Spider-Man

2002
PG-13
2h 1m

FILM REVIEW

The first film in the trilogy features Tobey Maguire playing Peter Parker, a dorky whiz who gains superhuman powers after being bitten by a generically engineered spider. With his new power he tries to work up the courage to talk to the girl he loves (Kirsten Dunst) but then a family tragedy forces him into crime fighting and battling the Green Goblin (William Dafoe) who just happens to be the father of his best friend (James Franco). SPIDER-MAN is a very good comic adaptation that benefits from some great direction by Sam Raimi, a wonderful screenplay with real characters and actors that bring those characters to life. There's no question that there are some flaws in the movie but none of them are so drastic that they take away from the quality of the film. In fact, I'd argue that the film has actually gotten better with time because of how well-written all the characters and situations are. This here is especially true of the Peter Parker character because he's just not a dork turned superhero. The screenplay really gives him a lot of emotions to play with and I think you really start to feel for the character and then feel for the problems that come along with his powers. The romance with Mary Jane works extremely well as does his friendship with the Franco character and the problems that eventually happen in not only the love triangle but the issues dealing with the villain. Raimi does a very good job at juggling all of this stuff and he manages to make sure that the action scenes live up to the expectation of fans but at the same time they never outdo the story and characters. It certainly doesn't hurt that the casting was so perfect. Maguire has no problems playing both the dork as well as the action hero and that laid back style of his perfectly comes to life in the film. Dunst makes for a good love interest as she just has a certain charm that she brings out of the character. Dafoe is wonderful, as usual, and he never has a hard time playing emotions or anger. Franco also does a very nice job as does the rest of the supporting players. SPIDER-MAN contains some very good action scenes and mixed in with all the human drama going on you're left with a strong entertainment.

Directed by

Sam Raimi

Writing Credits (WGA)

Stan Lee	...	(Marvel comic book) and
Steve Ditko	...	(Marvel comic book)

David Koepp	...	(screenplay)

Cast (in credits order) verified as complete


	Tobey Maguire	...	Spider-Man / Peter Parker
	Willem Dafoe	...	Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
	Kirsten Dunst	...	Mary Jane Watson
	James Franco	...	Harry Osborn
	Cliff Robertson	...	Ben Parker
	Rosemary Harris	...	May Parker
	J.K. Simmons	...	J. Jonah Jameson
	Joe Manganiello	...	Flash Thompson
	Gerry Becker	...	Maximilian Fargas
	Bill Nunn	...	Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson
	Jack Betts	...	Henry Balkan
	Stanley Anderson	...	General Slocum
	Ron Perkins	...	Dr. Mendell Stromm
	Michael Papajohn	...	Carjacker
	K.K. Dodds	...	Simkins
	Ted Raimi	...	Hoffman
	Bruce Campbell	...	Ring Announcer
	Elizabeth Banks	...	Betty Brant
	John Paxton	...	Houseman
	Tim DeZarn	...	Philip Watson (as Tim deZarn)
	Taylor Gilbert	...	Madeline Watson
	Randy Savage	...	Bone Saw McGraw
	Larry Joshua	...	Wrestling Promoter
	Timothy Patrick Quill	...	Wrestling Arena Guard
	Lisa Danielle	...	Bone-ette
	Natalie T. Yeo	...	Bone-ette
	Erica D. Porter	...	Bone-ette
	Kristen Davidson	...	Bone-ette
	Jason Padgett	...	Flash's Crony
	Shan Omar Huey	...	Teacher
	Sally Levi	...	Girl on Bus (as Sally Livingstone)
	Evan Arnold	...	Doctor
	Jill Sayre	...	Nurse
	Jim Ward	...	Project Coordinator (as James K. Ward)
	David Holcomb	...	Test Pilot
	Octavia Spencer	...	Check-In Girl
	Brad Grunberg	...	Heckler
	Shane Habberstad	...	Little Billy
	Deborah Wakeham	...	Billy's Mom
	Rachael Bruce	...	Times Square Child
	Mackenzie Bryce	...	Times Square Child
	Julia Barry	...	Times Square Child
	Macy Gray	...	Macy Gray
	Myk Watford	...	Cop at Fire
	Bill Calvert	...	Fireman (as William Calvert)
	Sylva Kelegian	...	Mother at Fire
	Kristen Marie Holly	...	Young Lady at Fire
	Ajay Mehta	...	Cabbie
	Peter Appel	...	Cabbie
	Scott Spiegel	...	Marine Cop
	Matt Smith	...	Cop at Carjacking
	Sara Ramirez	...	Cop at Carjacking
	Lucy Lawless	...	Punk Rock Girl
	Jayce Bartok	...	Subway Guitarist
	Maribel González	...	Lady Dogwalker (as Maribel Gonzalez)
	Amy Bouril	...	Office Lady
	Joseph D'Onofrio	...	Opinionated Cop
	Jim Norton	...	Surly Truck Driver
	Corey Mendell Parker	...	Chaperone in Tram
	Ashley Edner	...	Girl in Tram (as Ashley Louise Edner)
	William Joseph Firth	...	Boy in Tram
	Alex Black	...	Boy in Tram
	Laura Gray	...	Tram Group Mother
	Joe Virzi	...	New Yorker on Bridge
	Michael Edward Thomas	...	New Yorker on Bridge
	Jeanie Fox	...	New Yorker on Bridge
	Robert Kerman	...	Tugboat Captain
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
	Josscy Vallazza Aartsen	...	College Student (uncredited)
	Stephanie 'Stevvi' Alexander	...	Singer (uncredited)
	John P. Anthony	...	Parent (uncredited)
	Ari Averbach	...	Dancer (uncredited)
	Joni Avery	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Rick Avery	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Peter Aylward	...	Colonel (uncredited)
	Margaret Baker	...	Punk #2 (uncredited)
	Amy Beth Bennett	...	Jewelry Thief #2 (uncredited)
	Brian Bennett	...	Doorman (uncredited)
	Camille Bennett	...	High School Student (uncredited)
	Greg Beville	...	Wrestling Fan (uncredited)
	Andy Bray	...	Boy Carrying Tray in Cafeteria (uncredited)
	Jophery C. Brown	...	Chef (uncredited)
	Craig Castaldo	...	Man with Bike in Front of Moondance Diner (uncredited)
	Jacob Chambers	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Jillian Clare	...	Crying Girl in Tram (uncredited)
	Ty Copeman	...	Car and Driver (uncredited)
	Chris Coppola	...	Kyle (uncredited)
	Alex Couey	...	Running Extra (uncredited)
	Cody Cundiff	...	World Unity Day Attendee (uncredited)
	Una Damon	...	Lab Tour Guide (uncredited)
	Chandra De Alessandro	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Mark De Alessandro	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Michael Patrick Dobkins	...	Wrestiling Fan (uncredited)
	Patrick Coleman Duncan	...	Oscorp Lab Technician (uncredited)
	Chloe Dykstra	...	Girl on Tram (uncredited)
	John Dykstra	...	Man Running in Front of Little Billy (uncredited)
	Marcus Edward	...	Screaming Fan at Wrestling Match (uncredited)
	R.C. Everbeck	...	Eddie Brock (uncredited)
	Dane Farwell	...	Man at a Street (uncredited)
	Steven D. Fernandez	...	Kid in Falling Cable Car (uncredited)
	James Furlong	...	Wrestling fan (uncredited)
	Peter Genovese	...	Fleeing World Unity Day Patron (uncredited)
	Marcus Gorman	...	Man in Street (uncredited)
	Al Goto	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Johnny Guerra	...	Festival City Guy (uncredited)
	Juan Guerra	...	City Guy (uncredited)
	Roman Güttinger	...	Man in Crowd (uncredited)
	Randy Hall	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Jesse Heiman	...	Spectator at School Fight (uncredited)
	Paxton Hickey	...	School Bus Bully (uncredited)
	Tia Dionne Hodge	...	Uptown Woman (uncredited)
	Kevin Jackson	...	Bellman (uncredited)
	Loren Janes	...	Board of Directors Member (uncredited)
	Andray Johnson	...	Balkan's Aide (uncredited)
	Janis Jones	...	Research Scientist (uncredited)
	J.D. Kaye	...	World Unity Festival Attendee (uncredited)
	James J. Kim	...	Stan Lee-appearance, World Unity Festival concert-goer / passer-by (uncredited)
	Kolby Kirk	...	Festival Guest (uncredited)
	Erik Kleven	...	Chef (uncredited)
	Frederick E. Kowalo	...	Wrestling Fan (uncredited)
	Kathy Krantz	...	Spider Technician (uncredited)
	Gary Lane	...	Graduation / Chess Club Twin (uncredited)
	Larry Lane	...	Graduation / Chess Club Twin (uncredited)
	Stan Lee	...	Man in Fair (uncredited)
	Kahlil Lyons	...	Student (uncredited)
	Pete Macnamara	...	Pentagon Officer (uncredited)
	Anthony J. Maldonado	...	Midtown High School Student (uncredited)
	Lynnette Marshall	...	Extra (uncredited)
	Ryan McGonagle	...	Wrestler (uncredited)
	Kara McLeod	...	Wrestling Fan (uncredited)
	Claudia Katz Minnick	...	Robbie's Assistant (uncredited)
	Joy Michelle Moore	...	World's Fair Mom (uncredited)
	Justin Neill	...	Flash's Crony (uncredited)
	Philip Ng	...	Diamond District Attendee (uncredited)
	Debra Orenstein	...	Doctor (uncredited)
	Gary Otto	...	New Yorker (uncredited)
	Anthony Palato	...	World Unity Festival Patron (uncredited)
	Richard Par	...	World Unity Festival Patron (uncredited)
	Leroy Patterson	...	World Unity Festival Attendant (uncredited)
	Martin Pfefferkorn	...	Thug on 8x10 (uncredited)
	Argenis Pirela	...	Screaming Person (uncredited)
	Anthony Pittman	...	Ryan Gill (uncredited)
	Lance Polland	...	Bonesaw Fan (uncredited)
	January Pugh	...	Mary Jane's Friend (uncredited)
	Ivan Raimi	...	Family on Street (uncredited)
	Kyle Raimi	...	Family on Street (uncredited)
	Max Raimi	...	Family on Street (uncredited)
	Sumner Redstone	...	Oscorp Board Member (uncredited)
	Robert Resto	...	Cop (uncredited)
	Sabrina G Samuels	...	Student at Cafeteria Table (uncredited)
	Scott L. Schwartz	...	Screaming Wrestler / Jack Murdock (uncredited)
	Robair Sims	...	Bellman (uncredited