Review of Spider-Man (2002) by Dan F — 17 Aug 2017

Harking back to both golden age cinema values and golden age comics' often corny and fun (and moralistic) heroics, Sam Raimi's first web slinger effort is a classic in the vein of Donner's Superman.

While not entirely faithful to source material to its own ends (in this case, pacing has excised mechanical web shooters and Gwen Stacy), it is a hugely entertaining and satisfying slice of popcorn entertainment.

Beautifully shot, forgivably corny and genuinely sweet with a terrifying villain, this Spider-man may have organic web shooters but Maguire's characterisation nails it and Raimi's love of slapstick works perfectly in a well balanced family adventure, despite a somewhat silly looking Goblin outfit.