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97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
17
88 Minutes
55
Baby Mama
78
Before I Forget
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Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
75
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32
Chapter 27
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51
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74
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52
Mother of Tears, The
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49
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51
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75
Young@Heart
97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83
Paranoid Park
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
79
Visitor, The
79
Iron Man
78
Before I Forget
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Mongol
72
Lou Reed's Berlin
70
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Outsourced
67
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
67
Snow Angels
65
Married Life
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
65
Water Lilies
64
Fall, The
62
Kabluey
61
Stuck
57
Forbidden Kingdom, The
56
Leatherheads
56
Then She Found Me
55
Baby Mama
55
Pathology
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
52
Mother of Tears, The
51
Finding Amanda
51
Promotion, The
49
Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie, The
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
39
Young People F**king
37
Made of Honor
37
War, Inc.
37
Speed Racer
34
Happening, The
32
Chapter 27
31
Deception
30
Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour
27
How to Rob a Bank
24
Love Guru, The
17
88 Minutes
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 141 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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