Review of Spider-Man (2002) by Mia B — 04 Nov 2015

The movie Spiderman tells the story of a geeky teenage boy who turns into a super hero because of a mistake at a genetics lab. Through a series of life altering trials, Peter Parker unlocks his true power and learns to use it for the good of society. The film shows how receiving great power can transform a person, but it can just as easily corrupt that person as well.

Before he gets powers, Peter Parker is meek because he is kind of scrawny, wears glasses and is a science whiz. His peers define him as a nerd and his lack of confidence shows how he doesn't fight his given label. An example of how easily Peter accepts his position as nerd is during his schools' visit to the genetics lab. All the other boys bump him and mess up the photos that he is trying to take for the school newspaper. Instead of standing up for himself, he just mutters under his breath and takes the abuse.

Peter Parker is not the only character in Spiderman who is given great power from scientific mistakes. Mr. Osborne is the founder of Oscorp and less importantly, the father of Harry Osborne. He later turns into the "Green" Goblin, which is quite ironic because the phrase "green with envy" definitely applies to Mr. Osborne. He is never satisfied with his own son but dotes on Peter Parker for his intelligence and scientific knowledge. This makes his son, Harry, resent Peter Parker. Mr. Osborne has consuming envy that causes him to use his powers for evil. I found Mr. Osborne's fascination with Peter Parker a little strange because Spiderman, Peter's alter ego, is his enemy.

Mr. Osborne is also jealous of Quest industries. He is in somewhat of a product race with that organization to win government funding. Mr. Osborne's ownership of Oscorp allows him to utilize his company solely for personal gain. Instead of using his intelligence to develop remedies to illness or deformities, Mr. Osborne is creating a human performance drug. In addition to not being a philanthropic man, he lives in a lavishly decorated mansion with his one son. In a sense, Mr. Osborne already has some sort of superpowers, wealth and intelligence, which he has abused even before he gets real super powers. In reality, it's no surprise that he turns into a villain once given super human powers.

Peter Parker and Mr. Osborne are very similar at first when they get their powers. Both take some time to recognize the power and its full extent. For example, immediately after Mr. Osborne came in contact with the human performance drug, he killed a man who expressed doubt in relation to Oscorp's product to the government contractor. After his fit of blind rage, he wasn't aware of what he had done. It is clear that he has two personalities for a short time, but later is consumed by the Green Goblin and is fully evil.

In a way, Peter Parker and Spiderman also are two coexisting personalities within one man. However they do not contradict each other; Spiderman is simply a better, more confident version of Peter. Compared to the Green Goblin, Peter has a more difficult time adjusting to his powers; for example, everything sticks to his hand and he can inconsistently shoot webs. On the bright side, he doesn't need glasses and is super buff.

Peter clearly is not complaining about finally not being a nerd, especially when it comes in handy. Once Peter recognizes that a significant change is occurring to his body and its abilities, he gets into a confrontational situation with a bully. Maybe for the first time in his entire life, Peter wins the fight. Although the school system and his uncle weren't as impressed as his peers. After beating up Flash, Uncle Ben tells Peter that "just because you can beat someone up, it doesn't mean you have to beat someone up", in an attempt to keep him from abusing his newly found strength. Mostly due to his sudden death, Uncle Ben made a huge impact on the moral standards of Spiderman, turning him into the hero that he was destined to be.

Both super human characters are ecstatic when they discover their new and unique powers. Both use them to defeat minor enemies. But in the end, Spiderman has the moral restraint to avoid a life of evil, while the Green Goblin's envy ruined his chances of being a hero.

Though, it was a long road for Spiderman to officially become a hero. One of Peter Parker's stumbling blocks is his uncle's death because he indirectly caused it. Peter gets revenge on a man who stole his wrestling prize money and in return his vengeful actions let a fugitive into the city. Uncle Ben was at the wrong place at the wrong time because the fugitive fatally shot him later that night. This weighs heavily on Peter throughout the movie. But it also marks the turning point of the film; Peter decides to do everything in his power to bring justice to his city.

Finally, in the end of the movie, Spiderman and the Green Goblin complete their character arcs. Spiderman has been saving the city from crime for quite some time before he faces the Green Goblin. Whereas the Green Goblin avenged his fallen company by murdering government contractors and consolidated his confused personalities into a single evil being. At the end of their epic battle, like most other superhero movies, Spiderman ultimately defeats the Green Goblin.

In addition to the uplifting central message that Uncle Ben explained when he told Peter, "with great power comes great responsibility", the movie also has amazing characterization. The movie vividly contrasts Peter Parker and Spiderman, juxtaposing many elements of their characters. For example, Peter always stutters and can't say things immediately because he isn't sure of himself. Spiderman, on the other hand, speaks his mind and never messes up what he wants to say.

Physically, the two characters differ in the way that Spiderman is much stronger than Peter Parker. One scene in particular illustrates the physical changes that Peter Parker underwent when he became Spiderman. The improvement in physical appearance transfer to Peter self-image when he isn't Spiderman too. At one point, Mary Jane notices that Peter starts to stand up straighter and she says "you know, you're taller than you look". Peter explains, "I hunch" and Mary Jane answers him, "You shouldn't." This shows that now Peter Parker is Spiderman, he stands up taller. Usually standing up straight and tall is a sign of confidence, which he finally gains through his super powers. However, Mary Jane doesn't know that Peter is Spiderman so she is telling Peter to be proud of who he is. She doesn't know that he has super powers motivating the surge in confidence, but realizes how genuine Peter is and wants him to accept who he is as a person.

One thing that I found funny about Peter Parker was his love for photography, which made sense before he was a super hero due to the hobby's sideliner nature. Once Peter became Spiderman, it was interesting that he kept with his hobby, despite the fact that he could no longer truly be a sideliner. It is the perfect cover up for Spiderman's character because no one would expect Peter Parker to be capable of the action that his super hero side experiences.

Peter Parker or Spiderman has a truly amazing character arc. He goes from being a simple, self-concerned teenage boy struggling through the social challenges of high school to an independent, heroic super human. In between his ordinary days and when he becomes a full-fledged hero, he is stuck in the middle morally. The Green Goblin serves as a foil to the in-between Spiderman stage. Both characters start to use their powers for personal gains. Although it is obvious that the Green Goblin is a villain and Spiderman is a developing hero, sometimes it looks a little ambiguous.

Alas, due to his uncle's unfortunate death, Peter realizes how easily his priceless gift can be wasted on selfish methods. Then, Peter comes full circle and does everything he can to be the best Spiderman possible by saving his citizens from bad guys almost every night. Both the Green Goblin and Spiderman had tough times in their lives; they both lost something very important to them. The major difference between the two super humans was the distribution of blame. Mr. Osborne never realized that he could have done something else to improve his company or products. He simply blamed his co-worker and the government contractor, both men he later murdered. Peter Parker understood that he was responsible for a large portion of the blame when his uncle died. He recognized how selfish he was and took it upon himself to help everyone he could, whenever he could. Another character defining difference is how the two men coped with their losses. When Mr. Osborne lost his company, he sought revenge. Whereas Peter Parker memorialized his late Uncle's death by living the way Uncle Ben would want him to. Both characters gained great super powers but their paths differ when they went about using it.