Every few years, Hollywood has a renewed interest in comic book based films; it kicked off in the 70's with Superman, and in the 90's with the Batman franchise. Of late Blade and X-Men have kicked off a renewed interest in Comic book films. Well the latest in this trend has now been released: Spider-Man. Not only is this quite possibly the best comic film adaptation to date, it stands a strong film besides. We all know the story of high school nerd Peter Parker, but now it has been faithfully realized by genre favorite Sam Raimi with the help of a top notch CGI team(If Superman made you believe a man could fly, this film will make you believe he can swing from a web and crawl up walls). The film features noteable performances from Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, and Kirsten Dunst. However, the strength in this film lies neither in the acting nor the special effects, but in a compelling storyline... a compelling story whose roots lie with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Perhaps this is what has made web-head such an enduring character. Spiderman is a super hero with super powers, but all of the trials and tribulations of life: girl trouble, money trouble, and human emotions. Spider-Man is at its best when we are watching Parker deal with a teen-aged crush, or when we see him coming to terms with his culpability in his uncle's murder. I understand that the creative team behind this film has already started work on the sequel; Let's hope they don't leave out the human element of Spidey's next adventure. Spider-Man launches the 2002 summer season, and the bar has been set high for subsequent summer blockbusters.