of Army Of Darkness, the dark and brooding evil of A Simple Plan. Unfortunately here we are treated to the schmaltz and un-originality of star vehicles like For The Love Of The Game. The thousands of subtle in-jokes which will delight those with a DVD player and well timed pause button hardly makes up for the pedestrian editing and predictable music. Those who expected Raimi to bring some anarchic fun to proceedings will have to make do with some excellent news room scenes (stolen from The Hudsucker Proxy) and linking montages (stolen from Army Of Darkness).
That Spiderman is less than the sum of it's parts should not be surprising, blockbusters are not designed to be acting or directing master classes. Everyone involved can be happy with the professional job that they have done, and hopefully their pay cheques will free them up to get back to making the kind of work they are rightly celebrated for.