Spider-Man (2002) Review — The Best Of The Raimi Trilogy
In preparation for Spider-Man: No Way Home, I decided to rewatch all past Spider-Man films before No Way Home, obviously starting with Spider-Man (2002). This is one of my favorite Spider-Man films and in my opinion, it’s the best of the Raimi trilogy. Not the highly praised Spider-Man 2. I know that’s kinda blasphemous for some of my fellow fans, especially those that love the Raimi films the most but to me, the first entry of this trilogy is better at storytelling and pay off than Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. So many things are followed through, whether be for Peter and other characters like Norman, MJ, and Harry.
Sam Raimi, when directing these films, have said the Christopher Reeves' Superman films had an influence on his trilogy and you can definitely see some of that. There are some obvious references like when Peter takes off his shirt, Superman style as he’s about to face off with Green Goblin for the first time or how much interior of the Daily Bugle looks like the classic Daily Planet Clark Kent works at. To me, this whole film has the tone and feel of a perfect modern day Superman movie and I’m honestly surprised some recent Superman films were never inspired by the Raimi trilogy. With exception of a certain fun horror scene in Spider-Man 2, I felt Raimi’s style shined the most in here. His direction is dynamic in Spider-Man, especially with how he handles the arcs for Peter and Norman.
There is so many incredible moments in here and I love how this delivers, especially with most of the cast. Whether it’ll be Willem Dafoe’s amazing performance as Green Goblin, JK Simmons as Jonah or even some subtle performances with some of the side characters like Bill Nunn as Robbie Robertson. Spider-Man (2002) never really disappoints though some things haven’t aged well like some of the CGI or James Franco as Harry Osborn. Spider-Man is still impacting after all this time and it’s one of my favorite comic book films. It’s one of those films I can rewatch any time and any day.
While I do think there are some Spidey films better than this, I will always have a soft spot for the 2002 film and there are moments I feel at home when watching this. It’s one of those films that’s never boring in any scene and it constantly grabs your attention. I do think it’s not for everyone as I know some Spidey fans who didn’t like the bright colors in Spider-Man (2002) and goofiness with some of the dialogue. The romance could be better but I think Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst do make the romance feel more believable. As a Spidey fan, I was a bit weirded out at how they reversed some aspects of Peter and MJ’s relationship as in the comics, she fell for him first and then he reciprocated while in this, Peter always loved her and then MJ fell in love with him.
With how much this film tackles, I am still surprised there were no mechanical webshooters from the comics and it was considered at one point but I get why Sam Raimi felt the mechanical webshooters would be tough to sell to most mainstream audiences along with other elements of Spidey. While the organic webshooters doesn’t really bother me, I do get why some Spidey fans were upset and I am glad the films with Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland brought in the mechanical webshooters. Out of all the Spidey films, I think this is most easy for non comic book readers to get into as for most people, this was their first introduction to Spider-Man. Along with Blade (1998) and other Marvel adaptations that were happening at the time, this was one of the first comic book films to help heal the reputation of superhero genre after Batman and Robin (1997). Spider-Man is one of my favorite films and it’s a film that forever inspired me to get more into comics, superheroes, and other films.
It’s a film that screams iconic in so many scenes, especially with the visuals and the memorable score by Danny Elfman. The superhero genre is my favorite genre and Spider-Man (2002) is one of the reasons why I fell in love with the genre. If you asked me to rate it out of five stars, it would be a 4 out of 5 for me. If you like superhero films and haven’t seen it, go check it out. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
