Spiderman

Sam Evil Dead Raimi’s much anticipated take on the Marvel Comics superhero has much in its favour – a director well-suited for the comic book milieu ; two cooler-than-thou young talents in Maguire and Dunst and a special effects budget to rival the hike in US defence spending.

So does it deliver? Most certainly. Though if you are expecting a hip, post-modern superhero experience or Frank Miller inspired angst, think again. This is an old-fashioned, irony-free, kiddie friendly flick which restricts itself to PG-rated antics – even the nipples in the wet t-shirt scene are rumoured to be modestly prosthetic. It is, as the film openly proclaims the tale of ‘your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman’ rather than that of some tortured Byronic soul.

In keeping with the tone, the story is simplicity itself – boy meets spider, spider bites boy, boy gains superpowers and gets a chance to score with the longtime object of his affections. Cue much in the way of visceral swooping over and around buildings using only spiderwebs.

Raimi naturally excels himself in the spills and thrills department, Maguire makes for a pleasant everyman and Dafoe is suitably over the top. Dunst meanwhile is a plausible damsel-in-distress-in-a-wet-t-shirt but it would be nice to think that one of these days she’ll take a role which will allow her to deliver on her initial promise, as she’s really exhausted the possibilities for ditzy cheerleader types.

Still, as family popcorn movies go, this is an absolute triumph. Expect many sequels and buckets of merchandise.