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This flick ranks up there with SUPERMAN, Tim Burton’s BATMAN and X-MEN as one of the best comic book flicks of all-time. The film does total justice to the character of Spider-Man and has a perfect balance of character development and action.

In the beginning, we find Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire, THE ICE STORM), a high school nerd who gets picked on constantly. With his parents dead, he lives with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robinson, CHARLY). He adores his pretty and popular next-door neighbor Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE). His only friend is Harry Osborn (James Franco, TV’s JAMES DEAN), the troubled slacker son of scientist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe, PLATOON), who is developing high tech weaponry and a super strength serum for the military.

Upon visiting the museum, Peter is bitten by a radioactive spider and you probably know what happens next. As Peter tries to get accustomed to his new powers, his aunt and uncle see his personality changing, and Ben reminds him that with great power, comes great responsibility. A tragedy will strike and Peter is compelled to use his powers for good. His emergence as a hero will be tested when Norman tests his serum on himself and becomes the violently crazed Green Goblin. And as in the comics, Peter gains extra cash taking pictures of Spider-Man for the publisher of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons, THE GIFT), who prints stories about Spider-Man as a menace to sell more papers.

Maguire is the perfect choice as Spider-Man/ Peter Parker. He gives Spider-Man the awkwardness and bitterness that I remember from the comics. Defoe is amazing as the Green Goblin and the scenes where the two sides of his fractured personality debate each other are brilliant acting. The only places the film gets awkward are the dialogue scenes between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin; because they are both wearing masks, you can’t see the actors’ expressions.

The film has everything that a Spidey fan would want in a Spider-Man film. Some will complain that they combined characters and plot elements, however a lot of the changes were actually improvements. I particularly like the organic origins of Spidey’s webslingers. The film works better than X-MEN (which was a big step forward for bringing Marvel comic characters to the big screen) because it focuses on a smaller cast and develops each character perfectly. Outside of the original SUPERMAN, this is the best superhero film ever.