Starring:
 Tobey Maguire
 Kirsten Dunst
 Willem Dafoe

Directed by:
 Sam Raimi

Running Time: 121 minutes

Overall Crave Factor

“Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can. Spins a web any size. Catches thieves just like flies. Look out! There comes the Spider-Man...”

How many of us remember that theme song from the classic old cartoon? I grew up watching re-runs of the infamous web-head since the show aired long before I was born. Nonetheless, it is still one of the things that brought me to the comics – those same comics that I still treasure today. Many of which are stored away so that I may pass them down to my children.

The other thing that brought me to the Spider-Man comics was that, ever since I can remember, I’ve loved super heroes. Super heroes are timeless and unchanging in the mystical power they have to energize the imagination of a young, or old, child. At least when my children grow up they’ll have an opportunity I never had until now, and that is to see a live action Spider-Man movie. In fact, chances are by the time they are old enough to understand, they’ll have 5 or 6 Spidey’s to watch.

What shocked me most about this film was that Tobey Maguire was cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. I honestly thought to myself, “they must be kidding”, but was I wrong. After seeing the movie I couldn’t be happier with their decision. Maguire is perfect! He makes you believe in the character just as I did when I watched the cartoon and read the comics as a kid. Watching the film, the legendary and altruistic Spider-Man was coming to life before my very eyes.

Cast as the girl next door, Mary Jane Watson, is the young and stunning Kirsten Dunst. I’ve been more and more impressed with her work with each passing film. Dunst has been fantastic in all her previous movies such as: Interview With A Vampire, Crazy/Beautiful, and Bring It On! Dunst is able to bring you into the character and feel as if you’ve known MJ for some time.

Willem Dafoe is Norman Osborn, the brilliant scientist, who discovers his evil alter-ego after one of his experiments runs ary. Dafoe plays a fantastically sinister Green Goblin, one of Spider-Man’s most notorious enemies. Dafoe had the malicious laugh down to a tee and had the same ominous posture that I remember from the cartoons and comics.

Now for the movie itself, does the word AMAZING sum it up? This movie is remarkable. Sam Raimi did a MARVELous job of putting everything together, from choosing the cast to imagining and then creating each spectacular scene. The special effects were better than I expected and only in one scene was I disappointed with the effects. I’m not going to say which scene though, because that means I would have to write up a spoiler and that wouldn’t be fair to all you die-hard Spidey fans who haven’t caught the flick yet.

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, what the heck are you waiting for? Go see it. Stop reading – go now. LEAVE ALREADY!