Let's be honest. All-things-for-all-ages event movies tend to suck, mostly because they end up appealing to nobody in particular. Here's to one that got it right, then: angst for the teens, pathos for the adults, romance for the girls, fights for the boys and some crunchy WWF for the under-threes. Batman? Schmatman.

What it comes down to is all the right moves by all the right people: Sam Raimi's flamboyant direction gives us dynamic street-flinging scenes but never shouts down his characters; Tobey Maguire looks like he could take his hero in any number of intriguing directions after a spiky emotional cliffhanger; and Willem Dafoe registers as a tormented schizo, despite wearing a suit that looks like a scrap-metal Power Ranger. Okay, so the special effects aren't all that, but we'd take immersive suspension of disbelief over a couple of bogus CG shots any day.

DVD Extras:

It'll take more than an evening to go through this lot - - this two-disc set really is the business. The sheer wealth of content is intimidating, but ultimately it boils down to The Comic and The Movie. A huge chunk of the second disc is dedicated to Spider-Man's evolution through ink, whether it be shiny retro galleries, insightful documentary or decade-spanning comic arcs (warning to Kirsten Dunst: you get dumped for some blonde android called Gwen Stacey). As for the movie, if the cast commentary's a bit stilted it's because they're constantly upstaged by some neat, busy gimmicks (especially good: the diverting but relentless Pop-Up Video-inspired trivia flashes). Course, it helps that the movie's decent, but the behind-the-scenes material is exemplary. From HBO's ace all-access doc to fun out-takes, it's involving, entertaining and does its best to avoid wallowing in its own hype. Impressive.