Film Review: Spider-Man (2002)

9 months ago

(source: tmdb.org)

21st Century is, at least when it comes to Hollywood superhero films, a Marvel century. Important part in making it so was played by Spider-Man, 2002 film directed by Sam Raimi, known as one of the most successful blockbusters of its time which not only led to successful film series but also, together with X-Men, another successful adaptation of Marvel comic books two years earlier, established the proof of concept for modern superhero films.

The film is based on popular comic book series which was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in 1962. Plot begins in New York City where orphaned high school student Pete Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) lives with his uncle Ben (played by Cliff Robertson) and his wife May (played by Rosemary Harris). He dreams about his beautiful neighbour Mary Jay Watson (played by Kirsten Dunst) but she ignores. Pete’s life begin to change when he is, during the visit to Columbia University lab, gets bitten by genetically modified spider. As a result, Pete gains extraordinary spider-like abilities like better eyesight, better hearing, “spider sense”, unusual strength and power to eject sticky spider web from his fingers that would allow him to move between the city’s skyscrapers. Pete at first uses all this only to improve his financial situation, but when his beloved Uncle Ben gets killed by street criminal, he decides to use his powers to help fellow citizens as masked crime fighter under name “Spider-Man”. In the meantime, Mary Jay begins dating Pete’s best friend Harry Osborn (played by James Franco) whose father happens to be scientist and tycon Norman Osborn (played by Willem Dafoe), who, during experiments with nanotechnological gas, becomes monster-like Green Goblin and starts fighting Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is, or at least, used to be, the most iconic and recognisable Marvel Comics character. Attempts to bring him to the big screen began in early 1980s but problems with budget and poor business decisions by various studios postponed the actual production until 2000. This allowed Spider-Man to enjoy benefits of newly developed CGI technology, while Sony/Columbia had put very effective marketing campaign which would hit the sweet spot between hardcore fans of the original comic books and general public that yet had to gain interest for iconic character. The most decisive decision for Sony/Columbia was hiring of Sam Raimi, director until that time mostly known for quirky semi-humouros horror films that had gained cult following. For Raimi Spider-Man was the most expensive and the most ambitious project of his career, yet it was also very personal. Raimi was huge fan of the original comic book, but he also recognised what made it so attractive to the audience. The protagonist was, despite his superhuman powers, rather insecure, frustrated and unhappy young man, closer to an ordinary person than superhero and, as such, someone with whom the average filmgoer could easily identify with.

Raimi steered much of creative decisions towards that direction and that included casting. While the studio insisted on conventional screen heartthrob like Freddie Prinze Jr. for the title role, Raimi chose more ordinary looking Tobey Maguire. His portrayal as modest and insecure Pete Parker is much closer to the character in original comic book and represents one of the better roles of Maguire’s career. On the other hand, some in the rest of the cast aren’t that impressive. That included even Kirsten Dunst as his love interest, despite her and Maguire dating in real life during production. Dunst’s character isn’t that convincing, although some might blame it on poor makeup and wrong hairstyle. She is, however, memorable in famous scene when she kisses masked Spider-Man in the rain, one of the rare moments that could be described as erotic in otherwise prudish world of Hollywood summer blockbusters. Willem Dafoe, despite being one of the most talented actors of his generations, is wasted in the role of cartoonish arch-villain who is as forgettable as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin.

The rest of the cast is mostly satisfactory, and same can be said for Raimi’s direction, especially in the first part, during which he skilfully establishes title character, making Spider-Man one of the better origin stories among superhero films. The action scenes, helped with CGI and supervised by veteran special effects master John Dykstra, are solid but not particularly memorable. When, like with so many origin stories, second part of the film has to feature protagonist’s evil counterpart, plot seems a little bit rushed. Nevertheless, Spider-Man benefits a lot from script that seems more down-to-earth and humanistic in comparison with many Hollywood blockbusters. That was recognised by audience which rewarded such effort by smashing records at the box office. Spider-Man was, quite predictably, turned into film series with two sequels – in 2004 and 2007; series was rebooted in 2012 with a film starring Andrew Garfield, whose version of the character, together with Maguire’s, appears in 2021 film Spider Man: No Way Home.

RATING: 6/10 (++)