Spider-Man (2002 movie)

Spider-Man is an American 2002 superhero movie. It was made from the story of the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. It was the first in the Spider-Man movie series. It was written by David Koepp and directed by Sam Raimi. Tobey Maguire starred as Peter Parker / Spider-Man. Kirsten Dunst played the girl Peter loves, Mary-Jane Watson, and Willem Dafoe played the bad guy, Norman Osborn.
Plot
At the start of the movie, Peter Parker is a very smart teenager, who lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He is friends with Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson. Peter has loved Mary Jane since he was young. Peter is bullied at school by the other teenagers. On a school trip Peter is accidentally bitten by a spider that had been mutated (or changed) in a science study. This allows him to climb up walls, make spider webs come from his wrists, jump high, move fast and become very strong. Peter uses his powers to fight the bully Flash Thompson and beats him up. When Ben finds out, he teaches Peter that "with great power comes great responsibility." Peter ignores Ben and uses his powers to win a wrestling competition, to win prize money to impress Mary Jane. However, the cashier does not pay Peter what he said he would. A criminal steals a lot of money from the cashier and runs off. Peter does not try to catch the criminal, as revenge for not getting paid as much as he wanted. The criminal then steals Ben's car and shoots Ben. Peter returns to find Ben shot, and Ben dies in his arms. Peter angrily sets off to capture the killer. When he does, he is horrified to find that the man is the same criminal he refused to stop. From then on, Peter becomes Spider-Man and vows to fight crime, using Ben's words to their fullest. Peter takes a job as a photographer at the Daily Bugle selling photos to J. Jonah Jameson, who seems to be jealous of Spider-Man and makes Spider-Man look bad in the paper.
Meanwhile, Harry's father Norman Osborn is in trouble. Norman is the CEO (or head) of his own company name Oscorp. Oscorp does science studies and is working on a device that will allow someone to fly, as well as a new formula that will make a person stronger. Norman is ready to test the formula on humans, but his fellow scientists say the formula is still too dangerous. Norman decides to test the formula on himself. The formula does allow Norman to move fast and makes him very strong, but also drives him insane. Later the executive board of Oscorp kicks Norman off the board, angering him. Norman steals the flying device and becomes the Green Goblin. The Green Goblin attacks and kills the board members at a parade, causing a fight with Spider-Man. Later Green Goblin captures Spider-Man and offers to work together. During a fire at a building, the Green Goblin uses his voice and pretends to be someone trapped. When Spider-Man goes to rescue the person, he finds the Green Goblin. Spider-Man refuses Green Goblin's offer to work together, causing another fight. During the fight, Spider-Man's arm is cut. Later Peter, Norman, Harry, Mary Jane and Aunt May meet at Peter's apartment for Thanksgiving. Norman notices Peter's cut on his arm and realizes that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.
Green Goblin then starts planning to hurt Peter. He scares Aunt May so badly that she has to go to the hospital. There, Peter realizes that the Green Goblin knows he is Spider-Man and that he loves Mary Jane and will attack her next. When Peter calls her on the phone the Green Goblin has already taken her, and tells her to meet him at a bridge. Spider-Man goes there and finds the Green Goblin has Mary Jane in one arm and a group of kids in a bus in the other hand. Green Goblin forces Spider-Man to choose between saving the person he loves or saving innocent civilians. He then drops both at once. Spider-Man grabs Mary Jane first and uses his webbing to save the kids at the last second. The Green Goblin is angry and attacks Spider-Man. But a bunch of New York people start to protect Spider-Man, throwing trash and knocking the Green Goblin off balance.
The Green Goblin then grabs Spider-Man and they start to fight inside an abandoned building. The fight is very violent and Spider-Man starts to bleed. Finally, after Spider-Man knocks the Green Goblin down, the Green Goblin reveals that he is Norman Osborn. Spider-Man is very surprised. Norman then distracts Peter and talks to him as he tries to get his flying device to move and to kill Peter. Spider-Man jumps out of the way at the last second and the flying device impales Norman instead, killing him. Dying, Norman asks Peter not to tell Harry that he was the Green Goblin.
The last scene is at a cemetery for the funeral of Norman. During the ceremony, Harry tells Peter that he swears that Spider-Man will die because Spider-Man killed his father. Mary Jane tells Peter that she loves him, but Peter fears his enemies will attack her again, so he tells her that he can only be her friend.
Production
A trailer containing original footage was shown for screenings of the 2001 movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The trailer shows a group of bank robbers flying in a helicopter and land on a giant web between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The trailer was recalled following the September 11 attacks. As a response, a scene where New Yorkers throw food at the Green Goblin and wave their flags while yelling "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us" was added for reshoots.
Reception
After the movie was kept from being made for almost 25 years, it was shown in theaters on May 3, 2002. Critics liked it a lot and it broke many movie records. It made more money than any other movie in the year 2002. As of late 2007, Spider-Man is the seventh highest grossing movie in the United States and 17th highest world wide. It made enough money and two sequels have been made, Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
Cast
Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson
James Franco as Harry Osborn
Cliff Robertson as Uncle Ben Parker
Rosemary Harris as Aunt May Parker
J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
Gerry Becker as Maximilian Fargas
Bill Nunn as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson
Jack Betts as Henry Balkan
Stanley Anderson as General Thomas Slocum
Ron Perkins as Dr. Mendel Stromm
Joe Manganiello as Flash Thompson
References
Other websites
2000s superhero movies
2002 movies
Columbia Pictures movies
English-language movies
Impact of the September 11 attacks
Movies composed by Danny Elfman
Movies directed by Sam Raimi
Spider-Man (2002 movie series)