My Review of Spider-Man (2002)

 

Written by David Koepp

Directed by Sam Raimi

Uncle Ben (to Peter Parker): "With great power comes great responsibility."

I did this all backwards in terms of rewatches and reviews for the infamous webslinger. Now it was overdue my looking into the Tobey Maguire era of Spider-Man and twenty years since it's release, this movie has aged pretty well.

What I love about this movie at the time wad it's sheer simplicity and I love that just as much. Here we've got high school nerd, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) - in love with neighbour Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), the object of scorn by jock bully Flash Thompson (Joe Manganiello) and friend of rich kid Harry Osborn (James Franco). Cue a school trip and getting bitten by a radioactive spider and the rest of this movie essentially wrote itself.

It really didn't take long for Peter to embrace his new powers and for his odd behaviour to cause conflict with his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). One night after a wrestling match and Peter choosing to let a robber go free, he lost his uncle and as a result found Ben's infamous advice resonating with him. With power comes great responsibility and Spider-Man soon became a known presence in New York. 

Watching Spider-Man become an instant figure of infamy much to the appreciation of the citizens and derision of the cops and Daily Bugle editor J Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) was one thing but at the end of the day, every great hero needs a great villain and this movie absolutely excelled in that regard. For an opening baddie, this movie chose wisely.

Having Willem Dafoe suit as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was the absolute highlight of the movie. He's one of the most compelling comic book baddies we've seen on the bug screen and not only does he compliment Tobey Maguire but also provided a gripping foil for both Peter Parker and Spider-Man alike. With some absolutely breath taking fight scenes, moral choices and a final defeat, the biggest strength of this movie was it's villain choice.

As for the rest of the movie, the love story between Peter and Mary Jane was a lovely slow burn with both Maguire and Dunst giving it their all. That upside down kiss alone remains one of the most iconic romantic scenes in movie history. Meanwhile we got a lovely look into Peter's relationship with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), not to mention the more toxic friendship between him and Harry, which will only worsen in later movies. 

- Bruce Campbell made his first appearance in this universe as a wrestling announcer. Other Raimi alumni such as Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi had minor roles in this movie.

- Elizabeth Banks briefly appeared as Betty Brant. Peter unsuccessfully attempted to flirt with her.

- Stan Lee made a cameo appearance saving a girl during he big battle scene with Spider-Man and Green Goblin.

- Peter tried to take on the moniker of the Human Spider before a certain character coined his true identity. Jameson was the one to called Norman Osborn the Green Goblin.

- Standout music: Nickelback's Hero. We also had an appearance from Macy Gray.

- Chronology: The movie did come out in 2002, so I'm going to assume around that time as well.

Spider-Man (2002) kicked this trilogy off to a fantastic start. Tobey Maguire truly got off the from the ground as an excellent version of the webslinger and Willem Dafoe was a brilliant choice for the Green Goblin. Every single other cast member was also on fine form and some truly excellent fight sequences and character bits, this movie remains a classic.

Rating: 9 out of 10