Spider-Man (2002)
Review Date: April 21st, 2022
The 1 that started it all. Spider-Man (2002) is the movie that changed the course of superhero movies. It even shows on how Peter Parker became Spider-Man very well though. But it may not be 100% accurate like in the comics though. But in the movie, he fights crime, while facing the Green Goblin. But anyways, let’s get down to the review.
CAST:
Tobey Maguire - Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Willem Dafoe - Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
Kirsten Dunst - Mary Jane Watson
James Franco - Harry Osborn
Cliff Robertson - Ben Parker
Rosemary Harris - May Parker
J.K. Simmons - J. Jonah Jameson
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!
On a school trip, a 12th Grader in high school named Peter Parker visits a Columbia University genetics laboratory with his best friend Harry Osborn, & his crush Mary Jane Watson. Suddenly, a radioactive spider bites him, & he becomes sick after returning home. Meanwhile, Harry’s father named Norman Osborn is both the founder & owner of OSCORP, tries to secure an important military contract. He experiments on himself with an unstable performance-enhancing chemical, & goes insane, killing his assistant.
1 day later, Peter discovers that he can see without his glasses, & has the powers that are similar to what an average spider does. He has the ability to shoot webs out of his wrists, has quick reflexes, superhuman speed, strength, & a heightened ability to sense danger. After Uncle Ben says…
With Great Power comes Great Responsibility!
Peter Parker enters an underground wrestling tournament to win some money for it, so that he can buy a car, & impress Mary Jane. He wins the 1st match against Bonesaw McGraw. But the promoter cheats him out of his earnings. When a thief robs the promoter’s office, Peter allows him to escape in retaliation.
I missed the part where that’s my problem.
Moments later, he discovers that Uncle Ben was carjacked, & killed. So he pursues the carjacker, only to realize that it was the same thief that he let him escape. The carjacker escapes. But dies after falling out of a window.
Meanwhile, Norman Osborn interrupts a military experiment by Oscorp’s corporate rival named…
QUEST AEROSPACE
And kills several people.
Upon graduating high school, Peter Parker starts to use his spider-like abilities to fight crime & injustice, donning a spandex costume & the persona of…
Spider-Man!
J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper, hires Peter as a freelance photographer, since he’s the only person that can provide great images of Spider-Man. Elsewhere, Norman Osborn assassinates multiple people, after discovering that Oscorp’s board plans to remove him, so that they can sell the company to Quest. But Jameson dubs the mysterious killer as…
The Green Goblin!
The Green Goblin offers Spider-Man a place at his side. But he refuses. They fight, & Peter is wounded. During Thanksgiving, Aunt May notices Peter’s wound, & Norman Osborn finds out that Peter Parker is Spider-Man all along. Thinking that the only way to defeat Spider-Man is to attack the people he cares about, Norman Osborn attacks Aunt May, forcing her to be hospitalized.
Sometime after, Norman Osborn holds both Mary Jane, & a Roosevelt Island Tram car full of children hostage, forcing Peter to make a choice on who he wants to save. Norman Osborn drops them both, & Peter saves both of them at the same time. Shortly after, they fight at an abandoned building. Peter Parker defeats him. But Norman Osborn reveals himself as the Green Goblin, & begs for forgiveness, while preparing his glider to impale Peter from behind. Peter Parker uses his spider-sense to dodge the attack, & Norman gets impaled by his own glider instead.
Then, Normal Osborn tells Peter Parker not to reveal his identity to Harry Osborn, & he dies. As Peter takes his body back to the Osborn house, Harry Osborn thinks that Spider-Man killed his father, & pulls a gun on him. But he escapes.
During Norman Osborn’s funeral, Harry vows to have revenge on Spider-Man, whom he deems responsible for his father’s death. Mary Jane tells Peter that she loves him, & they kiss. But he tells her that they can only be friends, so that he can protect her from the unwanted attention of his enemies, & hides his true identity. As Peter Parker leaves the funeral, he recalls Uncle Ben’s words, accepting his new responsibility as…
SPIDER-MAN!
THE END
Spider-Man (2002) is definitely a great movie. It received a lot of praise for redefining the modern superhero genre, along with positive reviews.
I remember watching it as a kid back when I was 8/9 years old. I didn’t remember much. But now that I watched it last night, it was a great movie. For those of you who are really huge Spider-Man fans, here are some comics that I pulled off from the internet:
NOTE: FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY! ALL RIGHTS GO TO MARVEL & THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS!
Amazing Fantasy #15:
Amazing Spider-Man #1:
Amazing Spider-Man #2:
OVERALL: 9.5/10
End of Review