My first exposure to superheroes was the 1990’s animated Spider-Man TV show and ever since then I have adored the character and everything he represents. However, during the early 00’s Spider-Man was simply inescapable as Sam Raimi’s trilogy dominated the box office and set a new standard for superhero films on the big screen. In the wake of the incredible Spider-Man: No Way Home, I felt compelled to revisit Raimi’s trilogy in the recent 4K UHD conversions to see just how instrumental they were in shaping superhero action movies.
High school science nerd Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a genetically altered spider whilst out on a school trip. The encounter imbues him with increased strength, agility, and the ability to climb walls and shoot webs from his wrists. Peter must learn to harness these new powers and use them for good, as well as maintain a healthy social life with his friends Harry Osborn (James Franco) and Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and land a steady job as a photographer. But when New York is threatened by the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Spider-Man is the only hope the city has against this new kind of super-menace.
High school science nerd Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is bitten by a genetically altered spider whilst out on a school trip. The encounter imbues him with increased strength, agility, and the ability to climb walls and shoot webs from his wrists. Peter must learn to harness these new powers and use them for good, as well as maintain a healthy social life with his friends Harry Osborn (James Franco) and Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and land a steady job as a photographer. But when New York is threatened by the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Spider-Man is the only hope the city has against this new kind of super-menace.
After spending almost a quarter of a century in development hell, Spider-Man released shortly after 1998’s Blade, and 2000’s X-Men which played a huge role in re-inventing how comic books were portrayed on screen. Spider-Man followed in this trend by presenting a superhero film that’s less about the superhero, but the man behind the mask. Whilst the title of the film may be Spider-Man, the majority of the film’s runtime sees Peter Parker struggle with the daily life of a high school graduate. The script spends so much time on making Peter a relatable human being, so that when he becomes Spider-Man, we aren’t just cheering because it’s some superhero action, but we’re cheering because we’re continuing to see Peter grow as a person and develop into the man he was born to be. This is helped massively by a great performance from Maguire who brings a great deal of sensitivity and naivety to the role, which is something genuinely unique to this incarnation of the character on the big screen. He’s incredibly humble, and always allowing opportunities to pass him by because he doesn’t think he’s good enough. But once the mask goes on his confidence skyrockets and he becomes the wise-cracking, city saving web slinger we all love. His alter-ego is truly a different person, and seeing that confidence slowly rub off on him over the course of the film is excellent.
But Maguire isn’t alone with his great performance. Dafoe is the show stealer as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. Personally, the Green Goblin in this film is one of my favourite villains ever in a superhero film, and it all comes down to Dafoe’s energetic, larger than life performance that is simply unforgettable. He attacks the role with such a theatrical style that it’s easy to forget that it’s all a performance; especially when you consider the dramatic shift in acting styles when he switches from Goblin to Norman. One of the best scenes in the film in fact shows Dafoe switching between Goblin and Norman whilst walking towards a mirror, as the personalities change so does Dafoe’s entire physicality, and it’s simply incredible to watch.
The supporting cast of Franco and Dunst are also both good, however they tend to be let down by some ham-fisted dialogue quite frequently. Despite all of Raimi’s attempts to make Spider-Man a film to take seriously, the fact that he’s the undisputed king of campy horror films means that there’s still a fair amount of awkwardness present and it does tend to land squarely on the shoulders of these two characters because they don’t have the same kind of development that Peter and Norman do. It’s no dealbreaker, but it does take until the sequel for these characters to truly shine.
We of course get our first iconic performance of J. Jonah Jameson from J. K. Simmons in this film too, and it comes close between him and Dafoe for best actor in the film. But despite not quite claiming the title, all of Simmons’ scenes are absolutely hilarious and there’s a good reason why his performance is so beloved by so many.
But Maguire isn’t alone with his great performance. Dafoe is the show stealer as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. Personally, the Green Goblin in this film is one of my favourite villains ever in a superhero film, and it all comes down to Dafoe’s energetic, larger than life performance that is simply unforgettable. He attacks the role with such a theatrical style that it’s easy to forget that it’s all a performance; especially when you consider the dramatic shift in acting styles when he switches from Goblin to Norman. One of the best scenes in the film in fact shows Dafoe switching between Goblin and Norman whilst walking towards a mirror, as the personalities change so does Dafoe’s entire physicality, and it’s simply incredible to watch.
The supporting cast of Franco and Dunst are also both good, however they tend to be let down by some ham-fisted dialogue quite frequently. Despite all of Raimi’s attempts to make Spider-Man a film to take seriously, the fact that he’s the undisputed king of campy horror films means that there’s still a fair amount of awkwardness present and it does tend to land squarely on the shoulders of these two characters because they don’t have the same kind of development that Peter and Norman do. It’s no dealbreaker, but it does take until the sequel for these characters to truly shine.
We of course get our first iconic performance of J. Jonah Jameson from J. K. Simmons in this film too, and it comes close between him and Dafoe for best actor in the film. But despite not quite claiming the title, all of Simmons’ scenes are absolutely hilarious and there’s a good reason why his performance is so beloved by so many.
What would a superhero film be without its action sequences though? Thankfully Spider-Man hits the nail on the head with its gradually larger fight sequences, and it all starts with Peter learning how to swing. You’d think showing Peter learning how to use his powers would be kind of boring, but the way Raimi manages to make these scenes flow makes them both incredibly funny and extremely endearing, allowing us to connect with Peter much better. Combined with some generally pretty strong (for the time) CGI and these early scenes of Spidey swinging around New York fighting crime are just as memorable as the real meat of the story. Once Spidey and Goblin face off and the combat becomes more compilated, Raimi manages to make these scenes remain grounded in practical effects as much as possible. So, whilst we don’t really get many epic aerial battles between the two, what we do get is some very impactful and painful looking brawls. I kind of forgot just how brutal the final battle in particular is as each person’s costumes begin to break down as the fight wears on, and things get a little bit bloody too. Norman’s death is also quite graphic, something you certainly wouldn’t see in a superhero film today and something that wasn’t even as brutal in the sequels.
This was my first time watching the film in 4K and I have to say I wasn’t as blown away as I had hoped I would be. Whilst the colour range definitely has a little more depth to it, it wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic as many other 4K HDR film’s I’ve watched recently. The Dolby Atmos definitely gave the sound more punch, and hearing Danny Elfman’s incredible score really boom through my speakers was awesome. But visually, I was unimpressed. In fact, I actually noticed for the first time that you can see Dafoe’s mouth under the Green Goblin mask, and now in the 4K version it’s painfully obvious sometimes that the audio is dubbed over because it either doesn’t sync up at all, or his mouth isn’t even moving.
But despite this Spider-Man is still, even twenty years later, an incredible superhero movie. It set the standard of what was to come, particularly from Marvel, until the late 00’s once the genre was redefined again by the likes of Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Spider-Man truly is one of those films I can just put on, kick back and relax, and have a good time with. Simple superhero thrills without too much to bog it down, and some great performances from our hero and villain.
This was my first time watching the film in 4K and I have to say I wasn’t as blown away as I had hoped I would be. Whilst the colour range definitely has a little more depth to it, it wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic as many other 4K HDR film’s I’ve watched recently. The Dolby Atmos definitely gave the sound more punch, and hearing Danny Elfman’s incredible score really boom through my speakers was awesome. But visually, I was unimpressed. In fact, I actually noticed for the first time that you can see Dafoe’s mouth under the Green Goblin mask, and now in the 4K version it’s painfully obvious sometimes that the audio is dubbed over because it either doesn’t sync up at all, or his mouth isn’t even moving.
But despite this Spider-Man is still, even twenty years later, an incredible superhero movie. It set the standard of what was to come, particularly from Marvel, until the late 00’s once the genre was redefined again by the likes of Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Spider-Man truly is one of those films I can just put on, kick back and relax, and have a good time with. Simple superhero thrills without too much to bog it down, and some great performances from our hero and villain.