Spiderman supplemented his superhero-income with a bestselling yoga video.

As a movie, Spiderman makes a great amusement park ride. Director Sam Raimi uses the camera to send us flying along with the web slinger as he swings from the rooftops and sails through the night sky. The effect is exhilarating and, as often as it was used, I never got tired of it. Unfortunately, when we and Spiderman land, the movie loses momentum. I often found myself sitting through the "talking scenes" as though I were waiting in line for the next ride to begin.

The setup: bookish high school senior Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by — you guessed it — a genetically modified spider while on a field trip to a museum. He wakes up the next day with a newly buff bod, off-the-scale strength and the fighting skills to put it to good use. But so what? Any superhero worth his tights has those things. What sets Spidey apart is the ability to climb walls and shoot webs out of his wrist. Let's see Batman do that!

"Hmmm, walk all the way down the hall to the vending machine for a Coke, or drink the experimental green stuff. Tough call."

The yin to Peter's yang is tycoon/scientist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). With a government contract on the line, Stormin' Norman decides to take a swig of an experimental "performance enhancing" drug. He's rewarded with, I don't know, I guess it was extra strength and agility. This would be a tasty dish if it didn't come with a side of insanity. He tricks himself out with a turbo-powered hoverboard and a shiny exoskeleton and becomes the Green Goblin, all-purpose Villain.

Toss in James Franco as Harry Osborn, Norman's son and Peter's best friend; Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, the girl next door that Peter's always had a crush on; and Rosemary Harris as Peter's saintly Aunt May, and you have the makings of a nifty little family drama to go with the super-heroics. Trouble is, this part fell a little flat for me. One of the central conflicts of the movie, a triangle between the demanding Norman, his ever-disappointing son Harry and Peter — who embodies everything he'd like Harry to be — felt clichéd and heavy-handed. We're supposed to believe that Norman has paternal feelings towards Peter, but since Peter never shows much interest in him, the relationship doesn't gel.

Come on, how seriously can you take a villain who feels compelled to build a six-pack of abs into his costume? Over-compensating much?

That other triangle, the one with Peter, Harry and Mary Jane, was just boring, and I've decided that I blame Harry. Both as written by David Koepp (Panic Room) and acted by Franco, he's a dull guy with no clear motivation or discernible personality. What could have been an intriguing supporting character becomes a bland piece of the background.

Here's the thing: I know a lot of this stuff is comic book canon, and must not be messed with. But so much of Peter's story seems like either a pale imitation of the Clark Kent/Superman legend or a less compelling variation on other superhero themes that I couldn't help feeling a bit of "been there, watched that, liked it better before" as I sat in the theater. You've got your nerdy alter ego, the secret that must be kept from his nearest and dearest, yadda yadda yadda. And without the more affecting human drama of Batman or the X-Men, I found it hard to care. (God, do I sound like a geek or what?)

No wonder this kid was picked on in high school. He always wore the freaky sweaters Aunt May got him for Christmas.

In a comic book based movie, if the characters aren't thrilling me I hope to at least be dazzled by the sets and art direction. No luck here, either. Sam Raimi's direction lacks the visual flair of Tim Burton's Batman or even Bryan Singer's X-Men. Spiderman's New York City feels like the real world. No doubt this is intentional, an attempt to ground the fantasy in reality. It's a valid choice, but I'd rather have something cool to look at.

So what does work? The scenes where Peter discovers and learns to use his powers are fresh, funny and energetic. His obvious delight is exactly how you'd expect a put-upon high school kid to react to newfound superpowers. An early attempt to use them for profit is particularly amusing. Maguire makes a suitably improbable superhero and Dafoe pulls out all the scenery-chewing stops as the Green Goblin. And the movie has an offbeat, disarming sense of humor that I enjoyed.

Overall, I liked Spiderman well enough to recommend it. It's a pleasing diversion, and a fitting start to the summer blockbuster season. But if you find yourself impatiently urging Peter to "hurry up and shoot a web already," don't say I didn't warn you.

Gorilla Pants rating: 2.5 out of 4 bananas