Peter Parker is a high school student who is nerdy, shy, and slightly awkward. There is nothing unusual or out of the ordinary with Peter. That is until his class goes on a trip to a laboratory. During a presentation at the lab, a runaway radioactive spider lands on Peter and bites him, changing his life in a way you couldn't possibly comprehend. He awakes the next day to find he has acquired a muscular physique and improved eyesight, no longer needing his glasses. However, things get stranger when he gains the ability to cling to surfaces, shoot webs from his wrists, and have a spider-like sense. Whilst Peter comes to grasp his new abilities, a millionaire and owner of Oscorp Industries, Norman Osborn, creates a performance-enhancing drug but being rushed for time, he administers it on himself despite not being perfect yet. Things go very wrong and cause a maniacal alter ego, the Green Goblin to emerge taking control of Osborn. Peter Parker uses his abilities to fight crime and protect the neighbourhood as Spider-Man battles the Goblin. This is a fabulous superhero movie and a Spider-Man one at that, showing his origin story from the comics onto our screens. It has some great action and fights sequences, and even though there is some very noticeable bad CGI in places, this film does still hold up today but to its credit, such technology was in its early years. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy is definitely a lot of fun, delivering some great comic book villains and Spider-Man stories and this was certainly a phenomenal starting point. I grew up seeing these films and they have become a special place in my heart and childhood. The costume for Spider-Man is also very iconic and this movie did a great job with this suit, a big shout out to the designers and costume makers. The red and blue are so striking and vibrant and whenever it is on full display the power and coolness exude off it. Spider-Man has become an icon in pop culture history and is beloved by all ages, especially by younger audiences. I adore this version of Spider-Man, played by Tobey Maguire and especially other performances from actors like Willem Dafoe, who played the Green Goblin. Each brings so much talent to the table in all aspects from vocal work to facial expressions. The film has so many quotable catchphrases with the most notable and equally iconic line from Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility." Not to mention that it also has an amazing score, composed by Danny Elfman, whose music really ups the action and emotional moments, setting the mood perfectly. He composed music for other superhero films like Batman (1989) and the main theme is one of my favourite of his pieces and the music in this film is equally fantastic. Even having Stan Lee, creator of Marvel, as well as Spider-Man, cameos in the movie always brings a smile to my face. He would go on to star as background characters and have small roles in Marvel movies, making for some hilarious and fun cameos for viewers to find. In this one, he has a split-second appearance saving a child from falling rubble. What a guy! There are also some great brutal fights and visuals in this film too, especially when it comes to the final showdown between Spider-Man and the Goblin. There is some very bloody action that will have you on the edge of your seat as the two battle to the death. It even gets so extreme, to the point where I could almost feel the impact of every single punch or impact with both of their costumes tearing and breaking. It is obvious the two are quite equal and have met their matches. Overall, Spider-Man is a superb superhero classic. This has its fair share of some phenomenal scenes and quotes like that forever memorable line and so many more thanks to memes. This version of Spider-Man will forever be a part of so many people's childhoods and would go on to help be a resurgence for the superhero sub-genre that would become so popular a few years later. If you enjoyed this film check out the even better sequel, Spider-Man 2 (2004).
Runtime: 2h 1m
Director: Sam Raimi
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