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Spectacular digital effects can't save
Spider-Man from its chaotic script.
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The creepy grin that Willem Dafoe flashes throughout Spider-Man is more entertaining than all the film's explosions and digital effects. Tobey Maguire is given the body-hugging Spider-Man costume, and it looks good on him. As the boy hero of director Sam Raimi's sloppy blockbuster, Maguire is getting all the attention. Still, actioners like Spider-Man are all about its villains, and Dafoe is the best thing in an otherwise disappointing film.
It helps that Maguire is believable as Peter Parker, a timid teen-ager whose bite from a radioactive spider turns him into the web-slinging superhero. In fact, Spider-Man's best scene occurs early in the movie, when Parker loses control of his newfound super powers in his high school cafeteria. In the next scene, when confronted by the school bully, Parker's feats of hyper speed, gravity-defying acrobatics and super strength are fun and exciting.
Later in the film, Spider-Man's origin story breaks down while Raimi crams in as much action as possible. Stylish images turn cluttered. The action becomes chaotic instead of engaging. Making matters worse, Maguire's emotional depth plummets every time he puts on his Spider-Man mask.
Kirsten Dunst, who plays Mary Jane Watson, a classmate who's also the object of Parker's affections, also makes a credible teen-ager. Unfortunately, all Spider-Man asks of her is to play the girlfriend in distress. Dunst dangles from balconies well. It's too bad she wasn't given the chance to do more.
Spider-Man's supporting players make little impact. J.K. Simmons enjoys a few laughs as Parker's feisty boss, the crusty editor of The Daily Bugle. Cliff Robertson sleepwalks through his role as Parker's surrogate father, Uncle Ben. The same thing can be said for Rosemary Harris, playing Aunt May.
The one bright spot in Spider-Man belongs to Dafoe, playing Spider-Man's costumed nemesis, the Green Goblin. Spider-Man offers Dafoe a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-inspired role, playing a scientist who gains a split personality after a laboratory mishap.
Dafoe makes the most of his cartoonish opportunity. He cackles admirably. His face contorts from mischievous grins to malicious sneers without a moment's hesitation. More than the Goblin's emerald green armor, sleek Goblin Glider and arsenal of explosive weapons, Dafoe's creepy presence and over-the-top theatrics is the one thing about Spider-Man that meets its hyped expectations.
Dafoe remains the one actor who moves easily from theater and independent films to commercial blockbusters. More importantly, Dafoe's work remains engaging, even in the most foolish projects.
The teams of visual-effects engineers responsible for conveying onto film Spider-Man's web-slinging abilities have more to do with the film than Raimi. The advance technology surrounding models, digital work and postproduction effects make creating the impossible -- re-creating Spider-Man's various superhero powers, leaping over rooftops, shooting spider webs from his wrists and climbing the walls of buildings -- the easiest challenge facing the movie.
When it comes to the world of cinematic illusions, digital effects have changed everything in a short amount of time. It's funny to remember how the first of these modern-day, special-effects-loaded, comic book hero adventures, 1978's Superman, struggled to show Superman flying with a modicum of believability.
The livelier moments in Spider-Man are the scenes when he's web-slinging over busy Manhattan streets. These days, translating a superhero's gravity-defying powers from two-dimensional comic books to live-action films is easy. What turns out to be an impossible task for Raimi and screenwriter David Koepp is to turn Spider-Man's origin into a lively and engaging story.
I believe that Raimi tried hard to bring Spider-Man all together. I don't think he has the vision to pull it off. Danny Elfman's bouncy score sounds familiar, although the busy movie quickly overwhelms it.
Spider-Man's best moments are when we first witness the hero's transformation from teen nebbish to boy wonder. Its second-half action dissolves into repetitive explosives and effects. Maguire's voice-overs don't help matters. The film's flashes of Americana and Parker's blue-collar upbringing seem out of place.
By the film's climactic finish, it's clear that Raimi failed to re-create Spider-Man's magical comic book environment. It's not the worst blockbuster in theaters. That title still belongs to The Scorpion King. Let's hope there are more entertaining films around the corner. All I can say is that Spider-Man leaves you with the feeling that you expected to have a better time.
A sequel to Spider-Man is already planned. Maybe they'll work out the bugs.
CityBeat grade: C.
