The danger of taking something you deeply love and making it into a movie is that its flaws might walk right in along with the good stuff. I imagine the more one has come to love something, like Spider-Man comics, the more forgiving that person might be of its flaws and, therefore, less picky about one's film adaptation. I'm speaking, of course, of director Sam Raimi. Watching Spider-Man, it is clear that Raimi is totally in love with Spider-Man comics, and that is how it should be if you're going to direct a movie based on them, but it is also clear that he's having so much fun making the film that he doesn't pay as close critical attention to his craft as he probably should. That's not to say there are not a lot of good things in the movie, but many of those things are muffled by explosions and clichés.

Everyone knows who Spider-Man is: teenager Peter Parker dressed in a costume with spider-like superpowers. Some of us also know how he got his powers: he was bitten by a radioactive spider. The film does not make much of these details, not just because it assumes everyone is familiar with them but because it is concerned more with their consequences. Don't be fooled by the fact that this is a comic book movie; there is a good amount of intelligence to it. Spider-Man is an examination of adolescence. Peter Parker's super-physical changes are paralleled with those of puberty. In fact, the entire film could be a metaphor for the struggles, difficulties, and confusions of adolescence. All of this is made even more confusing for Parker because he does not have the benefit of biological parents to help him grow up. I have heard many fans of the comic book say that Spider-Man helped them to make it through their younger years, to grow during confusing times. The character, to them, was someone like them, feeling his way through an extravagant form of adolescence, but a relatable one nonetheless. The film could not have stayed truer to this spirit of the comic.

Peter Parker is not by any means cool, and this makes his character all the more relatable. He chases the bus, can't find someone to sit next to, and he gets picked on at school. Then, when he one day begins going through these mysterious changes, it seems to get only worse. Sure, he can shoot webbing from his hands, but when he can't detach it and accidentally clobbers the school bully with a full lunch tray because of it, he finds himself in a fight. Yeah, he has super agility and amazingreflexes, but when he uses these inhuman abilities to show the bully up, he is viewed as afreak. He is in love with Mary Jane, who happens to be dating said bully, but despite his powers, he cannot seem to get her prolonged attention. The alter-ego Spider-Man is unhelpful to the person Peter Parker except in one way: the hero gives the person confidence. The way Peter Parker is able to overcome all of his problems is by accepting himself, and he does this by realizing he is better than others give him credit for. When he becomes comfortable with who he is, he becomes comfortable enough to speak openly with Mary Jane, and then even comfortable enough to . . . well, that would spoil an interesting choice at the end of the film.

Unfortunately, another element of the comic to which the movie remains true is the fluff. Comic book writers have the difficult task of writing a new story every month for characters that have been around for years or decades. To accomplish this task, the easy road is often taken: once readers are devoted enough to the comic, it begins slacking off, focusing on action,colorful panels, melodramatic clashes, and general repetition. There is certainly nothing wrong with action-based films if they are inventive, but this one just is not. The web-slinging is something we're not used to, but that is not enough. The fights pitting Spider-Man against the Green Goblin are meant to be monumental, but it's the same stuff every other supernatural action film gives us: destroyed buildings, screaming innocents, occasional explosions, and distressed damsels. Even the final showdown is only occasionally intense. Again, I think Raimi is just trying to give the fans what they want, but it is not inventive enough for non-fanatics.

As an action movie, the only thing Spider-Man does perhaps better than most is provide vibrant colors. The majority of these colors really are a treat. Spider-Man looks exactly as he should; he is a comic book character come to life. For the Green Goblin, though, the detail and clarity is . . . unfortunate. He looks like a bad guy from the Disney Channel. It's as if the costume designers did not think we could figure out he's a bad guy unless they gave his mask an overblown "mean" facial expression, sharp faux teeth, and enormous glowing eyes. This costume would work in a Spider-Man on Ice performance maybe, but not in a twenty-first century film. I guess the lesson is vibrancy is good, but make sure what you're showing doesn't look silly. If it does, maybe tone down the visuals a bit.

Any Spider-Man lover will enjoy and appreciate this film. The CG is top-notch, and the special effects are seamless. To watch Spider-Man web-slinging around the city will almost be enough to make the whole thing worth it. But I have no special affinity for the character. I've read a few Spider-Man comics in my time, and yes, I do think he is a character that is easy to love, but I'm not one of the die-hard fans that measured my life from one Spider-Man comic release to the next. So, I can appreciate the love Raimi has for the character and the love with which he made his movie, but at the end of the day, this is a movie for Spidey fans only.