One of the Best Superhero Origin Stories Put To Film

Rating: 9/10 (30 March 2016)

Spiderman is directed by Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire as the awkward high school nerd Peter Parker. On a field trip to a science lab, Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider, and gained superhuman abilities of strength, reflexes, and heightened senses. He also now has the ability to stick to walls, and to shoot spider webs out of his wrists. When a new villain comes to town, a guy that calls himself the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Peter must handle his nerdy high school life, all while trying to save the city and the girl he loves, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).
Spiderman was one of the first Marvel films ever made, right behind X-Men (2000), and it literally made my childhood. I had Spiderman posters, bed sheets, window curtains, you name it. Spiderman was a very influential movie, and still holds up to day. People still love the original Raimi trilogy (or, the first two), and most like Tobey Maguire better than Andrew Garfield (no offense Garfield fans). This film is pretty close to perfect, and I'm here to tell you why.
One of the best things this film can offer is the close to perfect casting. Although Maguire might not make the best Spiderman, he definitely fits the role of Peter Parker, the high school loser that can't get anything besides his grades right. James Franco as Harry Osborn was a great choice, and was much better than Dane DeHaan with a face full of acne. Kirsten Dunst was a pretty good choice for Mary Jane, although I could've seen some other actress dye her hair red and then scream for two hours. Willem Dafoe was an amazing choice for Norman Osborn, or Green Goblin, and handled that role with a lot of confidence and pulled it off nicely. However, the best casting choice was J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. I truly believe that this was one of the best casting choices made in a film, ever. Simmons played Jameson perfectly, and was a highlight in every film, even the third one, but we don't talk about that.
Another great thing this movie pulls off is the direction and special effects. Sam Raimi is a great director, we all know that, but he does even better in these films than in the Evil Dead franchise. His work with the camera brings a feel to Spiderman that nobody else, including Marc Webb, could handle correctly. Now, the special effects in a couple parts look somewhat dated, but overall, they are really good. Most of them still hold up today, except for a couple shots here and there.
The score is also an extreme highlight of the film, done masterfully by Danny Elfman. Not even the great James Horner could replicate what Elfman did, when it came time to make The Amazing Spiderman (2012). The score adds an epic sense of liveliness to the film, especially in the action scenes (more on that later). The score sounds good with the film, or by itself, which really makes for a good soundtrack.
Now, the action scenes were directed beautifully, and were very clean without an over abundance of cuts, especially the end fight between Spiderman and the Green Goblin. All of the impossible jumps that Spiderman makes, or when he swings from structure to structure look amazing, and this is all thanks to Raimi and his abilities with the camera. He can make a talking scene look nice, or he can make an action scene look nice, which is a great quality for a director to have.
The best thing about this film is easily the vulnerability of our hero, Spiderman. Throughout the entire movie, Spiderman gets the crap beaten out of him, both physically and mentally. His thoughts are attacked, his body is attacked, his loved ones are attacked, and this is what makes the Green Goblin a great villain. He knows all of Spiderman's weaknesses, and he strikes them right where he should. This is where the film shines most, when the hero gets his butt kicked. This is because when the hero finally rises up to overcome the seemingly impossible hurdle, it makes the audience feel all that much better about his victory. This is common in all great films that contain a "hero", such as every film in the Dark Knight trilogy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and even movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Now, the only complaint I had, and this is very nitpicky, is the suit of the Green Goblin. There's no way to let it down easily, he looks like a Power Ranger. Although the suit doesn't look bad, they should've gone with something a bit more realistic, and not just completely comical. If they would've done this, he wouldn't have looked like a Power Ranger, and he possibly would've looked as cool as he actually was.
Overall, Spiderman is an amazing superhero movie, and an amazing movie, and one of the best origin stories put to film. I recommend Spiderman to anyone and everyone; it's worth your time.