Why I Love SpiderMan

Peter Parker can cling to walls with his hands and feet, shoot a highly adhesive and powerful webbing from his wrists, sense danger with a kind of early warning system,  bend steel with his bare hands, is highly agile and incredibly acrobatic.
     None of those things makes him a hero, though.
     Parker is a hero because he honestly struggles with and cares about doing the right thing.  He loves his aunt and tries his best to help take care of her, he loves his would-be girlfriend so much he is willing to sacrifice a relationship with her just so he can be sure she is protected from his enemies.  He cares about his friend Harry even though Harry hates his alter-ego SpiderMan and blames him for his own father's death.  He agonizes with guilt over his uncle's death, a death he feels he could have prevented if he had only done the right thing.  
     Parker is not a pumped up, macho stud strutting his stuff.  He doesn't get off on beating people up; he's just a decent, caring guy who does the best he can under much less than perfect circumstances.  He feels a responsibility to others because of his newfound abilities, and acts on it even when doing so devastates his personal life. 
     Beyond the sage theme delinated years ago by Stan Lee that "with great power comes great responsibility", another perhaps just as powerful theme emerges in the film.  "Sometimes to do the right thing we have to give up the thing we want the most" (or words to that effect) says Parker's Aunt May.  This is a difficult, hard to deliver message in a world where we all want everything and we want it right now.  The notion of sacrifice, let alone casting aside "the thing you want most" in service of "doing the right thing" is a real rarity today, and Parker's allegiance to this motto (and his convincing of the validity of the maxim to the film's villain, Dr. Octopus) really cements my admiration for the character and the bravery of the writers.
     The film works so well not just because of the theme it conveys, but also because of the great casting.  Tobey Maquire and Kirsten Dunst make Peter and Mary Jane seem real, conflicted and very human.  They don't have tons of ready to use witticisms and "I'm cool" lingo to apply to their situation.  Both make more out of a longing glance or a sigh than they could with a dozen one-liners.  Alfred Molina was a great, sympathetic villain, too.  Otto Octavius was a well meaning, if a bit overly ambitious scientist who was driven mad by the artificial intelligence of four prosthetic arms he grafts to his body begin to take over his mind.  And J.K. Simmons was a great, bombastic J. Jonah Jameson.
     There were other elements of the film that did work well, and those that didn't.  I liked the subplot of Peter losing his powers and being tortured by whether or not to continue as SpiderMan.  I also loved the inclusion of "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" after Peter temporarily abandons his role as Spidey and all the burden that entails.  I didn't think the subplot of Peter's landlord's daughter having a crush on him really went anywhere or was necessary, and the strange lady who sang the theme to the cartoon "SpiderMan" was funny once, but not twice.  Likewise, the elevator scene kind of went on too long and fell a bit flat, but I really enjoyed the train sequence near the end of the film where Peter bonds with the people he saves.  I also enjoyed the way the film series is following the comic book's soap opera storytelling.  Everyone in somehow related to someone else, and that always makes for some nice fluid, organic storytelling, as long as its not done with a heavy hand.
     The greatest asset this film had, though, was its ability to make its hero "heroic".  He earned that title by his actions and motivations, not just because he donned a suit and pounded on criminals.  There are lots of nice scenes where characters talk about motivation and feelings, and these scenes make the action sequences all the more relevant and interesting.
     There's a couple of great teasers for the third "Spidey" film at the end.  Not sure who all the villains will be, though the return of the Green Goblin seems a no-brainer.  I'd love to see the Lizard and Man-Wolf show up (both characters' alter egos are featured in this film) but we'll have to wait and see. 
     Whatever happens, the series is in good hands and is terrificially loyal to the look, feel and spirit of the comic book.  We all like SpiderMan because he's just a great guy, by no means perfect but definitely a sympathetic, indentifiable hero.