Rating: 
Summary: ETMR - Spiderman
Review: 1. Humanity: What events in the film drove Peter Parker to adopting his vigilante attitude toward crime?2. Implications: How is Spiderman's understanding of "with great power comes great responsibility" an example of contemporary American thought? Think specifically about the nature of evil and the propensity toward intense individual classification when one's existence becomes threatened. 3. Evolution: Spiderman was a hero born out of the 60s, springing from both the dangers of genetic manipulation and the problems of substance abuse (in the form of Oscorp Chemicals). Raimi makes little mention of the chemical abuse in the story, and paints it in a much simpler picture of the probable evil in man's soul and the strange world of pseudoscience. Therefore, it is obvious that in many ways, the film departs from its traditional conditioning while remaining loyal to the original personalities of the characters. In which ways is Spiderman the hero shown to be a creation of the contemporary age, versus a creation of the 60s, in the film? 4. Realism: America has a long history, not only in comics but in legendary history, of people who take the law into their own hands. If a being like Spiderman existed, could he survive in our real world, or is he only a dream? 5. Stageplay: Spiderman is classicly a cynic, an individual thinker, an avid contemporarian (someone "in" the times), a man of passions (versus someone who could care less), an irreligious jokester and a man who is not sure of his destiny, but lives to succeed. Do you feel Maguire fulfills this role? Some critics say he is too much of a "boy" to fill Spiderman's shoes, while others claim it is his boyishness that charms us into belief. What do you think?
Rating:
Summary: Does Whatever a Spider Can
Review: Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is the quintessential boy next door. He is kind of geeky, more than a little shy, and really nice. Of course he is also very good at science. Peter goes on a field trip to a laboratory doing interesting genetic experiments on spiders, and one happens to have escaped during Peter's field trip. Naturally the ferocious little critter bites Peter. Soon Peter discovers that he is really strong, and can shoot webs out his wrists, and can climb walls with his bare hands. Why, Peter has become a superhero! As those of us familiar with the superhero genre know, there is a lot of angst in the superhero world. In Peter's case, it is the guy that he could have stopped with his new powers that kills his Uncle Ben (played by veteran Cliff Robertson), a guilt that plagues Peter through decades of Spider-Man comics and now in this movie.
Peter also has yearnings for the beautiful redheaded girl next door, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). Given Peter's natural shyness and his feelings of inadequacy, he has a hard time telling Mary Jane that he is attracted to her a lot. Mary Jane adds to Peter's angst.
Peter's Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) gets to heap on the angst yet further since she has lost her husband of many years when Peter could have prevented it, though Aunt May has yet to learn this information. Poor Peter. If angst were money Peter would be rich. However, Peter also gets a cool enemy, the Green Goblin, aka Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). The Green Goblin has a cool sort of Jet Ski for the air that emits a smoky trail, so that environmentalists will hate him since clearly it is the good spider versus the evil industrialist.
As corny as the plot sounds, this movie is highly entertaining and enjoyable. The computer generated images are well done, with some of the scenes approaching phenomenal. While the quality of the plot and the ambiance fall short of "Superman the Movie" and "Batman," this movie still joins the select group of superhero movies that are sufficiently believable and sufficiently true to the original comics to allow followers of Spider-Man comics to enjoy this movie. Spider-Man is not an invincible superhero, and there are points where you wonder how he can possibly beat the Green Goblin. I kept hoping that he would tell Mary Jane how he felt about her, but that has to wait another day.
Technology has advanced to the point where movies such as "Spider-Man" are more than technologically advanced B-movies. Tobey Maguire can act, as evidenced by his phenomenal role in "Seabiscuit," and he does well in this movie. While there were a few places where I was a little frustrated, I think it was because Peter Parker was less predictable in this movie than I would have expected from the comics, and that is a very good thing.
There are several editions of "Spider-Man" available. I prefer wide screen, but the second disc of the special edition is, like most special editions, uneven in its extras. Some are reasonably good, others are filler. If you have purchased other special edition DVDs, you will probably like this one. Otherwise, get a lower cost wide screen variation and pass the special edition by. However, whatever you do, you should get this one if you like superhero movies, because as a superhero movie this one is a winner.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but slow
Review: the slow part is almost predicted, because they are just trying to introduce the main characters. Sam Raimi does a great job directing this, great camera shots. Willem Dafoe does a great job portraying the green goblin and norman osborn. Kirsten Dunst plays an alright Mary-Jane, for some reason, i wasn't too pleased with that casting call, Kirsten Dunst is a great actress, but this didn't seem like her type of role. Tobey Maguire, of course, who portrays a wonderful Peter Parker, but a shaky spider-man in the beginning, but he got better as the movie progressed. Cliff Robertson and Rosemarie Harris, who do so well as the Aunt and Uncle. Even though the Uncle Ben character is only in the movie, probably 20 minutes, you feel connected to the character.
Plot seemed shaky, but good. Some script cliches and the wrestling scene was not needed aswell. It is not the best movie, but it should make comic book fans jump for joy.
Rating: 
Summary: A Hero With Webbed Fingers
Review: I like this movie a lot. I especially like how Tobey Maguire portrayed Peter Parker/Spder-Man and how Willem Defoe portrayed Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. The only annoying thing about the movie is Mary Jane, she screams too much and can't fight for 5 seconds. Other than that This movie is great.
Rating:
Summary: A Well Spun Tale
Review: "Spider-Man" has to be viewed as the first chapter of a continuing saga. My reaction to having seen it originally that it was okay for a first film in a continuing series but I was hankering for more. "Spider-Man 2" filled in the blanks from the first film, therefore, this film should be seen in conjunction with the second for a more rewarding experience. Just think about the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy before it's cycle was completed or "Kill Bill:Volume 1" before the interminable wait for "Volume 2". That said, "Spider-Man" does a terrific job in exploring the origins of Peter Parker's evolution to the legendary web-spinner. It's only the film's main plotline involving the Green Goblin that get's short-shrift here. If the filmmakers were allowed to expand their work beyond the prescribed two hour time limit it's possible that this story would have been developed better. Tobey Maguire does an excellent job as Peter Parker/Spider-Man as does Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. It's good to see that an actor of Dafoe's calibre was chosen for this part instead of a "star". Kudos to Dafoe for having to act wearing that ridiculous looking green armor. Kirsten Dunst is fetching as Mary Jane Watson. This character truly comes into her own in the second film. James Franco broods effectively as Harry Osborn. Indications seem to be that this is a character to look out for in future installments. It was good to see an old hand like Cliff Robertson deliver a solid turn as Uncle Ben. I will admit that my familiarity with Spider-Man is limited to the cartoon series from the 1960's. For a novice like myself this was a satisfying viewing experience.
Rating: 
Summary: I Hate to Say This, But ...
Review: I'm sorry, but I hated this film. So much so that I refuse to see the second one.
Tobey Maguire looks about 12. He did not convince me that even with super powers he could battle evil. "I did all my own stunts." Please! In just about all the action sequences, Spiderman was so cgi that he looked like a slimmed-down Shrek with red spandex on.
The only positive feeling that this film left me with was knowing that I was right in all those school yard debates many years ago: "Who is the better super-hero, Spiderman or Batman?" I was on Batman's side, and this film made me feel all the more justified in my choice.
I felt sorry for Kirsten Dunst. She's a good actress, and she got stuck with this.
The best thing about it was it had a Nickelback song, and it's to Nickelback that my one lonely star for this film goes to.
Sorry.
Rating:
Summary: great gift
Review: i gave this as a gift and since then i have seen it my self. i saw the movie in theaters, but this was just as great on the 30in lcd tv. very nice and complete gift set here.
Rating:
Summary: Record breaking, and an action packed thriller!
Review: It is hard to turn a story based on a comic book into something thrilling, that's why I give the scriptwriter the benefit of the doubt. Despite the fact that the script was better than Spiderman 2 this script still stank.
Don't get me wrong, the action and graphics were intense and thrilling but the story stank. It's about science geek Peter Parker who can't get his love, Mary Jane, to go out with him but rather he just acts like a puss and let's other jerks get her. He lives next door to her yet he's afraid to talk to his own neighbor. Jeepers what a douch.
Peter's luck changes for the good when he gets raped by a radioactive spider turning into Spiderman. What happens to the spider is anyone's guess. Peter saves the day with cool moves and at the end has a chance is get some booty from Mary Jane but decides he wants to go home and masturbate to comic books underneath his bed. The real reason he doesn't get with MJ is because she's afraid she'll get hurt because of the dangerous life he leads. Yet he doesn't ditch Aunt May.
Watch this movie but don't expect a blockbuster
Rating:
Summary: CAUGHT IN THE WEB
Review: Hah! Gotcha. Me too!
I loved Spidey-1, loved Spidey-2, can't wait for Spidey-3!!! I love the theme song "Hero". Crimebusters Unite! In this movie, Spiderman's first foe is the Green Goblin (Willem Defoe)who makes several appearances throughout the film. Suspenseful and clean-cut, good effects.
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