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While X-Men and, to a lesser extent, Blade are widely credited with repairing the reputation of comic book movies after the Batman & Robin debacle, it's 2002's Spider-Man that we all really have to thank for the subsequent deluge of superheroic adventures. The webslinger's gargantuan success - including smashing the US opening weekend record by about $25 million, leading to it becoming only the fifth member of the $400 million club - meant that the huge inputs of cash needed to finance such outlandish spectacles began to look more feasible and less commercially risky. Clearly the Spider-Man name helped propel the film to such heights, but even Summer tentpoles need to have a degree of quality to keep the punters coming weeks after they open. To the relief of Columbia studio executives and long-time Marvel fans alike, Spider-Man turned out to be an extremely entertaining and well-made crowdpleaser.
One of the key decisions in the process of the film's journey to the big screen that surely had a sizeable influence on the success was the brave choice of employing Sam Raimi as director. Raimi was mostly known for the low-budget Evil Dead horror trilogy, but had also dabbled in the superhero genre with the offbeat Darkman, which he created. Nevertheless Spider-Man was far removed from anything he had done in terms of scale but he never seems out of his depth, and indeed adds more character and charm than many more experienced blockbuster directors may have. Raimi's distinctive visual style is less in evidence here than it is in the sequels but the film still benefited from his personal touch.
Another unconventional choice came in the form of casting Tobey Maguire in the title role, a young actor who had won acclaim in small dramatic pictures such as The Cider House Rules. Maguire perhaps lacks the humour and cockiness that Peter Parker/Spider-Man sometimes possesses in the comics, but he brings an endearing nerdiness to the character and somehow manages to make his transition from bullied loser to crime-fighting hero quite believable (David Koepp's efficient script deserves a mention too). Maguire also displays great chemistry with Kirsten Dunst, making the pair's inverted kiss an iconic moment. Dunst is probably the weakest link in the cast, but to be fair the love interest in these films is always a difficult part and no actress has quite nailed it in any major superhero films thus far.
Spider-Man doesn't do anything particularly original, with a rather by-the-numbers origin story to be told and all the usual storyline points encountered, but it does do most things very well. Willem Dafoe makes for a suitably creepy villain - pity about the Power Ranger helmet - and the climactic showdown on New York's Queensboro Bridge gets the blood pumping. There are some minor miss-steps along the way, with some occasionally fake-looking CGI (which would be greatly improved for number 2) and composer Danny Elfman's main theme lacks oomph. But the film also brought us J.K. Simmons' superb comedic performance as Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson, and who can argue with that?
The extras
On disc one there are two audio commentaries, one including Sam Raimi, Kirsten Dunst and a couple of others, and one from the visual effects team. Neither is hugely revelatory but they're decent enough. There's also the option to activate a text commentary, providing little brief bits of trivia throughout the film. Another option is the branching "Web-i-sodes", which enable you to watch short featurettes about the production at various relevant points. Two music videos are to be avoided.
The second disc is split into two sections, one on the comics and one on the film, the latter of which unsurprisingly gets more content. In the comic section there's only one featurette, the very interesting "Spider-Man: The Mythology of the 21st Century", which runs for 25 minutes. The only other things in this section are stills galleries. In the section on the movie, there are two main featurettes, a HBO Making Of (25 minutes) and an E! Entertainment Special (40 minutes). Both are good, if unremarkable, and repeat some material. Two 7-minute profile featurettes on Sam Raimi and Danny Elfman, two brief screen tests (J.K. Simmons and Tobey Maguire) and a 5-minute outtakes package complete the disc.
Finally, this being the "Deluxe" edition, there's a third disc (just slotted inside the packaging in a separate cardboard holder), which mainly promotes Spider-Man 2. There are also some short, forgettable featurettes on designing the first film. It makes for a lazy double dip, but worth it if you don't own the 2-disc version.
The summary
The most commercially successful superhero film of all time is excellent blockbuster entertainment. Evokes some of the magic of Superman: The Movie for a new generation.
