Spider-Man (2002) Review
Despite some unintentionally funny dialogue and cheesy effects, Spider-Man is still a heart warming attempt at igniting a franchise.
by Joshua Hess
Sony's Spider-Man directed by Sam Raimi is most certainly a time capsule. From its opening credits we can see plenty of film grain, a 3D title sequence complete with a computer generated Spider-Man making cool poses in between the webs, and then a fade into the start of the movie with voice narration by Tobey Maguire. While this may have been cutting edge for the time, it hasn't aged very well compared to what we see today. This isn't a complaint, this is more of an observation. Ignoring the campy CGI, the cinematography is actually pretty impressive. Unlike many Marvel films of the current generation, Spider-Man makes sure that we see the city of New York with some impressive establishing shots and elegant backdrops. The cinematography, however, is not why this film is so great. The reason why is because of the heartfelt acting. The emotional depths to most of the characters on screen is absolutely brilliant, which is thanks to not only the magnificent writing, but the brevity of the actors. A few highlights for me were Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, and Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris and Ben and May Parker, respectively.
Unfortunately, as far as Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane goes, she is extremely underwritten. Mary Jane spends the film either in distress or in love with some new man. This may be because of the time period that this film was released, but I still feel disheartened that we won't see Mary Jane done justice in this movie. Another note to make about Mary Jane; her character is also a terrible person. For example, the scene in Peter and Harry's apartment during Thanksgiving. We see Norman flee from the apartment after he discovers Peter's identity as Spider-Man and make a dash for the elevator. Harry rushes after him to ask why he's leaving and Norman begins a tirade that's basically about how terrible women are and how Harry should bang M.J. and then leave her. Of course, it would be terrible to hear these things being said about you by your boyfriend's father, and Mary Jane has every right to be upset in this scene, but you can also imagine Harry's heartbreak while listening to his own dad say these sexist and terrible things to him. Instead of giving Harry some sort of comfort in this moment and being his shining light at the end of this dark moment, she places all of the blame on Harry and storms out of the apartment because she thinks Harry didn't stick up for her enough.
WHATTTTT???
This is only one of the many head scratching scenes that involve Mary Jane. Another example that really doesn't sit with me well is the ending scene. All of our characters are at Norman Osborn's funeral after the climactic final battle between Green Goblin and Spider-Man. Obviously, Harry is battling some pretty dark demons during this, as he is not only grasping with the death of his father, but he is also shifting blame onto Spider-Man and assuming that Spider-Man murdered him. So during this, you would think that maybe Mary Jane would give him a hug or a shoulder touch. Just something that signals to him "I feel bad for you during this moment and I am also a human being capable of more than one emotion at a time." Instead, she waits for his character to leave and then professes her love to Peter. Yes, she thinks that out of every single time that she could have possibly told him this, it had to be at a FUNERAL of a good friend.
Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I find it very hard to grow attached to her character when I'm given no redeeming qualities to her. I find it kind of sickening that the writers could toss her character to the side and assume we wouldn't notice because it's a Spider-Man movie. That ideology is why many films with a female side character suck after a few watches. Basically, what I'm saying is give women a better role other than stuck up, emotional, and stupid. Thanks!
Ignoring the bad that I mentioned, this movie exceeds in more ways than one. The story was pretty consistent throughout, I didn't notice any major plot holes. The film works in some pretty clever foreshadowing and callbacks that work really well. All in all, I think this is a pretty high quality movie. I never really felt bad for myself as a kid for having to watch it when it came out.
7/10. Did you agree with me? Let me know!