Spider-Man (2002)

Tobey Maguire is the one. The only one. I don't care what anyone says, I don't care how many times Marvel reboot the franchise or hand the suit to someone new. For me, there is one Spider-Man, and this is his film.

What I keep coming back to is something that sounds small but actually matters quite a lot: Peter Parker doesn't need a gadget. He doesn't tinker away in a lab and engineer himself a web-shooting device. His mutation does it. His body does it. That's the version of the character that makes sense to me, and it's the version Sam Raimi committed to here. It roots the whole thing in something messier and more biological, more genuinely strange. Being a superhero in this film doesn't feel like a cool upgrade. It feels weird and a bit frightening, which is exactly how it should feel when you're a teenager who just got bitten by a spider.

And Tobey Maguire is wonderfully, brilliantly awkward in the role. That's not a dig. His Peter Parker is uncomfortable in his own skin in a way that actually tracks for the character. Some people find his delivery stilted. I find it charming. There's a genuine dorkiness to him that no amount of slick casting can replicate. He looks like he genuinely doesn't know what to do with his hands, and honestly? Neither would I if I'd just discovered I could climb walls.

Then there's the Macho Man Randy Savage cameo, which is the kind of gloriously bizarre creative decision that only exists in early 2000s blockbusters and I would not trade it for anything. It's the sort of thing that shouldn't work and absolutely does. It's peak of-its-era filmmaking, and I mean that as a compliment.

Look, this isn't a flawless film. The villain is cartoonish in ways that occasionally tip too far, and some of the dialogue has aged about as gracefully as frosted tips. But there's a sincerity to it that I find completely disarming. Raimi isn't winking at the audience or hedging his bets. He's making a Spider-Man film with full commitment, green goblin suit and all, and you feel that energy in every frame.

The meme-worthiness is a genuine part of its legacy too. Pointing Spider-Man, "with great power comes great responsibility", the upside-down kiss in the rain. These images are lodged in the cultural brain permanently. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens because the film landed hard enough on its release to burrow in and stay there. I was the right age for this to hit me exactly as intended, and I won't pretend that doesn't colour how I see it.

I've seen Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), and while plenty of people will tell you the second one is the superior film, I keep returning to this one as the one that feels most alive. The sequel refines things, sure. But refinement isn't always what you want. Sometimes you want the rough, enthusiastic original, the one that's still figuring itself out and is more exciting for it.

Three stars, and I'd watch it again tomorrow.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2002  | Watched: 2003-06-05

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Sam Raimi: Evil Dead II (1987) · The Evil Dead (1981) · Spider-Man 3 (2007) · Spider-Man 2 (2004)
More with Tobey Maguire: Spider-Man 3 (2007) · Spider-Man 2 (2004)
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)