Marvel May - Spider-Man (2002)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, we've talked about quite a few Marvel Cinematic Universe titles to kick off this year's Marvel May, such as Loki, What If...?, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But, before I give you guys my full review of Moon Knight, I'd like to break away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to discuss some other Marvel movies that were made outside of the MCU, starting with arguably one of the most beloved Marvel Comics superheroes: Spider-Man. So, let's get started with my review of the 2002 film Spider-Man starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, and directed by Sam Raimi. 

        So the movie explores both the origins of Spider-Man and his arch-nemesis the Green Goblin. In fact, we see that, during a senior class field trip to the Columbia University lab, Peter is bitten by one of the lab's genetically engineered super spiders. The spider's bite gives him extraordinary abilities, and also fixes his eyesight, eliminating the need for his glasses. Other abilities include wall crawling, organic webbing from his wrists, and his signature spider-sense (no, I'm not calling it the "Peter tingle," because that's an MCU joke. Sorry.) Meanwhile, at the Oscorp laboratory, Norman Osborn, about to lose his company's military contract to Quest Aerospace, tests a performance enhancement serum on himself, which gives him enhanced strength and agility, but also gives his a split personality, one is his ordinary self, and the other is a complete psychopath known as the Green Goblin. 

      So, while the Goblin makes it his goal to essentially eliminate anything keeping Norman from gaining mass influence and power, Peter trains to home his new abilities, and tests them out in a pro-wrestling match against "Bonesaw" McGraw, in easily one of the more memorable moments of the movie. After the match, and getting stiffed on the cash prize, which he was given $100 instead of the promised $3,000, a robber steals the money from the promoter, and runs out and steals the car of Peter's uncle, Ben, apparently shooting Ben in the stomach and killing him. Peter chases the thief down, and causes him to fall to his death out of a window of an abandoned building. After returning home to his Aunt May, Peter uses Ben's words, "with great power comes great responsibility," as inspiration to protect New York from criminals as the masked superhero Spider-Man. 

        Upon graduation from high school, Peter moved in with his best friend, Harry Osborn, son of Norman. Peter then gets a freelance gig snapping photos of Spider-Man to sell to the Daily Bugle and it's editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson, who considers Spider-Man to be a menace, despite the protests to the contrary by Jameson's number two at the Bugle, Robbie. During a parade, and after the Oscorp board kicks Norman out of his own company to sell it to Quest Aerospace, Norman suits up as the Green Goblin to kill the board members and wreak havoc during the parade, with Peter suiting up as Spider-Man to stop him. 

         Throughout the rest of the movie, Goblin tries to get Spider-Man to join him, but Spider-Man refuses, and the two continue to fight. However, once Norman realizes that Peter is Spider-Man, he then goes after the ones that Peter cares about, including his Aunt May, and a mutual love interest to both Peter and Harry: Mary Jane Watson. Goblin attacks Aunt May, leaving her in the hospital, and then abducts Mary Jane, forcing Spider-Man to choose between saving her and saving a monorail car full of children. Peter saves both, and some of New York's citizens throw stuff at the Goblin, siding with Spider-Man once more. 

         Once Mary Jane and the children are safe, Peter and the Goblin take their fight elsewhere, where the Goblin unmasks to reveal that he's Norman. Norman tries to reason with Peter, but to no avail, and then tries to kill him with the Goblin Glider. Peter jumps to avoid it, and Norman is impaled and killed by his own glider, asking Peter for one favor: not to tell Harry. Peter then takes Norman back to the Osborn mansion, where Harry sees him and blames Spider-Man for Norman's death. During Norman's funeral, Harry swears revenge, Peter decides not to pursue Mary Jane for her safety, and looks upon Uncle Ben's grave and vows that he will continue to fight for New York as Spider-Man, ending the movie. 

      Okay, so this movie is still celebrated amongst Marvel fans, as it was the movie that put Spider-Man on the map in a big way. As far as casting goes, Tobey Maguire is still just as beloved in the role of Spider-Man today as he was twenty years ago when the movie first came out. It's crazy to think it's been that long, but here we are. Of course, Willem Dafoe was god-tier levels of awesome as the Green Goblin. Honestly, his take on this character should be on a comic book supervillain monument alongside Jack Nicholson as the Joker, he was that good. Even after all this time, he proved he's still the definitive Green Goblin when he reprised the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home. I also, of course loved J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, and he's still the definitive Jameson. Why else did they bring him back for the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? 

      As for actors that didn't hold up so well, I gotta say that I'm not particularly fond of either Rosemary Harris or Cliff Robertson as Aunt May or Uncle Ben. I honestly think that both characters have been done so much better in later Spider-Man franchises. I also am not as big of a fan of Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. Don't get me wrong, she did well back when this movie was popular, but she's kinda fallen short when compared to Peter's other love interests in later franchises. I also think that we didn't get the best material from James Franco as Harry Osborn in this movie. Don't worry, he definitely got better as the franchise went on, but not in this movie I'm afraid. 

         The story, while very simplistic and easy to follow, definitely still holds up. I thoroughly enjoy going back to this movie to enjoy the story of Peter becoming Spider-Man, Norman becoming the Green Goblin, and the two ultimately coming to blows. However, the visual effects don't hold up nearly as well. Sadly, the visual effects have aged pretty poorly over the years, especially with the swinging shots, which as I've said have been done much better in later Spider-Man franchises. 

       Of course, there are two cameos that are worth pointing out: there's Stan Lee's cameo during the parade scene, and Bruce Campbell's cameo as the wrestling announcer that gives Peter the nickname of Spider-Man, noting that Peter's chosen nickname of "The Human Spider" just straight up sucks. 

        Overall, Sam Raimi did a terrific job with this movie. Even twenty years later, it's still beloved among Marvel fans. Even with certain elements having aged pretty badly, it's still a great movie. I'm giving Spider-Man a rating of 4.75/5. This is Chuck signing off, and be sure to join me on Tuesday when Marvel May continues with Spider-Man 2.