Before I begin, I must admit that Spidey has always and forever been my favorite superhero, so it was impossible for me not to like this movie (unless by some senile state Spider-Man decided to have a romp in the sack with my personal arch-nemesis, Superman). Since Spidey kicks some major donkey balls, it only seems to make logical sense that a movie about the WebCrawler also kicked some major "ass" balls, if you will. For the most part, this rang true.
The plot was fricking awesome. Well, actually let me backtrack: there actually WAS a plot (this alone was awesome. It's a pretty rare feat in most superhero movies). The plot basically centered on the origin of Spider-Man. Though it was flawed in many small points (only a true Spidey fan really knew the flaws), it was more accurate than I've seen any superhero movie. The only exception might possibly be Batman, but this is due to the fact that for the most part they dodged around Batman's origin (notice I said Batman, as the sequels were just a mess with the origins of the characters). The Green Goblin's origin was also very similar to his original origin (and it looks like the sequel to Spider-Man may also ring true on part of the Green Goblin's origin).
Perhaps what I liked most about the movie was that it wasn't just cut and dry action. There was drama, humor, and romance, which as we all know, are key to a truly "good" movie. I wish I could say this movie was perfect, but it wasn't.
I have to bring up the very common complaint: the CGI. The CGI was very excessive in this movie. In fact, it was the most over-abuse of CGI I have ever seen in my life. They didn't even try to do anything with stuntmen at all, and it shows. And don't give me the complaint of, "Well, how could they have a guy swinging off of buildings?" They were given a few hundred million dollars to make a movie about a superhero. With that kind of money, they could have found a way. Actually, it looks like the movie was filmed in approximately 2 days, and the rest was all computerized. Many say, "it's based on an animated character, so the CGI didn't bother me." My gripe is, that if you have to use CGI for ALL your character's stunts, (which was about 70% of the movie), why bother doing a live-action movie at all? I realize that the atmosphere in an animated movie is not the same as in a live-action movie; however, the atmosphere that could have existed did not because the abuse of (not to mention poor usage of) CGI broke down my "suspension of disbelief". I went away feeling if they tried to do SOMETHING with a stuntman, and relied on the computers only for necessity, the atmosphere of the movie could have been incredible. It was really disappointing to come home and put in my DVD of Batman and just realize how aesthetically better that movie looked (and the atmosphere that movie created) 13 years ago. Pisser.
While the CGI stuck in my craw the first viewing, the second viewing it didn't really bother me at all. The plot of this movie still shines through regardless. In fact, even though I griped a lot about the CGI, when I came out of the theatre the first time, I was in awe and the CGI gripe was really no more than a second thought. Spidey purists may have a problem with the plot, but the rest of the population of normal Spidey-fans to just interested viewers will most likely love this flick. My advice? Harp in and give your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man a shot.
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