Today we follow up on last week’s Thor review with one of the moves that made it possible; one of the films that, in the early 2000s, revitalized the genre of the superhero film: Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man.
The film retells the classic Spider-Man origin story. Peter Parker is the average sad fuck going to school in New York, with his best pal Harry “Son of the Rich Guy” Osborne and a crush on popular girl Mary Jaen Watson. He lives with his struggling-yet-optimistic aunt and uncle. It’s not long though, before Peter is bitten by a genetically engineered spider- no radioactivity here- and develops spider-like abilities, fighting crime to avenge the death of his uncle, for which he feels he is responsible for. Harry’s dad Norman trips out on his own performance-enhancing chemical serum and becomes the villainous Green Goblin, a separate personality that violently avenges perceived slights against Norman. Spider-Man and the Goblin come into conflict and the rest is history.
Like last time, I guess I’ll go through the cast first. Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, I have somewhat mixed feelings towards. While his quiet, awkward demeanor works well for sad fuck Peter, it isn’t so great for professional wiseguy Spider-Man. Then again, maybe that’s for the best, since the one time he does try a one-liner (“You’re out, Gobby! Out of your mind!”), it’s hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Overall though, I like Maguire’s Spidey. Honestly, I can’t think of anyone else who could do it. Also, it’s worth noting that he sometimes bears a striking resemblance to Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. Make of that what you will.
The rest of the cast is pretty good. Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane is good and a somewhat interesting character in her own right. Rosemary Harris’ Aunt May is excellent; she brings this wonderful warmth and optimism to the role. Cliff Robertson is also excellent as Uncle Ben, trying and failing to reconnect with Peter before his death. You really get the sense that he’s trying to understand Peter’s situation and help him, but isn’t sure how to approach his increasingly distant nephew. James Franco is a good Harry Osborne; he’s rich and good-looking, but you can just tell how resentful and downright broken the guy is inside, especially towards his father and later Peter and MJ. This leaves us with our two scene stealers, Norman Osborne, and J. Jonah Jameson. Willem Dafoe, my friends and I decided, is some bizarre fusion of Christopher Walken and Denis Leary. Who better to play a brilliant repressed psychopath with latent Dissociative Identity Disorder? He’s perfectly over the top, and it works... mostly. Sometimes he’s actually too casual, particularly the scene on the rooftop where he tries to convince Spider-Man to join him. He’s great in the role, though he’d be greater if he had a decent costume. More on that later. Finally, there’s J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. The man IS J. Jonah Jameson. End of story.
The movie has a lot of good scenes. The scenes where Norman is tormented by his alter ego in the mirror or the Goblin mask on the chair are excellently done, and genuinely a bit creepy. Another scene that sticks out is the Goblin’s attack on Aunt May while she’s praying, a scene that disturbed me a bit when I was younger. The wrestling match between “the Human Spider” and Bonesaw McGraw (Macho Man Randy Savage!) is a lot of fun and contrasts nicely with Uncle Ben’s ensuing dead scene, which is pretty sad. Jameson’s scenes are great, of course, and deliver some much-needed comic relief. And naturally, I have to mention the upside-down kiss in the rain. What? It’s a good scene.
The film, though, is not without downsides. The special effects... yeah, it’s an older movie, but it looks pretty bad sometimes. The CG Spider-Man often looks stiff and rubbery and unnatural, and some of the acrobatics look pretty silly (Peter’s flip when he fights Flash). The worst is the scene where the Green Goblin attacks the festival in Times Square. Goblin’s murder of several of his former co-workers is hilarious, because they disintegrate into bad CG skeletons. It’s like freaking Looney Tunes. The worst offender, though, is the Green Goblin’s costume. For all his awesomeness, he’s got an awful design. Sure, his comic design looks really goofy and probably wouldn’t work in live action, but... come on. If Spidey wanted to beat this version of the Green Goblin, he should have gathered up four other teenagers with attitude. Some of the scenes don’t quite work for other reasons. There’s one scene where Peter cries over Uncle Ben’s death, but it looks very much like Tobey Maguire is trying very hard not laugh. Some of his more Sheldon-like expressions can make scenes unintentionally funny as well. Generally, though, the film’s writing, acting, and cinematography are very good.
So, final thoughts on Spider-Man? Yeah, I like it. I can’t really bring myself to feel really strongly about it either way, since it’s not really outstanding and I only saw it once as a kid and never got a sense of nostalgia for it. Nor is it terrible. It’s not as good as Spider-Man 2, but it’s not as bad as Spider-Man 3. It’s got a few bad points, it’s got a lot more good points, and it’s what we in the industry term “pretty darn good”. A must see for any fan of superhero movies.
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