High jinks with Spidey

Tobey Maguire plays awkward teenager Peter Parker who, after being bitten by a spider during a school outing to a local museum, contracts superhuman powers that enable him to beat up the school bully, impress the girl next door (Kirsten Dunst) and see off the appropriately-timed appearance of colourful villain the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe).

The film scores largely by choosing to downplay an obsession with technology associated with recent action hits like X-Men and The Matrix, simply relying on good old blood, sweat and tears to involve the audience.

Unlike the original comic book, and the subsequent Batman films, the Spiderman character does not construct a series of implausable gadgets to help him climb and swing between buildings... spiders don't need to, see.

Realism isn't too high on the agenda but for once, an avalanche of stereotypes makes the comic book feel all the more fun. There is an evil scheming rich fellow (Dafoe, who assumes the Green Goblin alter ego after your usual experiment-gone-wrong), the wholesome aunt and uncle who adopt Peter following the death of his parents, the cute girl next door (victim of a bully boyfriend and abusive father) and not forgetting our hero Peter true, modest and very good looking.

The special effects are awesome but somehow do not make Spidey look as if he is actually part of the action few of the scenes actually show him in person in front of the camera and most of the action shots are computer-generated special effects.

Granted, no stuntman could perform some of these feats, but the absence of a living, breathing actor makes it feel like a demonstration reel for special effects gurus rather than a piece of jaw-dropping entertainment.

But overall this is a very satisfying adaptation of one of comicland's better characters. With the plot left open for a sequel, let's hope the next movie doesn't let technical wizardry get in the way of good old action and suspense.