Spider-Man
Matthew Noble

Review by Matthew Noble Patron

Spider-Man 2002

★★★★

Rewatched 28 Aug 2018

"You don't trust anyone, that's your problem."
"I trust my barber…"

It may still be fun as hell, but as much as I would like to keep my 2002 nostalgia goggles on, Spider-Man doesn’t hold up nearly as well as some other superhero flicks I grew up with. On the one hand, Sam Raimi is in full-tilt comicbook mode with his direction, Danny Elfman’s theme music is terrific, and the casting is great across the board (Willem Dafoe and JK Simmons, man). On the other hand, the computer effects are ridiculously dated, it has the cheapest-looking cinematography of any Spidey movie, and the Green Goblin’s costume looks horribly plasticky. Overall, comparing those first two Spider-Man films is a bit like contrasting The Force Awakens to The Last Jedi: the first seemed revelatory at the time of its release, but works better retroactively as an emotional backdrop to the vastly superior sequel.

Edit: upped the rating from 3.5 to 4.0.

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