The Griffin or the Agate

Could Spiderman possibly live up to the hype? Positive reviews, strong word-of-mouth, and an enticing trailer all served to build the film up as being one of the greatest things I would ever experience. Some named it the best film of the summer. But having been privy to this sort of excitement before I found myself wary. So once again I ask, could Spiderman possibly live up to the hype?
     Nope. The blame is two-fold: part belongs to the hype, of course, while the other can be pegged directly on the flick. Don't get me wrong - Spiderman isn't a bad movie, not by a long shot. The disappointment comes from what might have been. More on that in a moment.
     For those unfamiliar with the comic-book mythos, Spiderman shows the early years of teenager Peter Parker, high school nerd and loser. After a bite from a mutated spider Parker gains superpowers and begins his career as a masked crimefighter. Tobey Maguire, playing the role of Parker, is an odd choice. He brings such a low key approach that it's difficult to imagine him summoning up the enthusiasm to battle with wrong-doers, most notably the Green Goblin, insane alter-ego of master scientist Norman Osborn (Dafoe). Parker also nurtures a crush for his next door neighbor Mary Jane Watson (Dunst), but can't seem to bring himself to do anything about it.
     Casting quirks aside, Spiderman suffers from two non-fatal flaws. First, Sam Raimi, the man behind the classic low-budget Evil Dead trilogy, goes a little overboard with the CGI effects. When we watch Spiderman swinging through the canyons of New York City it just looks like a giant video game. Hiding Dafoe's countenance behind the obscuring Green Goblin mask is a mistake as well - while the character does have need for anonymity it is too much of a muffler for the actor. The movie works best when the two halves of Osborn's tortured psyche are allowed to battle with one another. Second, and most important, HIRE A BETTER WRITER! Thirty years of Spidey books to draw from and this was the best they could do? The romantic lines are eye-rollingly cornball, some of the villain's speeches are stilted and out of place, and somehow they managed to drain all of the humor out of what is supposed to be a funny guy. Spidey is an underdog, a scrapper, his powers usually overshadowed by those of his foe. Yet he wades into battle armed with a quiver of sarcastic asides and pointed barbs. Not here. Except for a few lines here and there, the film is surprisingly dry. When the best one-liner is delivered by Parker's infirmed Aunt May, there's a problem.
     Raimi does a fairly good job of keeping the purists happy while not being as 'by-the-book' as Chris Columbus was with Harry Potter. The brutal irony behind the death of Parker's Uncle Ben is nicely handled, and the subtle changes to Spiderman's arsenal are easy to assimilate (although if you make the webs organic, why keep the emphasis on Parker being boy scientist? He's not making the web-shooters as in the original story). All in all, Spiderman is a pleasurable diversion, a decent film with a few twists. Go and enjoy it. Don't be like me and dwell on what might have been.  §

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