Review of Spider-Man (2002) by Mrmoviebuff — 13 Jun 2016

The friendly neighborhood web-slinger and widely popular Marvel comics character gets his big screen debut headed by Sam Raimi ('Evil Dead') in 'Spider-Man', a story about a young, loser boy who becomes more than what he's supposed to be.

The movie begins where we see a young kid named Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who often gets ridiculed in school due to his nerdy-like personality, and the fact that he never really amounts to anything. We discover that Peter has his eyes set on a girl he likes named Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) who is currently dating his high school nemesis Flash Thompson (Joe Manganiello).

Peter's best and only friend is Harry Osborn (James Franco), who is the son of a wealthy businessman Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) who attempts to experiment on a strength enhancer that ultimately goes wrong making him become the villain we all know as "The Green Goblin".

Peter lives peacefully at home with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), after he gets bitten by a radio-active spider, he begins to act strangely. The next day, he wakes up feeling riveted and almost strange, his hands seem to stick to any surface, he is quick to react, he can sense danger, and he can shoot webs that emerge from his wrist. There are moments where we see him testing these powers out as he attempts to jump from building to building at such a height. The scenes where he discovers more about these powers are fascinating to watch, as any young boy who would find out about having such powers would react the same way as Maguire does in his performance.

For anyone who is a huge fan of the character Spider-Man...this film will not disappoint, it contains everything you would want to see from a Spider-Man solo movie. Director Sam Raimi clearly knows the source material really well, and tried his best to stick to it as accurately as possible, Tobey Maguire is inspired as the nerdy, witty and sometimes emotionally distraught young kid who tries to adapt to his powers. The movie is surprisingly emotional, making Spider-Man more human and sympathetic is a constant reminder that there's more to this character than some red suit with a mask.

The movie is also surprisingly violent...Spider-Man is a character that appeals to a much younger audience, this film could frighten very young kids with its scary images and overly violent action scenes.

Some of the CGI in this movie does look a little animated, particularly in a scene that takes place in a Balcony that explodes. But, other than that, this is a solid superhero origin movie with a lot to love.