Premise - Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is a meek, geeky high schooler. His only friend Harry Osborne (James Franco) is the son of millionaire Oscorp owner Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe). He has a crush on a girl he's known since he was six, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). When Peter is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider on a school field trip he begins to discover he has new powers and a new destiny. Straight of I have to say that Spider-Man is the best comic book to movie adaptation I have seen. It towers above Superman, Batman and the like and is just better than X-Men. Spider-Man sticks very close to the original origin story as detailed in the comic books and manages to shoehorn in the whole Spider-Man/Green Goblin story arc into a two hour movie. No mean feat, but writer David Keopp has taken the important elements of the story, merged some characters and came out the other end with as good a Spidey movie as I could have hoped for. Credit must also go to director Sam Raimi. You only have to look at the Evil Dead films to realise that this guy was born to make a comic book movie. The film practically jumps of the screen, with life and colour. Unlike Batman where everything is dark and colours were subdued (until hack Schumacher took the helm), Spider-Man is like a living comic book. Yes, sometimes the film is very dark, but at the same time any colours that are on screen are so vivid that it's like they were painted onto the screen. Shots are framed like a comic book. Spidey hangs from walls in cray positions and Raimi frames the shots from even crazier angles. The action scenes are handled brilliantly. Raimi uses his trademark camera tricks to show how quickly Spidey can move, slowing down the action so we can see what he's doing. One scene that has Raimi written all over it is when Peter is designing his costume. It's a delightful, montage scene that uses split screens to show the evolution of the design process. Any fan of the comic will get a kick out of it. For me this film was going to succeed or fail on the strength of the guy they picked to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Thank the maker then that they picked Tobey Maguire. He is just perfect. He is the geeky kid at school that we either were or knew. I loved the way he pines after MJ, but in his heart of hearts knows that he can never have her. When he gets his powers it's like another actor came in and took over it's a complete transformation. He becomes confident and sees that perhaps, with his new skills he has a chance at MJ. It's ever geeky kids dream, get superpowers and become everything you've ever wanted. I've always liked Maguire as an actor and his performance here is for my money his best yet. I loved the relationship between Peter and his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He adores them unconditionally. The scene between Uncle Ben and Peter in the car is heartbreaking. They have such a trivial fight, but it will be the making of Peter as a man in the long run. Another thing that Spider-Man has in it's corner is the best comic book villain translation I've seen. Willem Dafoes Green Goblin trounces all the opposition. Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Sir Ian McKellan all must bow before the mighty Dafoe. His take on the dual persona of Norman Osborne/Green Goblin is inspired. His whole performance is summed up in one fantastic scene where he is debating with himself in a mirror, genius. Elsewhere Kirsten Dunst is good as MJ although her character has been merged with that of Gwen Stacey. James Franco is excellent as Harry Osborne and at the end of the film sows the seeds of what is yet to come. As much as I hate Randy Savage as a wrestler he does the business as Bone Saw McGraw. J.K. Simmons however steals the show as newspaper owner J. Jonah Jameson. He play's it spot on, as I remarked after seeing The Gift he seems to have been born to play this part. It's always nice to see Bruce Campbell and he sneaks in a cameo as a ring announcer. Eagle eyed viewers should keep an eye out for a Stan Lee (One of Spider-Man's creators and comic book God) cameo. A lot of flack has been levelled at the CGI effects in the movie. Myself, I had no problem with them. At the end of the day it would be impossible to shoot a Spidey movie completely with practical shots. The sense of speed and agility could not possibly be conveyed practically. That leaves CGI as the only viable option. Sure, the movement doesn't look human. But, you know what? It's not meant to. Spider-Man is a super hero with super powers and that's what you see when you watch this film. You need to look at it and say, 'Yeah that looks like a guy with spider powers swinging through New York' rather than saying 'jeez that looks fake'. It is fake, it's a movie based on a comic book, what do you want it to look like? I loved the throwaway lines that only fans of the comic book will get. I loved the references to Dr Conner (later to become The Lizard), to Eddie Brock (Later to become Venom). I loved MJ calling Parker tiger. I loved the Goblins glider and pumpkin bombs. I loved spidey's wise cracking, a part of the character that I feared would be lost in the translation to the big screen. Hell, lets just say I loved it. Spider-Man is the comic book adaptation that fans have been waiting for their whole lives. I'm not even that big a fan of the comic's (I don't collect them, but I have a few lying around) and I just adored this film. I really cannot wait to see what Raimi and co pull of for the next one. I really hope they build on the seeds they planted with Harry Osborne and devote a sequel to it, maybe not next but hopefully somewhere down the line. They will be free to expand on the characters with the origin story out of the way, the sky's the limit! Between Attack Of The Clones and Spider-Man this summer is looking VERY healthy.

9/10 for Spider-Man. Poster Quote - The AMAZING Spider-Man.