The early 2000s were an era that very much revolutionized the tone and structure of superhero films. In the decades prior to, the older Superman and Batman films were the most recognized superhero movies to date and, while they started off good and decent, they sadly declined in quality with each subsequent installment. It appears that this may have been caused by the need for the filmmakers to deviate their work from the source material so, at the turn of the century, writers and directors decided that comic book fans watching mattered and therefore felt the need to cater to their tastes while also building good stories around it. I've not seen the first X-Men to know whether or not this was the case, but, I'm aware that both X-Men and Spider-Man (the latter especially) had something to do with the current success of the now widely accepted superhero film genre. So, without much else to say, here's what I think of Sam Raimi's first big screen hit with Spider-Man.
***SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*** (not that it matters as most everyone has probably seen this film by now)
This movie is very much what solidified both the origin story and some of the major characters of Spider-Man in the minds of non-comic book readers everywhere. Everyone knows that Peter Parker (played in this movie by Tobey Maguire) is a nerdy kid whom everyone picks on before he gets bit by a radioactive spider and gains extraordinary super powers that reflect the abilities of a spider. Everyone knows that, with his powers, he tries to earn money through a wrestling career, which ultimately goes to his head to the point where he fails to stop a robber who ultimately shoots his Uncle Ben (played by Cliff Robertson) and leaves him for dead. Everyone knows the phrase "With great power comes great responsibility", which remains the core reason as to why Spider-Man, hoping to make up for his uncle's death, goes out to stop crime throughout New York. And everyone especially knows about the conflicts this creates in both his superhero and civilian life as he tries to keep his identity a secret from both those he loves and the powerful supervillains he encounters. Simply put, it's the reason why Spider-Man has been made more famous apart from his comic book counterpart.
On the surface, it may sound like the typical formulaic superhero origin movie and, while this formula as sort of run dry these days, one of the reasons it worked so well here is because the tone director Sam Raimi established here got people excited for the adventure at hand. Sure, the setting, dialogue, and computer effects may be dated, but, overall it gives the movie a vibrant, happy tone with bits of various emotion mixed in to balance it out. For example, when Uncle Ben died, I felt genuinely sad for Peter seeing as he ended off on the wrong note with him due to being so concerned about his selfish motivation to impress the girl he likes -- that being Mary Jane Watson (played by Kirsten Dunst) whom we'll touch more on later. Other than that, the film isn't the most emotionally complex work of film due to the lack of proper character building, but the film makes up for it in the sense that it gives a childlike sense of what a comic book movie ought to be; a fun, thrilling, action packed adventure that draws you into the narrative regardless of its flaws. This is especially noted by the score, written by Danny Elfman, which, every time I hear it, gives me the sense that I'm about to enjoy a spidey-tastic adventure. I mean who hasn't heard that iconic opening theme and not gotten excited to watch Spider-Man in action?
Unfortunately, where there's good bits, there's also a few notable flaws with the movie and its characters. Bare in mind, I'm no Tobey Maguire hater, though I will note how he brings out more of the geeky side of Peter Parker; glasses on, he looks like the sort of "adorkable" Peter Parker we saw back in 1962 with Amazing Fantasy #15. Other than that, in this movie in particular, I don't get the sense that Peter Parker really is the brainiac he looks to be. His web shooters are organic as opposed to the original web shooter gadget he, himself, created in the comics. Regardless, it makes for a few funny scenes up to the point where he swings his first web from a crane before ramming face first into a wall and sustaining no injury (because, you know, super strength). And while I get that they wanted him to have an iconic love interest, I don't fully understand why he loves Mary Jane so much in the first place.
Many have already said how Kirsten Dunst was very bland as MJ and I agree. Apart from her cute appearance and comic-accurate ginger hair, her role as love interest and interactions with "Peter Maguire" come off as a bit awkward and shallow. Sure, I get that Peter's supposed to be awkward, but the cheesy dialogue the film has doesn't really strengthen the fact that these two are supposed to be in love -- I mean, they are later in the series, but that'll be for later reviews. On top of that, MJ winds up in peril three times in this first movie alone and each time she is either defenseless or just off the wall screaming at the top of her lungs like an average damsel (and as she does so I can't tell if I'm supposed to be fearing for her or annoyed because of her constant shouting). In short, she's just there to make Spider-Man look good making her one of the least interesting onscreen superhero love interests I've seen. Although, to give credit where credit is due, her and Maguire did a fabulous job portraying the famous upside down kiss seen many times in the comics.
Another instance where the film falls short for me is the portrayal of the Green Goblin. First things first, Willem Dafoe did an excellent job portraying both sides of his character. Norman Osborn was his usual over-competent, shady businessman self from the comics while the Goblin was outright cunning and maniacal and to this day I mostly associate the Goblin with Dafoe's performance. The main gripe I have with it is how they went with the decision to give him a split personality; Norman Osborn is generally portrayed as a bad man gone nuts often descending into his Goblin persona willingly for destructively selfish gain. Here, soon as Norman injects himself with the serum, he creates his own inner demon and becomes terrified of the person it's turning him into. In other words, I simply don't agree with Norman Osborn acting cowardly, but I enjoyed Dafoe's performance anyway.
As much as I would love to talk about the other actors in this movie, I simply don't feel it's worth noting much else for now seeing as I plan to cover the rest of the series someday -- I will say that Cliff Robertson is an ideal Uncle Ben for film. So to leave off this review I will say that Spider-Man is one of those movies you just enjoy watching despite its cheesiness factor. The tone captures the early comics almost perfectly, the music is done fabulously, and, despite their flaws, the casting is decent enough to where it's at least tolerable to watch. And if this didn't up the ante for superhero movies of our age then I don't know what did. Overall, I give this movie a B- and would for surely recommend it to any average movie/superhero buff out there!
Thanks y'all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
Another instance where the film falls short for me is the portrayal of the Green Goblin. First things first, Willem Dafoe did an excellent job portraying both sides of his character. Norman Osborn was his usual over-competent, shady businessman self from the comics while the Goblin was outright cunning and maniacal and to this day I mostly associate the Goblin with Dafoe's performance. The main gripe I have with it is how they went with the decision to give him a split personality; Norman Osborn is generally portrayed as a bad man gone nuts often descending into his Goblin persona willingly for destructively selfish gain. Here, soon as Norman injects himself with the serum, he creates his own inner demon and becomes terrified of the person it's turning him into. In other words, I simply don't agree with Norman Osborn acting cowardly, but I enjoyed Dafoe's performance anyway.
As much as I would love to talk about the other actors in this movie, I simply don't feel it's worth noting much else for now seeing as I plan to cover the rest of the series someday -- I will say that Cliff Robertson is an ideal Uncle Ben for film. So to leave off this review I will say that Spider-Man is one of those movies you just enjoy watching despite its cheesiness factor. The tone captures the early comics almost perfectly, the music is done fabulously, and, despite their flaws, the casting is decent enough to where it's at least tolerable to watch. And if this didn't up the ante for superhero movies of our age then I don't know what did. Overall, I give this movie a B- and would for surely recommend it to any average movie/superhero buff out there!
Thanks y'all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
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