Spider-Man (2002)
Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man centers on student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who, after being bitten by a genetically-altered spider, gains superhuman strength and the spider-like ability to cling to any surface. He vows to use his abilities to fight crime, coming to understand the words of his beloved Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility."

User Comment: moonspinner55 san berdo, ca • I know movies like this can't dwell over every little detail, but director Sam Raimi is so insistent on pushing this thing along, he loses the narrative punch in the FX muddle. The movie is a big, loud, dumb entertainment, colorful on a certain level and fun at the beginning(which reveals a sneaky sense of humor), but it becomes more staid and familiar as things progress. Yes, Spider-Man is a super-hero and we need to see him using his powers for the good of the nation, but Raimi loses the beguiling magic inherent at the beginning while constantly pushing forward with 'bigger and better' ideas. It's part warmed-over "Superman" and part comic-book wonder, but by it's finale the warmed-over ingredients have taken over.

Summary: Hurt by hectic narrative

User Comment: mc23 Maoist Internationalist Movement • Overall, the latest Spiderman movie falls short for entertainment value; it is far from action packed, with a plot and dialog that are best described as trite. But the saving grace of the movie is the political message at the end (which this review will be giving away).

Spiderman is the story of an ordinary boy, Peter Parker, who was bit by a spider on a high school class trip. In narrating the beginning of the movie, he says that his life story revolves around a beautiful woman. That is an unfortunate characterization of the life of someone who ends up devoting himself to fighting evil. But in the end the best political message is wrapped up in this romantic subplot.

Of course, the spectacular evil Spiderman fights is the super-villain kind, but most of his time is spent fighting the ordinary evil of people hurting other people. Essentially, on an individual scale, Spiderman is fighting for a better world. But he is targeting crime on a small scale: individual robberies and violence. Spiderman lacks any kind of systematic analysis of the causes of evil that he is fighting, and as one man running around New York City putting out fires (sometimes literally), he can't really expect to make any progress towards ending all the violence that he is trying to prevent. His time would be better spent fighting the causes of crime (for instance poverty) and fighting the biggest murderers and thieves in the world: the imperialists.

MIM appreciates the message that ordinary people can become heroes because of their circumstances (though we're not waiting for our heroes to develop superpowers). Rather than looking to individuals we take a more scientific analysis of the world and argue that it is the people who make history. Extraordinary leaders come from ordinary people who rise to the occasion of their material conditions.

Ironically, it was the romantic plot that provided the most important political message in the movie. When the woman Peter Parker was in love with finally declared her love for him, he decided he could not be more than friends with her. In order to devote his life to fighting evil in the world he walked away from romance. This is the asexuality that MIM praises as a superior romantic practice. It reflects a devotion to the people and an understanding of responsibility to the people that supercedes romantic cultural influence.

Peter Parker said, "With great power comes great responsibility." This is what MIM refers to as the "leadership principle." The great power Parker refers to is his spider-power; the power we refer to is state power (or proto-state power when referring to leadership positions in our party). Leaders in the bourgeois government and economy are not held responsible for the 14 million children every year who die of malnutrition worldwide – they are not even held accountable for the few score middle-class Amerikans who died because of the shoddy workmanship on their SUVs and tires. Bourgeois leaders need not be particularly intelligent, courageous or devoted to the common good -- they simply need daddy's money and a few friends in the right places. On the contrary, MIM would restrict leadership positions in the dictatorship of the proletariat to the most dedicated, with a proven track record of struggle and results. Furthermore, these leaders would understand that if they made a mistake that cost other people their lives, they could be held accountable with their own life.

Summary: Falls short in analysis, but gives important political message.

---- JOYA ----

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