Dan and Nancy: Now Playing
The Broomfield Enterprise, Broomfield, CO

"Spider-Man" opened last weekend with a record setting $114 million, beating the previous record, set by "Harry Potter," by $24 million. Tobey Maguire stars as Peter Parker, a nerdy high school kid whose life is about is change. During a field trip to a science lab, a genetically altered spider bites him and he starts to gain super strength and spider-like abilities. He soon puts on the Spider-Man outfit and starts fighting crime and the Green Goblin. Also starring Kirsten Dunst ("crazy/beautiful") and Willem Dafoe ("American Psycho"). Rated ?PG-13' for comic book-style violence. Time spent wondering who'd win in a fight between Spider-Man and Superman: 121 minutes.

Nancy's Take: Seeing "Spider-Man" reminded me of being a kid again. The only thing that was missing was a Happy Meal from McDonalds and an ice cream cone. I loved it. I think they did a wonderful job with the effects and the love story. It wasn't too mushy or too violent for the little kids in the theater. I especially love how families were all decked out in Spider-Man Gear. Too bad I didn't wear my pajamas! They picked great actors and actresses to play the roles. At first I was a little worried, and wondered why they didn't pick a tougher Spider-Man, but after watching I don't think they could've gotten anyone better.
Also, for some reason after the movie I couldn't stop pretending to shoot a spider web from my wrists. Then while I was sleeping I realized that would be so painful and disgusting having something shoot out of your body like that. So I decided I didn't want to be Spider-Woman, and to leave it to Hollywood to bring this cartoon to life.
Is this movie worth the price of admission? Yes, absolutely. This is definitely going to be one of the biggest summer hits. Would I see it again? Yes maybe again at the theater, and I will have to buy it on DVD for my collection.

Dan's take: When I first saw previews for "Spider-Man" I knew it was going to be cool. The only thing I thought might be weird was Tobey Maguire playing the lead role. He didn't seem like a good fit to me because he looked too goofy. But after seeing the flick, Tobey was perfect for the role. His goofiness set up his character as an unlikely hero and then as the hero he's just cool.
The casting of the Green Goblin might have even been better. Willem Dafoe was perfect in every facet. He is so evil and creepy looking that he is almost scary to look at. It's too bad his character wasn't as cool as he was. I thought the Green Goblin was cheesy. His body armor and flying disc-thing were cool but his helmet looked like a clown and his overall silliness did nothing for me either. The Joker in "Batman" made a much better villain, not to mention Catwoman. Mee-oow.
Is "Spider-Man" worth the price of admission? Definitely. The special effects were great, Spider-Man was a stud, and Kirsten Dunst was hot. What else do you need? Would I see it again? Yes and I can't wait for the sequels.
I also saw "Deuces Wild" and it was so lousy that I almost got up and walked out. Sitting though this flick was almost as hard as finding a job in this city, and that's no picnic. Definitely pass on this one.

By Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi. Broomfield, CO
www.nowplaying.netfirms.com
DNnowplaying@aol.com

All Reviews by Dan Marcucci
If you are the author of this review, you may edit it by signing in.