From the Hootoo archive. Originally published June 13th 2002:
A conversation, c.1980 :
Me: ‘Dad, dad! Can we go to the pictures?’
My Father: ‘Why, what’s on?‘
Me: ‘The new Spider-Man film!‘
[This was actually Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge, a Spidey-versus-evil-kung fu American TV movie starring Nicholas Hammond that somehow got itself a theatrical release in the UK.]
My Father: ‘What does Spider-Man do in it?‘
Me: ‘He climbs up buildings, throws his web over people, slides down a lift shaft! It looks great!‘
My Father: ‘Oh, I suppose so…‘
A conversation, c.2002 :
My Father: ‘Hey, hey! Let’s go to the pictures!‘
Me: ‘Why, what’s on?‘
My Father: ‘The new Spider-Man film!‘
Me: ‘What does Spider-Man do in it?‘
My Father: ‘He climbs up buildings, throws his web over people –‘
Me: ‘Does he slide down a lift-shaft?‘
My Father: ‘Not in the trailer I saw. Can we go? Can we can we can we?‘
Me: (remembering the rubbish Hammond film and feeling rather guilty about forcing him to see it) ‘Oh, I suppose so…‘
Well, there’s the cycle of the generations writ large for you. Actually I needed no persuasion whatsoever to go and see this movie: one of the most exciting and overdue developments in mainstream cinema over the last few years has been that Marvel Comics and their characters have finally begun to punch their weight on the big screen: recently we’ve had Men in Black, Blade, and X-Men, and within the next year we’ll see Ben Affleck in Daredevil and Ang Lee’s take on the Hulk. And obviously, a Spider-Man movie, done right, has the potential to be a fantastic movie.
Sam Raimi’s film falls roughly into two acts. The first of these is the story of overlooked nerd Peter Parker (a tremendously likeable Tobey Maguire) whose life is transformed after he’s bitten by a genetically engineered spider. His delight and excitement as he discovers, one by one, the different powers this gives him is utterly irresistible, and the story is told with the same self-mocking humour that characterised the original comic-books. But along with the powers come responsibilities and drawbacks (not least Peter’s new inability to climb out of the bathtub unassisted) and Peter is in for a harsh lesson…
The Spider-Man origin story is the finest in all superherodom, essentially a fable concerning guilt and loss and redemption, and Raimi tells it near perfectly: so much so that you barely notice the radical re-conception of one of Spider-Man’s signature powers. The actual effects set-pieces are a long time coming but well worth the wait, and you really don’t mind such are the warmth of the performances and wit of the script.
Of course, every hero needs a villain to contend with and Spider-Man spends the second act of the film doing battle with the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe, displaying a hitherto-unseen talent for manic hamming), a millionaire weapons designer driven insane by exposure to experimental performance-enhancing drugs. To be honest this part of the movie is slightly less impressive, being more formulaic superhero stuff. But the characterisation and energy continue unimpaired and the various bouts between hero and villain are visually startling. Most impressive of all is the ending, which isn’t your standard blockbuster fare, but is entirely in keeping with the source material.
Spider-Man is a treat: not only the most faithful and impressive comic-book adaptation yet, but a genuinely terrific film in its own right (much better than The Dragon’s Challenge, anyway), with great performances (apart from Maguire and Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst is great as the love interest, James Franco does a slow burn as Peter’s best friend and Cliff Robertson is just right as Spidey’s Uncle Ben), fantastic visuals, and a wonderful script from David Koepp. Hugely entertaining and pretty much not to be missed – go see! Go see!
No Chic. Just Geek. 
I loved this post just for the conversation at the very beginning. Just classic. 🙂
I actually took my dad to see Thor last week. He slept through the first act but after that he seemed to enjoy it (‘it was watchable’ were his exact words). Funnily enough he didn’t seem at all interested when I told him Thor was going to be fighting the Hulk next summer. He just gave a funny sort of laugh and insisted on going to the pub for a bit.