Marvel Marathon: Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-Man (2002)

Directed: Sam Raimi

Written by: David Koepp

Cast: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco

Budget: $139m       Box Office: $825.821m

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 90%

Summary:

Who doesn’t know the story? The film follows Peter Parker who gains superhuman abilities after being bitten by a spider on a school trip. He becomes the masked superhero ‘Spider-Man’ to fight crime in New York before facing off against the villainous Green Goblin.

Plot & Script = 8.25

A script written by the legendary David Koepp (Jurassic Park; Mission: Impossible; Panic Room) and centred on my favourite childhood character - what could possibly be improved upon? 

It labours through an initial 30-40 minutes of screen time before and becoming Spider-Man which feels in today’s era of superhero films generous. But it never feels boring. 

There is a real heart to the story which is elevated by the acting (more below) and you genuinely feel for these characters. 

Overall, the story feels tight and certainly street level that many recent Spider-Man adventures haven’t. As much time is given to character beats as it is to action. Something perhaps modern superhero films could learn. 

Characters = 8

Arguably the most well known superhero character of all time - Spider-Man is one of the greatest fictional characters of all time. 

What this film does so well, it doesn’t look to throw hundreds of characters into the mix from the outset and starts small. 

The villain, Green Goblin, is a great choice for the opening villain as not only is it a more human and complex character, it feels more believable for audiences. 

There is good character development for several during the film including some characters who are deliberately left broken for future stories. 

Acting = 8

A film lives and dies on several factors - one of these being the cast. 

To many, Tobey Maguire is their Spider-Man and even with the regenerations, they still hold that belief. That goes to show how good the performance is. 

James Franco gives a good performance as does Kirsten Dunst - though with not as much. 

J.K. Simmons is iconic as J. Jonah Jameson and Willem Dafoe gives a great performance with a role that could easily have been turned into a panto villain - there is great depth and creepiness here. 

Pacing = 7.5

For the first 30-40 minutes, whilst not boring, the film doesn’t exactly zip by and I can imagine some audiences finding it a bit slow. When the story gets going with Spider-Man, the film grips hold of you and swings you along the streets of New York until its conclusion. 

Whereas, ‘X-Men’ had an awkward post climax conclusion, the storyline for ‘Spider-Man’ continues and is as important as what proceeded the climax. 

Without that opening, perhaps the pace score would be higher. 

Action Sequences = 8

This film is a big step up from X-Men in terms of action sequences. From the Times Square sequence to the climax at the Queensboro Bridge, there are scenes that literally could be ripped from a comic strip. It showed audiences that superhero films didn’t need to be characters running around in shorts and a cape without there being some big stakes. 

Whereas with my last review, the finale felt a bit of a let down, this film has a strong finale with a good traditional hero versus villain battle. 

Visual Effects = 9

This film holds up! Given this film is 23 years old this year, boy does it look good. Naturally, there are some moments that even for the time wouldn’t have looked brilliant but this is nitpicking. As promised, I would look to score this on the time and not current times. 

But an element that just adds to it all are the use of practical effects. One such infamous scene, the one where Peter catches Mary Jane’s food tray was filmed without the use of CGI and it took Tobey Maguire 156 attempts to get right. 

Production Design = 8

Now of course there is are plenty of CGI effects here but the vast majority of scenes feel practical. From the buildings used to film in, to the suits of the main characters - all are practical. 

The world just feels real. Given that the Times Square sequence was filmed on a soundstage, it is incredible to the level of depth they went to. 

The costume worn by Spider-Man is one of my favourite costumes. Perhaps nostalgia kicking in here perhaps. 

Music = 6.5

Until rewatching and then listening again to Danny Elfman’s score, I had forgotten how good that main theme is! It’s clearly a step up from the score to ‘X-Men’. The theme suits the character perfectly. 

My main criticism would be that there aren’t many other standout themes apart from that main theme. Don’t get me wrong, there are flashes throughout and when you watch the film it’s great. Just not the best to revisit without it. You just expect better from Danny Elfman. 

Entertainment Value = 7.5

Now this feels like a proper summer blockbuster. It has the action, the romantic aspect and some of the traits that will go on to make the MCU what it is - despite being produced separately by Sony and without involvement from Kevin Feige in any capacity. 

Whilst many credit ‘X-Men’ (2000) for being the film that kickstarted the recent superhero craze, this will be the film that picked the baton up and swung it further down the track. It grossed an incredible $821.7m and ended up the 3rd highest grossing movie of the year behind only two other gargantuan franchises: ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Harry Potter’. 

Upon a first watch, audiences will really enjoy seeing Peter Parker’s backstory but there is a reason that Sony and Marvel decided not to give Tom Holland the classic introductory film in 2017 - not only had audiences seen it before (twice) but it does eat up a lot of screen time. 

It’s certainly a film that when it concludes, you are desperate to see more. 

IMDb Score = 7.4

It’s not the highest score that a Spider-Man film might receive on the Marahton but it’s a very respectable score nontheless. 

Total Score = 78.15

Next Up = X2 (2003)