Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy
With Spider-Man: No Way Home being released this week, I decided to take a look back at the live-action Spider-Man movies we have seen thus far. This upcoming entry into the franchise is slated to be something HUGE as it will have characters from different film universes crossing over to interact with each other. So why not take a look at each of those franchises and discuss what made them good and bad? So this week for three days I will look at the individual franchises and review them as a whole and give individual rankings for each film. Today we will dive into the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy. It has been called the Godfather Trilogy of superhero movies, because the first two are awesome and the third one is a mess (and a little bit offensive). Let’s take a look at it!
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Director: Sam Raimi
Writers: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (original authors), David Koepp, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Michael Chabon, Alvin Sargent, Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Thomas Hayden Church, Topher Grace, JK Simmons, Cliff Robertson, Bruce Campbell, Elizabeth Banks, Bill Nunn, Elya Baskin, Mageina Tovah, Dylan Baker, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Cromwell
Reason for watching: Rewatching all the Spider-Man franchises before Spider-Man: No Way Home comes out this week
Number of times I’ve watched them: probably a dozen or more times each when I was young…mostly the third one…shut up! I was young and dumb. I didn’t know it was the worst one.
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Movie franchises are complicated things. Especially superheroes ones. There are so many balls to juggle and the financial success level of a franchise can really drive up the amount of pressure on the people behind the movie and the actors. When that happens, it can pull the whole thing apart. And that is what brought this trilogy down. Let’s break these movies down one at a time and get into the nitty-gritty of what works about each of them and what does not work (particularly about the third one).
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The first movie of the Sam Rami Spider-Man trilogy really is terrific. It manages to capture the cheesiness of the old cartoons and comics without becoming overbearing. It makes for an incredibly fun watch. The cast is terrific for the most part. Kirsten Dunst does very well as our romantic lead, and James Franco’s eventual villianious turn is set up well here. This opinion has been lost in the last few years with the newer movies, but Rosemary Harris really is the quintessential Aunt May. The kindness she portrays is heart-warming and the perfect foil for the villains and hostility Spider-Man faces. But let’s talk about our two leads as their performances are comparatively interesting.
Probably my biggest qualm is the casting of Tobey Maguire. Coming off as shy is one thing, but Maguire oversells it all the way. It is almost as if the actor himself really does not know how to act around other people and is off delivery constantly. It breaks up the flow of the movie. Ironically I felt that Willem Dafoe’s performance as the Green Goblin is an overacting tour de force. It works in a way that Maguire’s does not because Dafoe is the villain. He has that room to be a ham because we need a kind of funny man to pair with Maguire as the shy, doting hero. But Maguire’s performance and acting capabilities will not become a real problem until later in the franchise.
The cheesiness of this movie does not keep us from enjoying the action scenes and the dialogue. The jokes and interactions with New Yorkers are hilarious. There are a plethora of great cameo/short appearances particularly from Bruce Campbell and Randy Savage. The combat scenes are strong and well shot. Director Sam Raimi’s capabilities are only hinted at in the first movie, but his ability to incorporate his horror instinct into a popcorn superhero movie is strong. Particularly I love the final fight between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. The total brutality of that final showdown was a shocking change of pace for this movie and some of the shots of Spidey getting his butt whupped are awesome.
8/10 for Spider-Man. Onto the next one.
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Picking up right where the original left off, Spider-Man 2 is frenetic and breath-taking. We really understand why the weight of being Spider-Man is ruining Peter’s life. While it is still enjoyable to watch Spidey save kids and fight bad guys, you can tell it has become a chore to our protagonist and his enjoyment of it is not the same as it once was. His moments of happiness in the first two acts are when he does not have the mask on. He’s delighted to have a birthday party with his friends, to meet his idol Doctor Octavious, or to just get to class on time. It makes us see that life really is difficult at times for our web-slinger as he is weighed down by responsibility.
Again the cast is terrific, particularly Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. While he is not as hammy as Dafoe was, he can still make us crack a smile with his comments and actions that are not totally evil. What he has over Dafoe is a more interesting character arc and motivation. He is not an evil man in the same way the Goblin was, but he does terrible things to try and accomplish his dream and perhaps get vengeance on the man he believes killed his wife. Dunst has much more to work with during this sequel as she is allowed time to express her character’s frustrations with Peter and come into her own as a person. Once again, Harris gets to be the inspiration we all need. The pep talk she gives to Peter as she is packing up her home is motivating.
On the technical side, this movie has the best fight scene of any Spider-Man movie with the train sequence near the end of act two. It allows both the protagonist and antagonist a chance to show off their best strengths, with Spidey’s agility and Spider Sense saving him more than once and Ock utilizing the versatility of his arms. The setting of the fight is unique as well and keeps us guessing as to what will happen with the two combatants. The final battle is not on the same level, but it is still enjoyable. The second best scene in the movie is Doc Ock’s escape from the hospital. This is where Raimi really gets to flex his horror muscles. The four arms flying around and attacking doctors makes for quite a frightening sight. For months when I was younger I could not get the image of the nurse clawing at the ground as one of the arms pulls her into the shadows where she likely met her demise. I wish we could have had more of this in these movies or in the canceled sequels.
9/10 for Spider-Man 2. Onto the next one … (sigh) … the bad one.
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“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is exactly what the producers and writers behind this trilogy should have been saying to themselves when they made Spider-Man 3. The first two entries in this franchise work because they have the proper amount of cheese, fleshed-out villains, and a likable (albeit very lame) protagonist. Guess what this movie does? If you guessed “tossed all three of those key ingredients out the window,” then you are correct! Woohoo! Do you feel good about yourself? No? Neither did I after the final act of this movie.
Honestly, the first two acts of Spider-Man 3 are good. We have one villain who has already been set up with Harry Osborn as the New Goblin, and another villain with a decent backstory we are building with the Sandman. The tension between Mary Jane and Peter is developed well. The action scenes are fun too as Raimi opts to go for longer shots that allow us to follow the action in a more fluid way. Harry’s amnesia is played for laughs a little too much, but it serves a good purpose in the end.
I must say that Maguire does better in this movie as a happier and not depressed Spidey. Part of the reason I am not a huge fan of his performance is that the first two entries constantly have Peter down in the dumps, but here Peter/Spidey is on the top of the world. And then when we get the black suit, Maguire really lets his swag show. It is spectacular to watch as he acts like an Emo kid who just heard someone say, “My Chemical Romance is overrated." It may not be “good,” but I enjoy it waaaaaay more.
But when the last act starts, everything falls apart. As soon as Harry gets his memories back and blackmails MJ into breaking up with Peter, it gets a little too wild and then a bit downright bad. The penthouse fight between Harry and Peter is really the first sign of bad things as it takes itself so seriously that we realize rooting for Peter is not the right thing anymore. His beating of Harry goes too far especially when he throws the grenade in his former best friend’s face.
The weird street-walking-and-dancing/Daily Bugle confrontation scene is too cringy for even this franchise to make fun. One’s gag reflex is really put to the test during the first part of the Jazz lounge scene when Peter plays the piano and dances with Gwen Stacy (poor Bryce Dallas Howard got stuck with a terrible role) right in front of MJ. We get one moment of levity as Gwen apologizes to MJ and runs for her life from Emo Peter. The confrontation between Peter and MJ gets ugly when he actually hits her. I know this is all meant to show us how far Peter has fallen, but it is so jarring that it pulls you out of the movie.
The movie gets back on track after that as Peter ditches the symbiote and makes things right with Harry before he has to fight Venom and Sandman to save MJ. The final fight between the two dynamic duos is still fun and has some nice CGI for 2007 when you see Venom getting separated from Eddie Brock. Harry’s death scene is really hit or miss for me. One day I will like it and another I will hate it. But I will always enjoy that final scene as Peter takes MJ’s hand and they start to dance. It is nice to know our hero and the love of his life are back together.
6/10
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Honestly, I enjoy these movies way more than the other two Spider-Man franchises. The casts are deeper, and the first two villains are iconic. The city of New York feels immersive and oddly like home. While some of the effects may be dated, the first two movies really stand the test of time, and I think the third one can be enjoyed if you skip about 20-30 minutes in the third act.
As a whole, I would give this franchise a 8.5/10
Until I see another Spider-Man Series