Spider-Man 2002

The Good:

• Sam Raimi's classic superhero flick has a nostalgic cast; Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Willem Dafoe, Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons all breathe life into their characters
• Simmons and Dafoe are the particular standouts here - it's difficult to understand how we didn't figure out that Dafoe has been the Green Goblin all this time.
• It's the now classic retelling of how Peter Parker got his superpowers. Everything moves along at such a brisk pace we barely even get to know the characters properly before they change drastically.
• The storytelling is classic in its style and feels like a living comic book.
• From a hilarious first hour with Peter discovering his superpowers, culminating in the touching death of Uncle Ben, we are moved into the splendid superhero territory.
• The interactions between Spidey and the Goblin are among the finest moments in the movie
• The script handles Norman Osborn/Green Goblin well, and makes him feel like a real human, even if he is less likeable than Octavius in the sequel.

The Bad:

• Released in the middle era between the classic camp superhero movies of the 90s and the modern era mega blockbusters, the first Spider-Man is surprisingly dated by today's standards.
• Having seen Tom Holland play a believable, funny and likeable version of Peter Parker, Maguire feels overly awkward and stiff in his portrayal.
• Maguire and Dunst lack any real chemistry and their scenes together are quite painful to watch.
• None of the primary cast members are particularly believable as high school students, and that bothers me.
• Some of the CGI hasn't aged well.
• Spider-Man features some huge and inventive action scenes, but a couple of them are clumsy and somewhat camp.

Verdict:

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man began the new era of superhero movies, but nostalgia has made us forget about the dated action scenes, bland performances and simplistic storytelling.