Spider-Man (2002)

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Hot on the heels of 'X-Men', I think a lot of us can remember seeing the first teaser for an upcoming 'Spider-Man' movie. After 'X-Men', Spidey was probably the next logical step, and this was when the superhero genre was really coming to fruition. Sadly, after this, almost every Marvel film up to 'Iron Man' was pretty mediocre, with the exceptions of a few sequels, which I'll get to another time. 

Of course, I don't need to get into how Spidey has gone through the motions when it comes to his movies. It's kinda crazy to think that since the release of this, back in 2002, Spidey is already in his third incarnation. But the character has finally seemingly found his footing with Tom Holland in the role. But that's not to say that the older 'Spider-Man' movies should just be ignored, either. In fact, the first two are still among my favorite superhero movies.

Being that Tom Holland's Spider-Man skipped over the origin story, which was frankly a great decision on the studios' part, one might be curious as to the most accurate portrayal of his origin in film. Well, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' didn't do a bad job with things, necessarily, but 2002's 'Spider-Man', with Tobey Maguire in the lead, is probably the better option of the two. If for no other reason, he faces the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) right away, who is probably considered his arch nemesis. It depends on what you wanna see, but I also consider this to be closer to giving out the comic book vibe than 'Amazing' did.

That said, 'Amazing' has accuracies like his web shooters (they just kinda come from his wrists here), and a much, MUCH more likable love interest in Gwen Stacey, who is useful, as opposed to Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) here, who is pretty much just someone to be saved who screams a lot. Those things aside though, I'd say this is the superior origin film.

Now that I'm on my fifth paragraph, maybe I'll get into the actual movie. Well, Peter Parker (Maguire) gets bitten by a radioactive spider on a field trip, gains superpowers, and uses them to stop crime after the important lesson his uncle gives him - "with great power, comes great responsibility". Meanwhile, Norman Osbourn (Dafoe) becomes the Green Goblin after rushing a lab experiment and having it go wrong. It kinda brings out the evil within him, makes him stronger, and has him going up against his authorities. The catch - he's Peter's best friend Harry's (James Franco) father.

Unfortunately, due to time and changing Spider-Man up twice, this one has started to feel kinda old. Where watching 'X-Men' meant watching the first title of a series that just wrapped up last year, watching 'Spider-Man' was more like a nice piece of nostalgia. The movie's still a  lot of fun, but it's kinda just the old version of something now. It doesn't help that Holland has become my definitive Spider-Man, and is in the driver's seat now. But Maguire is at least still in the passenger seat while Andrew Garfield is stuck in the back seat - he's a great Spidey, but a lousy Parker.

So, if you're looking to see what many consider the definitive Spider-Man origin story, I'd say go for this one. 'The Amazing Spider-Man' works pretty well too, but as I said, it all depends on what kind of 'Spider-Man' movie you wanna see. Personally, I enjoy this one more, but it IS perfectly debatable. Watch for yourself, and find out what Spidey works for you.

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