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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83
Alexandra
43
Anamorph
35
Babysitters, The
32
Backseat
80
Band's Visit, The
62
Battle for Haditha
47
Bella
63
Blind Mountain
71
Blindsight
47
Boarding Gate
63
Body of War
58
Bra Boys
70
Caramel
54
Cashback
44
Chaos Theory
32
Chapter 27
69
Chicago 10
82
Chop Shop
46
CJ7
78
Counterfeiters, The
30
Cover
48
Dark Matter
35
Deal
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
58
Fall, The
43
Favor, The
58
First Saturday in May, The
57
Flawless
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
xx
From Within
44
Frontier(s)
59
Fugitive Pieces
41
Funny Games
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
61
Girls Rock!
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
57
Grand, The
58
Hats Off
68
Honeydripper
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
67
Jellyfish
xx
Kiss the Bride
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
72
Life of Reilly, The
50
Look
65
Married Life
35
Meet Bill
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
54
Mister Lonely
52
My Blueberry Nights
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
52
Noise
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83
Paranoid Park
55
Pathology
48
Penelope
90
Persepolis
62
Planet B-Boy
xx
Plumm Summer, A
67
Praying with Lior
46
Previous Engagement, A
72
Priceless
17
Prom Night
69
Redbelt
72
Roman de gare
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
85
Savages, The
24
Sex and Death 101
66
Shelter
75
Shotgun Stories
40
Sleepwalking
67
Snow Angels
64
Son of Rambow
71
Standard Operating Procedure
76
Stuff and Dough
64
Surfwise
xx
Tashan
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
57
Teeth
56
Then She Found Me
55
Tracey Fragments, The
56
Turn the River
72
Tuya's Marriage
83
U2 3D
59
Under the Same Moon
76
Unforeseen, The
xx
Unsettled
91
Up the Yangtze
55
Vice
79
Visitor, The
64
Water Lilies
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
57
Without the King
74
Witnesses, The
63
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
45
Zombie Strippers
97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
91
Up the Yangtze
90
Persepolis
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Savages, The
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
82
Chop Shop
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Unforeseen, The
76
Stuff and Dough
75
Young@Heart
75
Shotgun Stories
74
Witnesses, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Roman de gare
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Life of Reilly, The
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Blindsight
71
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Caramel
69
Redbelt
69
Chicago 10
68
Honeydripper
67
Snow Angels
67
Praying with Lior
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
67
Jellyfish
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
66
Shelter
65
Married Life
64
Surfwise
64
Son of Rambow
64
Water Lilies
63
XXY
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
63
Body of War
63
Blind Mountain
62
Planet B-Boy
62
Battle for Haditha
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
Girls Rock!
59
Under the Same Moon
59
Fugitive Pieces
58
First Saturday in May, The
58
Fall, The
58
Hats Off
58
Bra Boys
57
Flawless
57
Teeth
57
Without the King
57
Grand, The
56
Turn the River
56
Then She Found Me
55
Vice
55
Tracey Fragments, The
55
Pathology
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
54
Cashback
54
Mister Lonely
52
Noise
52
My Blueberry Nights
50
Look
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
48
Dark Matter
48
Penelope
47
Bella
47
Boarding Gate
46
CJ7
46
Previous Engagement, A
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
45
Zombie Strippers
44
Frontier(s)
44
Chaos Theory
43
Anamorph
43
Favor, The
41
Funny Games
40
Sleepwalking
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
35
Meet Bill
35
Babysitters, The
35
Deal
32
Backseat
32
Chapter 27
30
Cover
24
Sex and Death 101
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
17
Prom Night
xx
Tashan
xx
Unsettled
xx
Plumm Summer, A
xx
Kiss the Bride
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
xx
From Within
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Spider-Man
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment
FILM:
GAMES:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for stylized violence and action
Starring
Tobey Maguire,
Willem Dafoe,
Kirsten Dunst,
James Franco,
J.K. Simmons,
Michael Papajohn,
Randy Poffo,
and
Joe Manganiello
Peter Parker (Maguire), after being bitten by a genetically altered spider, becomes Spider-Man, a hero of superhuman strength with the ability to cling to any surface. He dedicates himself to a life of fighting crime, while living a double life as a superhero and working student. (Sony)
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
David Koepp
Stan Lee (comic book)
Steve Ditko (comic book)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Sam Raimi
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: November 1, 2002
Video: November 1, 2002
Theatrical: May 3, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
120 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
It's hard to recall the last time a big-ticket summer movie delivered so fully on its promise.

91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Reminds us of just how exciting and satisfying the fantasy cinema can be when it's approached with imagination and flair.

90
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Staff (Not credited)
Spider-Man brings the beloved comic-book character to the screen with both angst and action undamaged by the move.

90
New Times (L.A.)
Gregory Weinkauf
The effects are smashing, yet there's a heart behind them.
90
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Maguire and Dunst keep Spider-Man on a high with their sweet-sexy yearning, spinning a web of dazzle and delicacy that might just restore the good name of movie escapism.

90
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
An exuberance, a celebration, a hoot, a kick and a half.

90
Film Threat
Michael Dequina
Just about the truest and most satisfying screen adaptation most anyone could have ever hoped for.

90
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
What holds the movie together is its modest, sweet spirit.

88
USA Today
Mike Clark
This is a rare twisted crowd-pleaser for longtime fans as well as novices -- or for those that don't know an arachnid from an insect.

88
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Spider-Man is an almost-perfect extension of the experience of reading comic-book adventures.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
With disarmingly entertaining movies like this, dare I say, who needs big bad superhero movies?

80
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Every action adventure needs a memorable villain, but no movie needs the strident intensity of Mr. Dafoe, who either has no interest in, or no grasp of, the sort of charmingly malign wit that Gene Hackman brought to "Superman," or Jack Nicholson to "Batman."
80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Spider-Man, while hardly immune to these vices, is, like Mr. Maguire, disarmingly likable, and touching in unexpected ways.

78
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
With centrifugal force on his side, Spider-Man dips, weaves, and whooshes past, up, and around the camera -- it's a rush, and it plasters a grin on your face even after you've left the theatre.

75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
What distinguishes Spider-Man from most other comic book movies is that the film is at its most engaging when its hero is out of costume.

75
Chicago Tribune
Mark Caro
The Spider-Man saga is a classic for a reason, and the filmmakers don't squander the material's strengths.

75
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
Surprisingly charming and even witty match for the best of Hollywood's comic-book adaptations.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
A canny franchise escapade; it gets the job done. But it also leaves you hungry for something more, and I don't necessarily mean the next episode.

75
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
When the cast and their director are really cooking, they conjure a bipolar sense of high school-age emotion -- and use it to fuel outrageous fantasy.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
There's a particular upside-down, half-masked kiss that instantly becomes one of movie history's more memorable smooches. It's the kiss to send any teenaged boy on a spinning high, as well as launching the new age of arachnophilia.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
It's got one of the best kisses in movie history: Spidey, hanging upside down, delivers an open-mouth smooch to Mary Jane, a lip-lock for the ages.

75
Boston Globe
Sam Allis
Raimi crafted a complicated hero who is a welcome relief from the usual two-dimensional offerings. That said, we could use some moxie in the sequel.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
This is a pure popcorn movie -- the kind of film one can unabashedly enjoy for what it is. There's plenty of visual flash and dizzying action, but not at the expense of the other qualities that make for a complete motion picture experience.

70
Chicago Reader
J. R. Jones
Between the kinetic and often exciting chase scenes, screenwriter David Koepp plays with every teen's yearning for a secret identity, and Tobey Maguire is charming as the insecure superhero.

70
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Spider-Man may look like an action comic come to life, but its best feature is its romance comic heart. It's that rare cartoon movie in which the villain is less involving than the love story.

70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Mildly cheesy but not overwrought, this long-awaited future franchise is a competent seat-warmer at the box-office table for the two weekends preceding George Lucas's "Attack of the Clones."

70
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
This fast-paced entertainment is a surprisingly successful mix of spectacle and human-scale drama.

70
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Pic's happiest surprise is Tobey Maguire in the title role, as the young actor provides an emotional openness and vulnerability that gives this $120 million production its most distinctive flavor.

70
Newsweek
David Ansen
Director Sam Raimi, working from David Koepp's screenplay, wisely anchors his big action-adventure flick on Maguire's modest but beguiling persona.
70
Slate
David Edelstein
This is a star-making performance, as fresh and funny as Christopher Reeve's in Superman (1978).

63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The origin story is well told, and the characters will not disappoint anyone who values the original comic books. It's in the action scenes that things fall apart.

60
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
Despite all the computer-generated effects and highflying superhero theatrics, this roughly $120 million movie is, with few exceptions, remarkable only in its small human touches.

50
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
The movie, with spiderlike timidity, scuttles into a corner and freezes. [13 May 2002, p. 96]
50
Time
Richard Corliss
Raimi directs the film at Maguire's pensive pace. Some scenes are just inert.
50
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
I'll sum up my reaction in a word: Yawn.

50
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Perhaps the real question, then, isn't how you update Spider-Man but why you would even try. Introduced in 1962, the original superhero helped to initiate the age of modern comics. Raimi hasn't figured out how to reconfigure him for the blockbuster age, and there are suggestions.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
The superhero part of the movie will leave audiences with a flat feeling, thanks to computery-looking special effects and a sagging story line.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 138 User Votes
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