Spider-Man (2002)

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Spider-Man is an American superhero film, released in 2002, about the superhero Spider-Man created by Marvel Comics and Stan Lee. It was directed by Sam Raimi who had previously directed The Evil Dead franchise. It was written by David Koepp and it stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe and James Franco. It is the first film in the Spider-Man trilogy and was followed by Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and Spider-Man 3 in 2007.

The film was released May 3, 2002 and was met extremely well by viewers and critics alike. Reviewers praised the film for its exceptional use of special effects and also for the stellar performances by the actors, specifically Tobey Maguire. The viewers also loved the movie and with $821.71 million worldwide it became the third-highest-grossing film of 2002 behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It is currently the 23rd highest grossing film of all time. The film was also nominated for two Academy Awards for "Best Visual Effects" and "Best Sound". It is considered by many to be one of the greatest superhero films of all time.

Plot

Spider-Man tells the story of Peter Parker (Maguire) and how he becomes a superhero and the beginning of his career in crime fighting. Peter is a shy, geeky teenager living in New York City with his Uncle Ben ( Robertson) and Aunt May ( Harris). The neighbor of this pathetic person is the pretty and wonderful Mary Jane Watson (Dunst) whom Peter has had a crush on since the day he first saw her. Peter's best friend is the cool and rich Harry Osborn (Franco) who is the son of Norman Osborn (Dafoe). Norman is the president of the Oscorp corporation who are hard at work trying to get a deal to supply weapons to the US Army.

Peter checking out his delicious new body.

When Peter and his class are on a field trip to a genetics laboratory, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider. When he returns home he doesn't feel quite well and passes out in his bedroom. The next day he realizes that he doesn't need his glasses anymore because he has gotten perfect vision as well as a muscular body and faster reflexes. At school Peter accidentally gets into a fight because of his new abilities. He ends the fight easily and then escapes the school to further investigate his abilities. After he realizes that the spider bite has given spider-like powers he starts scaling walls and swinging through the city.

Peter quickly understands that his skills can be used to earn quick cash so he decides to join a wrestling tournament to win $3.000 which he can use to buy a car which should hopefully impress Mary Jane. As Peter's fight is about to begin the announcer introduces him as "The Amazing Spider-Man". Peter eventually wins the fight but the organizer only gives him $100. When Peter leaves the organizers office he sees that a thief robs him. He lets the thief leave and takes his revenge. But when Peter leaves the building he notices that his Uncle Ben has been killed by the same thief that he let go. Peter feels responsible for his death and dedicates his life to helping people and fighting crime as Spider-Man. The city gets very interested in Spider-Man so Peter decides to start taking pictures of himself and then selling them to the Daily Bugle's newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson ( Simmons).

Green Goblin in his Power Ranger suit.

Meanwhile, Norman is getting pressured by the military as they don't seem very interested in his creations. So Norman decides to test Oscorp's latest new performance-enhancing chemical on himself. The chemical works and it makes him stronger, but it also creates psychotic alter-ego inside Norman. He starts wearing a green Power-Ranger type suit and goes on a killing spree. He kills the Oscorp directors who had recently fired him. Spider-Man arrives at the scene which makes Norman leave. Jameson gives Norman's alter-ego the name "Green Goblin". Goblin offers Spider-Man to work with him. Spider-Man refuses the offer. Norman then discovers that Peter is the person behind Spider-Man's mask at a Thanksgiving Dinner and he decides to attack one of his loved ones, Aunt May.

Peter and Mary Jane meet at the hospital when they're both visiting Aunt May. Mary Jane tells Peter that she has a crush on Spider-Man. Peter also shares his feeling for Mary Jane with her. Harry then comes in the room and catches them holding hands. He runs home devastated and tells his father their love for each other. Now that Norman knows that Spider-Man has feelings for Mary Jane he takes her to the top of Queensboro Bridge. When Spider-Man arrives he notices Goblin is holding Mary Jane in his left hand and a tramway car full of children hostages in his right hand. He lets them both go at the same time, forcing Spider-Man to choose between who he should save. He saves both Mary Jane and the children, but Goblin manages to drag Spider-Man to an abandoned building not very far from the bridge. Here, Spider-Man eventually defeats Goblin and unmasks him. As Norman dies he tells Peter not to tell Harry.

Spider-Man brings Normans body to his house and lays him down on his sofa. Harry comes in the room and notices Spider-Man. As he pulls out his gun Spider-Man had already left the building. At Normans funeral Harry comes up Peter and tells him that he will kill Spider-Man to avenge his father's death. Mary Jane also tells Peter about her love for him and kisses him. Although Peter says that they can only remain friends, afraid that she might suffer further harm if Spider-Man's enemies found out that he is in love with her. The movie ends with Peter dramatically walking away from Mary Jane as he remember the words that Uncle Ben told him once, "With great powers, comes great responsibility."

Reception

The film was a hit with both audiences and critics. Tobey Maguire's strong performance came as a pleasant surprise to critics, and the film was considered at the time to be among the greatest comic book adaptations ever.

Spider-Man made over $100 million dollars in its first weekend, the first film to ever do so. It eventually became the highest grossing movie of the year.