Movie Review: Spider-Man [2002]

Spider-Man [2002]

Man, this movie was huge back in the day. And it's no wonder that it is -- the origin story of Spider-Man is particularly interesting due to how instantly relatable Peter Parker is. He's a little nerdy teenager who's just about to get out of college and become his own man, but somewhere along the way he gets bitten by a spider and gets spider powers. And while he initially sees his powers, he sees it as a way to get a quick buck before his wanton use of powers causes his Uncle Ben to be killed by a thief he let get away. The whole "great power/great responsibility" thing.

And Sam Raimi's Spider-Man basically hits on all those points. Peter Parker ends up exploring his powers, while the rest of the movie goes on introducing the rest of Spider-Man's supporting cast. There's the hot girl-next-door that Peter has been pining for the most part of his life, Mary-Jane Watson. There's his best friend (who's also in love with Mary Jane), Harry Osborn. And then there's Aunt May, the ever-supporting maternal aunt. And the ever-iconic Spider-Man-hating news mogul, Jonah J. Jameson, who's in this movie a lot less than I remember. Plus Harry's dad, disgraced millionaire Norman Osborn, ends up becoming the movie's villain, the Green Goblin. 

Spider-Man is the main character of this movie, something that, pre-MCU, is something that superhero movies have been struggling with. And I think that's what makes this movie so successful -- Spider-Man himself is the central character with a lot of focus, and the plot is secondary. From his glee at discovering his powers, the sheer sense of power to 'get the girl' and get a lot of money, and then his utter shock at realizing that being a dick for just one moment to let the robber get away ended up in Uncle Ben's death... and then subsequently maturing as a hero and photographer, Tobey Maguire manages to show off a pretty fun, flawed character who's troubled with a lot of things in life, but just tries his best to go on. It's not particularly complex, but it doesn't have to be. It's Spider-Man, after all. 

The supporting cast is serviceable, even if they are just there to serve as a foil for Maguire's Spider-Man. The plot doesn't give Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane a lot to work with, but she does have her own little story playing in the background just trying to make a life for her own, trying to get out of an abusive family, and trying to impress his boyfriend's dad but being passed over as a gold-digger... it's neat that the Peter/MJ/Harry/Spider-Man love quadrangle is sort of introduced and a major part of the movie's story, but doesn't quite end up becoming its insane focus like the sequel. 

James Franco's Harry Osborn is... he's kind of there, a memorable 'buddy' to Peter, and someone to bring Peter and Norman's relationship as more than just hero-and-villain, but I found him to be pretty under-utilized as well. Rosemary Harris and Cliff Robertson play May and Ben Parker respectively, and they're... they're pretty paternal, clearly good people just trying to get along in life, and playing up the movie and franchise's biggest assets -- how accessible it is. J.K. Simmons rounds up the cast as Jonah J. Jameson as the boisterous asshole of Peter's boss, but a fair, boisterous asshole. His performance is clearly one of the highlights of the movie, so much that I was surprised to realize that he only got two, maybe three scenes.

And as much as Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn is entertaining when he chews the scenery, ultimately the Green Goblin isn't so much a character but just a really fucked-up dude with a split personality,  who's consumed with a rather muddled set of motivations that went from "kill my competitors and ensure my future"  to "I must make Spider-Man be my best buddy, or he must die", with a huge obsession with the young superhero. It's... it's serviceable, of course, with Dafoe's performance entertaining enough to be memorable, although I honestly don't think Peter and Norman really have that much scenes for the huge reveal to really have any emotional impact. 

Overall, there's not much to really analyze in the movie, but it's still a very fun movie nonetheless. It's storyline is solid if not particularly derivative, and it introduces a lot of the elements of the Spider-Man mythos pretty well, whilst setting up a possible sequel hook without being too obvious about it.