Spider-Man (2002) is an adaptation of the classic Marvel comic book character, the film was directed by Sam Raimi, written by David Koepp and starred Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Now when this movie came out I was only 7 years old and a HUGE fan of Spider-Man, so I was very excited to see this film and it was the first ever live action superhero film I ever saw, so it was a big deal to me and I absolutely loved it, just like everyone. But now that I'm older, more critical of these films and have been exposed to a lot more Spider-Man content, does it hold up that well? Honestly...yeah, I still really like it.
First of all let's talk about Sam Raimi's directing of the film, it's fantastic, you can tell that this is a man who had a lot of passion and respect for the source material and put everything into making this film, his direction and cinematography is incredible, even something as simple as watching Spider-Man swing around the city is still incredible to see, yes there is some over the top and comic-book style cinematography which I imagine for some people will look ridiculous but I personally don't mind it. For nothing else from a visual standpoint, this is Spider-Man, however delving any deeper than that and you start to see the problems of this film, mostly through the writing.
Now that's not to say the writing is terrible, in fact there are a lot of great things about it, in fact I would say this is the best origin story film for a superhero I've ever seen. The problem with most origin films is that it almost always feels like they end just when the good stuff is about to begin, even in something like Batman Begins, while a fantastic film, I remember very little of Batman in that film, just Bruce Wayne. But here, the story is so well paced that they get the origin stuff out of the way without feeling rushed or dull, just perfect. My problems with the script are with the dialogue, the dialogue in this film is awful, everything feels like it's from a 70's comic book, especially the romantic dialogue, which is cringe-worthy from how bad it is. After all how can a movie with the lines "You're taller than you look" "...I hunch" and consider that to be serious romantic dialogue? get the buckets ready. Now what people tell me when I make this criticism they say "but it's a comic-book movie, shouldn't it feel like a comic book" yeah, but it's a comic book-movie shouldn't it also feel like a movie, also what comic books from the 2000's have you been reading? My point being, the story is great, the dialogue is utter shit. And the bullies at school are laughably stupid, there the type of bullies that would never be cool in reality, they'd be the ones getting bullied, oh movies.
Now let's talk about the actual characters of the film, and I think it would be appropriate to start with the titular character: Spider-Man. I don't like him; I mean don't get me wrong, I love Spider-Man, I just don't like this Spider-Man. From an adaptation stand point it's not very good; Spider-Man is a socially awkward genius that cracks jokes struggles to manage the superhero life mixed with his school life. Now yes, this variation does follow the socially awkward bit...and rocket launches over the shark with it. The biggest problem with that being is that he may be socially awkward and a nerd but we never see him do that much nerdy stuff, he talks about how interested he is in science but we don't see him doing anything an actual genius would do, so really he's just awkward and nothing more.
As for the sarcastic and humorous persona of Spider-Man....well he tells a couple jokes while wrestling, but that's about it; hell he's not even technically Spider-Man at that point. But the worst part is that there's no balance, the guy is so socially awkward and has such low confidence that you almost don't believe that he would actually become a superhero if you didn't see it with your own eyes. And as for the balancing school life and the superhero life, well he graduates from school half-way through the film and he's only just become Spider-Man at that point so there's no real conflict there. As for other changes such as the webbing being organic rather than him building the web shooters, my only problem with that is the web shooters was a great way to show Peter's intelligence; but with that being said it still makes sense for them to be organic. So overall I just don't like this portrayal of Spider-Man, and I would say this would be a mixture between Tobey's portrayal and David's writing, two bad products combined to make a bad character.
Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane...this is my biggest problem with this movie and franchise overall, now there is nothing wrong with Kirten's performance, she is doing everything she can to create a character here, but again, the problem is with the script, the dialogue choices and her purpose in the film is just terrible, making her one of the worst superhero girlfriends of all time. But first a nitpick, how the hell do you live next door to someone, go to school with them for years & years and not even know his name!? But apart from that, what does she do in this movie? Nothing, she's there as a MacGuffin, someone for Peter to admire over and eventually rescue and win her heart with bad dialogue trying to count as developing their relationship. Again, all the scenes are there to build a relationship, but the dialogue is so bad that it just doesn't work "Aunt May, Aunt May, is that an angel?" oh jesus...
Really the only definitive personality trait she has is that her and her father don't get along, but that's never explored into detail or given a resolution, it's just...there. Also is it me or does she make out with half of the men in this movie? Boy, a slut and has daddy issues? Freud would have a field day with her. And just like Spider-Man, this is not an accurate portrayal of the character, MJ is fiesty, tough and a diva, when she says the line "face it tiger, you just hit the jackpot" you genuinely believe that, here, what's the jackpot? And again, she's nothing but an object to be rescued, I have no problem with damsel's in distress as long as that's not all they are, but Mary Jane is that.
Now the villain of the movie is one of my favourite parts, Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn A.K.A.Green Goblin. This guy is so over the top, so comic-booky that it's impossible not to love him, but what makes it so great is that this is clearly intentional. He's not deep, he's not complex, he's just a big ball of evil fun. That being said, as much as I love how silly he is, his plan makes absolutely no sense. I mean what is the Goblin's overall goal? Kill his fellow board members, okay, he achieves that on his first outgoing, what's his plan after that? Kill Spider-Man so he can't stop me! Stop you from doing what? You've already achieved your goal, what's next in the master plan? If you don't have a plan yet how can Spider-Man stop you!?
As for the other characters, here are my quick thoughts on them: Uncle Ben, jesus was this guy underused, him and Peter share only one scene together and it's the whole cliche "You're not my father!" argument that has been done to death with no development to their relationship before hand and because of this I just can't bring myself to give a shit when he dies (Though I will admit this is Tobey's best performance in the film). Aunt May: great performance from Rosemary Harris, character doesn't do much in the movie. Harry Osborn, does fuck all in the movie. J Jonah Jameson Jr (Try saying that 5 times fast) oh...my...god...JK Simmons as Jameson is probably the best casting of anything in the history of the universe, I'm just gonna say this right now, Jameson is the best thing in the entire series.
And as for the score of the film...Ho-ly-shit, tell me that this theme doesn’t get you excited? Out of all the superhero themes out there none of them perfectly represent the character like this theme, and that’s saying something, Danny Elfman is one of the kings of superhero composures, he also did the original Batman theme, and while that one kicks ass, there’s no toping this. It has the prefect pacing between suspense and action, it gives you a sense of anticipation, danger, adventure and heroism all in one song, pretty much everything Spider-Man. When I first heard this theme in the theatres I knew we were in for something awesome, and that is exactly what we got. Let this be a lesson to you Hans Zimmer, stop trying to follow in Elfman’s footsteps, you just can’t top the guy.
I also really like the design of Spider-Man's costume, i-i-it's Spider-Man! Even if he doesn't act like Spider-Man it's fucking Spider-Man! He looks perfect! Amazing! James Acheson designed the costume and it is some of the best costume work I've seen in a superhero film, bravo to you Mr Acheson! Also I appreciate the film's use of practical effects, although with today's movies obsessed with green screening everything, practical effects always look impressive. Although I do have to say the CGI in the movie isn't very good, I mean the shots of Spider-Man flying through New York look great but that's about it, things like Peter running on top of buildings look like Qwop rather than a real person, and stuff like that happens a lot in this film, so I can understand why they would stick with practical effects, it just looks better. However not all of the practical effects look great, a whole lot of the fight scenes look like a lame stunt show at Disney world, the fight scenes in this movie are just really silly, I mean, come on, it's so obviously choreographed and even at that, it's badly choreographed, just...just no.
So overall, this is a great superhero movie, the story pacing, cinematography, score and overall feel like a comic-book and effort put into this film make it a great superhero film. But as a Spider-Man film it is just terrible, the characters are poorly adapted and the action scenes are poorly choreographed and the dialogue is just lame & stupid. I can't call this a good Spider-Man movie but I appreciate the effort and style given to it and I would be lying if I didn't say I've seen this film more than a dozen times.
My final rating is a 7/10
Join me tomorrow for my review of the ever beloved Spider-Man 2, And do I love it like everyone else?...See ya tomorrow.
-Danny
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