After the "No Way Home" Trailer I decided to rewatch this movie after a couple of years.
I grew up on Spider-Man. Mostly on the comics and the 90s animated series and he has always been my favorite superhero. When this movie premiered I was 11 years old and freaked out about it. I loved it! It was my favorite comic book hero coming to life. But well, time goes by, taste changes, different adaptations come along and you start to grow out of your nostalgia goggles.
I still have a soft spot for this film today, but I‘m also not a fan. I think part of my initial love (despite being 11 and having the taste of an 11 year old) was my excitement of seeing a live action version of Spider-Man, as well as this film and the first X-Men movie bringing back the superhero genre to the big screen after a serious drought through the 90s (do we still blame Batman & Robin?).
Taking a step back from nostalgia however the film itself is not that great. As an adaptation and a movie in general. Sure, in a way it’s innovative for the genre but should that get so much weight in retrospective?
As an origin story for the character it’s fine. You meet nerdy High School kid Peter Parker, the spider bite happens, "with great power comes great responsibility" and you know the drill. The pacing is mostly fine. It takes its time to establish world and characters and has enough action sequences to keep the audience entertained.
The look and general special effects have aged poorly, unfortunately. Well, Green Goblin never looked great to begin with. While this was 2002 (and I‘m sure budget played a role) it’s hilarious that the same year "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" released and made Gollum look as realistic as a real life person, we got Green Goblin looking like a Power Rangers reject. Or that some scenes look like a PS2 game (the parade you guys, the parade). It still doesn’t take the fun out of it though. If anything it adds that odd early 2000s charm to the movie.
My major issues actually come from two different areas: Casting and dialogue.
Tobey Maguire has never been my favorite Spider-Man and I stand by that. I never got the obsession with him in that role to be honest. He is a fine actor, who delivered some good performances (Pleasantville being a movie I absolutely love) but he never felt right in the role (the writing for the character is also to blame). He does a fine early Peter Parker, nerdy and awkward, though he never feels like the genius Peter is supposed to be. He also barely grows as a character. But his Peter is not the problem, though he sounds incredibly whiney sometimes. It’s his Spidey I can’t take seriously. The Spider-Man persona is supposed to be witty, sarcastic, an over confident jokester. He just comes off as awkward and trying too hard, the issue of terrible dialogue also comes in here.
James Franco feels weirdly out of place as Harry and acts like such a douche that it’s hard to believe Peter would even be friends with him and Kirsten Dunst is so bland as Mary Jane, she is sadly reduced to damsel in distress and McLoveInterest (gets kidnapped in every single movie). I also don’t see any chemistry between Maguire and Dunst. Yes, that one kiss scene is iconic, but it’s hardly a marker for actual chemistry.
Willem Dafoe is obviously perfect as Norman Osborne. I mean he is hilariously whacky and completely over the top, but he just goes with it. And how he goes with it. He makes weird faces, weird noises, does weird voices and embraces every part of his character with the most commitment one can ask for. He is also the only one seemingly aware how campy the movie is and therefore the only one not as dull as a brick wall.
The dialogue is probably the real issue here though. Look, I can take camp but it’s ridiculous. Maybe Raimi drank some of the George Lucas cool aid, but we were one “Sand Monologue" away from complete disaster. Or no, scratch that. "It’s You who is out Gobby, out of your mind" is equally as bad.
I probably sound like I’m hating the movie but I really don’t. I can appreciate it as a campy, over the top, melodramatic superhero soap opera. I enjoy watching it. I enjoy it for what it is. I also think it’s overhyped, because of its nostalgic value.
Review by TinkaBlockedParent2021-09-01T20:44:41Z
After the "No Way Home" Trailer I decided to rewatch this movie after a couple of years.
I grew up on Spider-Man. Mostly on the comics and the 90s animated series and he has always been my favorite superhero. When this movie premiered I was 11 years old and freaked out about it. I loved it! It was my favorite comic book hero coming to life. But well, time goes by, taste changes, different adaptations come along and you start to grow out of your nostalgia goggles.
I still have a soft spot for this film today, but I‘m also not a fan. I think part of my initial love (despite being 11 and having the taste of an 11 year old) was my excitement of seeing a live action version of Spider-Man, as well as this film and the first X-Men movie bringing back the superhero genre to the big screen after a serious drought through the 90s (do we still blame Batman & Robin?).
Taking a step back from nostalgia however the film itself is not that great. As an adaptation and a movie in general. Sure, in a way it’s innovative for the genre but should that get so much weight in retrospective?
As an origin story for the character it’s fine. You meet nerdy High School kid Peter Parker, the spider bite happens, "with great power comes great responsibility" and you know the drill. The pacing is mostly fine. It takes its time to establish world and characters and has enough action sequences to keep the audience entertained.
The look and general special effects have aged poorly, unfortunately. Well, Green Goblin never looked great to begin with. While this was 2002 (and I‘m sure budget played a role) it’s hilarious that the same year "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" released and made Gollum look as realistic as a real life person, we got Green Goblin looking like a Power Rangers reject. Or that some scenes look like a PS2 game (the parade you guys, the parade). It still doesn’t take the fun out of it though. If anything it adds that odd early 2000s charm to the movie.
My major issues actually come from two different areas: Casting and dialogue.
Tobey Maguire has never been my favorite Spider-Man and I stand by that. I never got the obsession with him in that role to be honest. He is a fine actor, who delivered some good performances (Pleasantville being a movie I absolutely love) but he never felt right in the role (the writing for the character is also to blame). He does a fine early Peter Parker, nerdy and awkward, though he never feels like the genius Peter is supposed to be. He also barely grows as a character. But his Peter is not the problem, though he sounds incredibly whiney sometimes. It’s his Spidey I can’t take seriously. The Spider-Man persona is supposed to be witty, sarcastic, an over confident jokester. He just comes off as awkward and trying too hard, the issue of terrible dialogue also comes in here.
James Franco feels weirdly out of place as Harry and acts like such a douche that it’s hard to believe Peter would even be friends with him and Kirsten Dunst is so bland as Mary Jane, she is sadly reduced to damsel in distress and McLoveInterest (gets kidnapped in every single movie). I also don’t see any chemistry between Maguire and Dunst. Yes, that one kiss scene is iconic, but it’s hardly a marker for actual chemistry.
Willem Dafoe is obviously perfect as Norman Osborne. I mean he is hilariously whacky and completely over the top, but he just goes with it. And how he goes with it. He makes weird faces, weird noises, does weird voices and embraces every part of his character with the most commitment one can ask for. He is also the only one seemingly aware how campy the movie is and therefore the only one not as dull as a brick wall.
The dialogue is probably the real issue here though. Look, I can take camp but it’s ridiculous. Maybe Raimi drank some of the George Lucas cool aid, but we were one “Sand Monologue" away from complete disaster. Or no, scratch that. "It’s You who is out Gobby, out of your mind" is equally as bad.
I probably sound like I’m hating the movie but I really don’t. I can appreciate it as a campy, over the top, melodramatic superhero soap opera. I enjoy watching it. I enjoy it for what it is. I also think it’s overhyped, because of its nostalgic value.