Spider-Man (2002)

The year is 2002. The anticipation is high. All Marvel fans are dying of excitement. Their favourite webslinger is coming to silver screens. He’s been the subject of many animated shows over the years, and now Tobey Maguire is set to don the blue and red costume and swing through New York as he rescues his crush Mary Jane, to be played by Kirsten Dunst. Sam Raimi’s film releases and exceeds all expectations. Fans are already sure this will go down in the hall of fame of comic book films. And what’s more, it becomes a trilogy! By the third one, it’s understandable why there can’t be any more, because it’s run its ground and it’s impossible to return after the Bully Maguire memes made a mockery of the third installment. And a decade after the first Spider-Man, another up-and-coming actor, who’s just starred in Oscar-winning film The Social Network, comes back as the beloved hero. He’s naturally broody, lanky, and has the perfect athleticism for the character, but this time there’s mixed anticipation because some won’t move on from the trilogy, and some feel this could be even better. Unfortunately, there’s a pacing issue and a darkness issue, and Spider-Man's essence is lost in the tragedy, which is, to be honest, the biggest tragedy, because Garfield’s vibe is much closer to Spider-Man, and his Peter is just the right balance between nerd and dork. After two movies, it’s shelved, and fans are starting to give up on the idea of a good closure for Spidey. But then the biggest phenomenon in comic book cinema happens, and in Captain America: Civil War, we meet the latest man to play the character. He fits the bill in every way. He’s just as comic and awkward and funky and nerdy and charming as Peter Parker, and he looks like a sixteen-year-old. And five years after his introduction, near Christmas, comes the most ambitious Spider-Man live-action project, the film that’ll hopefully provide the closure fans needed. But unlike its predecessors, it lacks heart, so forget about closure, you won’t even remember the film beyond the unforgettable fan service that Spiderman: No Way Home does for the fans, as pointed out by Daleyna in her review. It's chock full of dream-come-true moments for Spidey fans, but its lack of substance reeks of a self-indulgence that is rare even in fan fiction.

So why did I just revisit the journey? Because that’s what Spider-Man: No Way Home wants me to do! It even alludes to the film I left out, the only film based on Marvel Comics to win a Best Picture Academy Award, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but we’ll come to that one later. The weight of the entire emotional journey of 19 years is unnecessarily taken on its shoulders by the latest MCU film, and as expected, it can’t carry it. Firstly, just to get this out of the way, Uncle Ben from the original trilogy owns that line, and you either quote it, or don’t say it, but making Aunt May say a modified version of the great responsibility line, is extremely tacky, especially once you realize they’re trying to recreate the original scene by making her die right after. Uncle Ben has died in both of the previous movies' series, and in both, an expected response was elicited from the characters, but Tom’s Spider-Man isn’t sure what to feel! Yes, he’s always had issues with articulation as seen in the adorable conversation with Zendaya’s Michelle on the bridge, but he’s at least had a fleshed-out personality. Here, he seems to need to unravel but is somehow not allowed to. You can feel a certain tension in his character development, in the sense that its lack is hampering his accessibility. He’s angry, but absolutely reserved about it, he goes from crying on a rooftop to geeking out with his counterparts from the previous installments as if we can just shelf the tragedy for the moment to give the audience the fun it’s been waiting for, and altogether, his characterization is simply messy. Even the sacrifice at the end seems to come from a need from the storytellers to have him lose everything, to bring him up to speed with the tragic atmosphere from the previous films, and though it does succeed in crushing the soul, it doesn’t offer enough explanation. Whenever Dr. Strange is involved, only unbelievably ruinous consequences are on the table, it seems, that are supposed to be accepted because magic is an unknown realm we shouldn’t try to comprehend beyond the minimum information that’s offered.

The introduction of every Spider-Man villain ever, is an unnecessary move to appease the fans. Of course, we want our buddy cop moment of Garfield and Maguire and Holland all fighting Green Goblin, Doc Oc, Lizard, Electro, and Sandman, but does that really justify doing it? The Spider-Men themselves had messy arcs but that reflects on their essence of being a very common person, representing the regular making-do, despite having superpowers, and yet they did have some conclusion. Letting Andrew's Peter catch Zendaya is an absolute joke, and no one even takes it as a sincere attempt at closure, so it's again a crowd-pleasing tactic, which this movie doesn't seem to lack. The same argument about conclusions goes for the supervillains as well. All of them had properly concluded stories, whether the conclusions felt organic or not. And reviving the old lore, to make Spider-Man into his Mother Theresa version we all knew was lurking under the surface, couldn’t have been done worse. There’s no emotional journey for the characters. And that’s primarily because they aren’t at junctures, they’re literally reappearing after their stories have ended. None of them seem to need to be cured, and even after they are, there’s no honest reconciliation, and it’s just an end to another Avengers: Endgame-scale affair. This is where Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse comes into play. There are 6 versions of Spider-Man in that film, a black kid, a white man, a young woman, a little girl from the future, a black and white Nic Cage voiceover, and a pig. Why does this ragtag team make a more compelling case? Simple. They’re all at transition points or stuck, and their role in the life of Miles Morales actually reflects on themselves and helps them grow. It’s an emotional journey on top of a cosmic scale plot. In fact, despite being decidedly more lighthearted than Sony’s other Spider-Man ventures, the animated feature actually justified making such a big deal about the characters, and that’s the kind of satisfaction you’d hope for, from Spider-Man: No Way Home. Unfortunately, the latter is only a bunch of dream-come-true moments with barely anything real to say about the world or about the characters. It’s just there as 'a love-letter to the fans', to quote Daleyna’s review I cited earlier.

Here's how this works, we will rank all the MCU live-action Spider-Man films (excluding Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) only because animation is on a whole other playfield) before Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Each of the films will be ranked based on their most awesome scenes, which means the more not-so-awesome scenes we find in the films, the more likely they will be at the bottom of our list. Let's see if your favorite Spider-Man movie will make it to the top.

7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Awesome Scene: Gwen Stacy’s fall was the most climactic and heartbreaking scene in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This scene was visually stunning and had great VFX that allows viewers to feel suspense as Gwen Stacy is falling to her death. The sequel was not as epic compared to the other Spider-Man films that came before and after. It’s a shame that a scene with tragedy and no dialogue was the most memorable part of this film.

Not-So-Awesome Scene #1: Any scene with Harry Osborn in it, especially his Green Goblin transformation. I get that the character is supposed to resemble a goblin like in the comics, but maybe Sam Raimi was smart to put a Goblin mask on Dafoe instead of an actual makeover. 

Not-So-Awesome Scene #2: Any scene with Electro (I’m narrowing it down because this film has major flaws). Electro’s disappointment has more to do with how he was written and his facial CG than Foxx’s acting. Electro would have been an amazing villain for the film, since he is one of the most notorious villains Spider-Man faced in the comics. Both Green Goblin and Electro would have been worthy opponents for our superheroes, but their story arcs were a letdown and I can’t help but feel they were trying to pull off a trio battle like in Spider-Man 3.

Spider-Man: No Way Home isn’t just a movie; it’s an experience. Like Avengers: Endgame, it is a monumental moment in the MCU. It changes everything. This is the best superhero movie I’ve seen since Avengers: Endgame. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a top tier cinematic and comic book superhero movie thanks to the amazing writing, the fantastic performances from the actors all around, and, maybe most importantly, a healthy helping of fan service. This movie is littered with easter eggs and references that made my theater explode into cheers and applause. It’s an experience unrivaled, even nonexistent, among any other movie genre. As an avid Marvel fan who’s watched and enjoyed everything associated from the brand, this movie was so rewarding to watch. With that, let’s dive into what made this movie so incredible. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home picks up right where Spider-Man: Far From Home left off. It makes you forget two years have passed between these two films. Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) identity has just been revealed. He scoops up his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) as she’s harassed by onlookers and they escape. Soon enough, the FBI is after Peter. They arrest him and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), MJ, his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). The agents and Peter’s loved ones have some interesting debates about whether a minor should be a vigilante and how responsible his legal guardian is for his actions. 

Peter and the gang then meet with Peter’s lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox)! My theater exploded in cheers when he showed up, which made me so happy because I had no idea Netflix’s Daredevil was so well known. That show is arguably the best superhero TV show of all time. The cameo is brief, but Charlie Cox portrays the character without missing a beat, as if he’d just stepped off set from Daredevil. I can’t wait to see more of him in the MCU. 

Peter and May move to Happy’s apartment to lie low. Peter applies for college. However, he, MJ, and Ned all get rejected because of the controversy surrounding them. This leads Peter to visit Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and ask him to make everyone forget who Spider-Man is. Strange performs the spell, but Peter alters it by asking Strange to make his loved ones remember his identity. The spell becomes unstable and Strange contains it before sending Peter to plead his case to the vice chancellor of MIT.

Author: Nathanael Molnár, originally published [4/26/2020]

It was Friday, April 26th, 2019. I was sitting in the AMC Dolby Theater, my friends on either side of me. Everyone in the theater was buzzing, excited. A couple of people walked in with light-up arc reactors pinned to their chests. The lights came down, and the iconic Marvel Studios theme blasted through the theater. The audience cheered; everyone was giddy and ready for what we had all been patiently waiting for since May 2nd, 2008. Avengers: Endgame, the fulfillment of the promise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s strange to think that Endgame came out a full year ago. I’ve been a fan of the MCU from the very beginning. As a life-long comic book fan, following the unfolding and the blossoming of this entire cinematic universe has been truly magical. It’s something that I’m still surprised we get to see and enjoy. I believe the MCU redefined the comic book movie genre. Comic book movies existed before the MCU and were successful before it. However, under the meticulous leadership of Kevin Feige, the MCU gave us something radically different (current list of all MCU films 2021).

It brought to life the long-form storytelling of comic books, the character arcs that span years, and the meshing of different worlds. In the medium of film, the MCU captured the feeling of reading comic books spanning decades, following characters in their own stories, and then following them into their larger team-ups. Sure, there were the X-Men movies that revitalized the genre when Batman & Robin had essentially killed it. Spider-Man brought whimsy back into the genre, and Batman Begins established realism. It was the MCU that brought consistent continuity, long-form story arcs, and a balance of bombastic spectacle action and genuine character growth and development.

As successful as the MCU became, as popular as The Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy or Black Panther became, the entirety of this 22 movie experiment hinged on its conclusion. If the MCU didn’t deliver a satisfying conclusion to what this entire thing had been building towards, everyone would have walked away disappointed. Sure, we would still revere the individual films we loved, but the MCU as a whole would have far less significance if Endgame had dropped the ball. On April 26th, 2019, Endgame not only did not drop the ball, but it delivered for fans so much that it went on to become the highest grossing movie of all time!