Spider-Man (2002) Review

 

        It’s about time I talked about Spider-Man from 2002. Hard to believe that it’s 20 years old and it’s one of my personal favorite comic book films. Considering of what came after and how the whole genre changed Hollywood in the years to come. I remember distinctly that my mother took me and my brother in on my town’s movie theaters. It’s one of those experiences that doesn’t leave my mind. 

1. Hero’s Journey

        Before I start, this wasn’t the first time I was exposed to the wall crawler. I remember moments in the late 90s and early 2000s when the animated show was on some networks. Occasionally, I tuned in to see what adventures happened to him. I even remember that there was some VHS compilations that came out and one of my family friends had one and we’d watched it. This and a video game helped my eventual fandom of the hero. 

        The movie is I think the 2000s generation of Superman: The Movie. In the 70s, people believed a man could fly. In 2002, audiences saw a teenager spin a web and save the day. Overall, the film does a good job of portraying the origins of Spider-Man. We see him played by Tobey Maguire, be just a typical nerd has the hots for Mary Jane Watson. 

        It’s the characterization of Peter Parker that makes him so relatable and beloved among comic book fans and the casual viewers. I love that we see him in his lowest and just how much he grows as person when he gets the powers. The best moment is when he has that conversation with Uncle Ben. Ben tells Peter probably the most quotable line ever associated with the hero. Peter is obviously in the wrong to talk back to him. After getting his “killer”, it gets complicated when the 3rd movie comes out, he figures out how to handle his new powers. 

        After watching some of Sam Raimi’s films, I was surprised that the studio was willing to let him helm a high-profile property. With all that, I think he was perfect for helming the project. It’s always a thing to see his directorial touches that are sprinkled in. Especially the moments of horror that’s in the film. While not over the top as in his Evil Dead films, most of the camera work is kinetic. Especially when Spider-Man swings, the camera moves with him. 

        Lastly, I just love the overall characterization of all the main characters. It gives the film depth and all the characters are three dimensional. I think the moment that best represents it is when we see that montage of some New Yorkers reacting to seeing the new hero. All of them are different, especially that one person who doesn't like the new savior. To me, it's a New York film through the lens of the citizens living there. It gives it a blue collar feel to it. 

        But the one who steals the performance is of course Norman Osborn. He’s a bullish businessman and scientist. He has a son, Harry, but it feels like a forced relationship that’s distant. When Norman is the Goblin, it’s a scene stealer. I just love that voice and that iconic cackle. He just manages to pull off being friendly, to just cruel in an instant. Like, yes, his costume does look silly, but it makes sense that he wears a mask since there’s a scene where he has a collection of indigenous ones.  

2. Fathers 

        This is one of those rare comic book films where it there’s some level of interpretation. It’s something I noticed on some viewings of the movie and it’s a poignant one since it relates to Peter Parker. Anyone who hasn’t picked up a comic book knows that Uncle Ben is the father figure to Peter. In the film it does that well, and having moments of Norman being one as well when he’s impressed by Peter. 

        Throughout the film, Norman feels that Harry is inadequate in comparison to Peter. Who has the same level of love for science. I feel that it gets more involved when Goblin and Spidey meet. Osborne wants Spider-Man to join him in his reign of terror. He obviously rejects it, and obviously gets worse for Peter later in the film. Little things like that, makes the film timeless since it has that factor going for it. 

3. The Film America Needed

        When the teaser came out, it had this one shot of a helicopter stuck in a web in between the World Trade Center. No one could’ve imagined what would happen months later after the trailer came out. In some way, the film works to assuage the anxiety of what happened. There’s even that moment between the first confrontation where the Goblin comes in and his glider is emitting the afterburner smoke. 

        Additionally, the people of the city come in to help Spider-Man when the Goblin is attacking him. That scene, whether it was planned ahead of time or reshot practically represented the American people stopping the villain. Like the whole film could’ve been a nationalistic propaganda film just after 9/11. But I’m glad that it can be interpreted that way, and give the American people a way to be proud that a hero with the same colors managing to fight back. 

4. Legacy: Reboots and Return

        This film obviously made bank in the box office. It was for a while the highest grossing film in the summer at that time. For reasons that I just explained. And it launched a media franchise that had tie-in merchandise. With the film’s success, more studios came out with other Marvel heroes, such as Daredevil and Hulk to name a few. While the others except for the X-Men didn’t meet the same reception as Spider-Man since it felt like the other studios wanted to make the same money as the web head. 

        The series spawned two sequels, and a third one that was abruptly cancelled. It was from there where Sony rebooted the hero again for the next generation. I didn’t understand it, until I was older as to why they had to reboot the character. If they hadn’t rebooted for 5 years, the rights would revert to Marvel and it’s obvious that Sony wouldn’t let their cash cow go back. Which is strange since the studio is willing to make films about the bad guys of Spidey. To horrific reception, but still bankable. 

        Spider-Man as whole is a bankable superhero property. People will go out and see a film, either live-action or animated to see the wall crawler. It was only appropriate where the live-action Spider-Men would meet for the first time. While I was expecting it to happen in the recent film, the way they went about it was just perfect. Seeing Tobey back, just shows just how much of an influence he had in being the first exposure to the beloved hero. 

5. Overall 

        Spider-Man is a movie that represents the early 2000s and still feels timeless. While it’s corny in some places, I think it was the point to lift America up and show that anyone can be a hero.