Spider-Man -- Actually a good superhero flick!

I tend to hate movies about comic book heroes for a number reasons. They rarely manage to capture the "feel" of a comic book and invariably wind up stocked with so much cheese you'd think they were filmed in Wisconsin. Those Batman movies are prime examples of how bad a superhero flick can be (after all, it seemed very easy to figure out who Batman was, and the allegedly ultra-tough Bruce Wayne turned to goo if a woman batted her eyes at him). The same goes for those Superman movies, too (the first one was okay, but when we got down to the one where he banned nuclear weapons, well, ick). In fact, one of the few enjoyable superhero films over the past 40 years or so was that Batman -- The Movie thing because it was so, well, horrible (that was the one with that zany, zany Adam West, of course).

So, in comes Spider-Man. My five-year-old son was bouncing off the walls (and more than usual, mind you) when he saw the previews of it. So, we got our tickets the day before it came out, so as to avoid lines and the possibility of a very upset child (wise move). And, here's the good part -- instead of being inflicted with another big-budget nightmare along the lines of Harry Potter or X-Men, I was treated to a pretty damn good film.

Here's the thing about Spider-Man -- technology has gotten to the point where the web-slinger's abilities on screen matched those in the comic book. Also, that "comic book atmosphere" that forced faithful readers to suspend disbelief for a bit was also created well. So, Spider-Man manages to have the "look" and "feel" of a two-hour comic book. You get larger-than-life fight scenes, super-human feats, and a crazed villain. As someone who grew up reading Spider-Man, that's good enough for me.

This thing plays like a huge "origin" comic about our friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man in that we first encounter Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) while going through the usual, tortured day as a high school, science geek who's picked on by his classmates. While on a scientific field trip, Parker gets bitten by a "genetically altered," super spider (rather than the plain ol' radioactive spider in the original comic books). Yes, and you know the story. He wakes up with the powers of a mighty, mighty spider -- able to sling webs, climb buildings, beat the poop out of people, sense danger through his advanced "spider sense" and the like.

You've also got Peter Parker fawning away after his next door neighbor, the lovely Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). For you comic book fans, you know Parker married Mary Jane after a spell. Look for a surprise ending involving his relationship with good ol' Mary Jane, kiddies!

And, of course, what superhero movie would be worth a damn without an insane villain? So, the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) shows up to make Spider-Man's life complicated. Parker spends a good part of the film terrorizing villains and making some cash by taking photos of himself in action and selling them to The Daily Bugle. However, the Green Goblin, due to some failed human testing, is both very strong and completely insane.

That's enough of the plot and all. I don't want to give too much away as that ruins the fun, right? Director Sam Raimi did a great job of translating the comic book hero we all know to the big screen in a mere two hours, and that's quite a feat. Peter Parker was always a troubled individual driven over the guilt of his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) to fight crime. Of course, Parker's uncle was killed by a criminal that Spider-Man could have stopped, but didn't. The thug in question, of course, had just robbed a fight promoter who stiffed Parker after he'd used his newly-found powers to beat the crud out of Bonesaw, a highly-touted wrestler.

And, the brooding, driven part of Parker's personality is played up as much as his amazing skills. Now, Stan Lee has said many times that Spider-Man was supposed to come across as a difficult, "human" character when he was dreamed up some 40 years ago by Marvel. That bit of drama, see, was always as important as his crime-fighting abilities. Fortunately, that's all kept in tact in this film.

One fascinating thing about this film is all the hype over it. When my wife, son and I arrived at the theater, there was already a line out to the parking lot and kids dressed up like Spider-Man all over the place. Fortunately, this film is one that kids can actually see without parents worrying too much about it. Sure, there's plenty of "cartoon violence," but none of it is too graphic to scare the hell out of children. Sure, my son was worried a time or two when Spider-Man appeared to be losing a fight, but conflicts were resolved in such a way that my boy could calm down and quit stewing over the fate of the web-slinger.

In short, this is one damn good superhero flick that portrays the comic book character very, very well. Since that's all this movie was meant to be, I'll give it five stars because putting together such a film without resorting to pandering is quite a trick. If you enjoyed the comic book, you'll love this movie. Really, that's all there is to it.