REVIEWS

SPIDER-MAN
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The thrills of Spider-Man begin from the opening credits, which are accompanied by a pulsating theme from Danny Elfman, a composer who is very much attuned to providing scores for comic book characters and films of the fantastic. But the excitement certainly doesn’t end there. 

In Sam Raimi’s much-anticipated movie based on the comic-strip hero who was conceived around forty years ago, the combination of astute casting, exhilarating action and a script that also devotes time to developing its characters have created a new big-screen blockbuster for the masses. 

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is smart, a little klutzy and a young guy who actually likes to learn things. So naturally, he’s the student who stands out in the crowd at high school and is not liked by most of the others. He’s a loner, with only one friend, Harry (James Franco), the son of a wealthy industrialist, Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). Peter has also had a long time crush on his next-door neighbour, Mary Jane (MJ) Watson (Kirsten Dunst) who does not give him a second look. Things change in a big way for Pete when a genetically altered spider bites him during a museum excursion while he is taking a photo of MJ for the school newspaper. Peter, who lives with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), surprises them when he arrives home, looking green around the gills, and goes straight to bed. By morning, he’s fine. Really fine. Suddenly he doesn’t need his glasses, his body has been miraculously buffed up, and he is unusually strong and very fast on his feet. And - oh, yes - he can scale walls and ceilings, throw out a spidery web from his wrists and he has developed a spider sense that warns him of danger! 

For a while, Peter enjoys the novelty of new talents and tries to make a bundle by taking on a mountainous wrestler in front of a crowd of bloodthirsty fans. It’s a funny scene, but it’s followed by tragedy. 

When a criminal kills his uncle, Peter vows to use his super powers to fight evil. Soon, he is a familiar figure around town smartly outfitted in his skin-tight, red and blue costume. MJ likes the look of this mystery man, especially after he comes to her rescue a couple of times, but there’s something about Peter, too that makes her see him in a different light, even though she has now started going out with his best friend, Harry. 

All super heroes have a super foe and Spiderman’s is born when an experiment attempted by Harry’s father turns him into a Jekyll and Hyde. One half of his split personality is nice guy, Norman Osborn, but he is quickly being submerged by his other side, the weird Green Goblin. He’s a villain with a maniacal cackle and an agenda that includes trying to convince Spider-Man to join him in his evil doings or threatening those he loves if he refuses. 

Sequences featuring Spidey swinging through the canyons of Manhattan or from skyscraper to skyscraper on his super glue-like web are sensational. So, too are the confrontations with the Goblin, notably a set piece when he attacks Times Square and another in which he forces our hero to choose between a cable car of schoolkids and the lovely MJ – all precariously hanging below a bridge and about to plunge into the icy river below! 

The closing scenes hint at more trouble to come for Peter Parker and his alter ego. Spider Man 2 starts shooting later in the year.