20 years ago, a great movie – “Spider-Man” – was released. I want to lay out why this film is so special. I’ve decided to present this in 4 “C’s”. Let me begin with what I’m going to call…
The context
For many years,
this has been a golden age for superhero films.
But this was not the case in 2002.
The Superman franchise had been dead since 1987’s “The Quest for Peace”; a film that was so bad, even as a boy, I
could see how implausible and ridiculous it was. The now iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe
didn’t exist. The Batman movies series
was reeling, thanks to the awful 1997 film “Batman
and Robin”. The movie that turned
Bane into a mindless henchman who just uttered one word sentences, and thought
Mr. Freeze’s hundreds of ice puns were a good idea. In that context came “Spider-Man”. A film that hit
a home run its first trip to the plate.
The cast
I could go on and
on about the talented cast. J.K.
Simmons, for instance, was so good he has returned as J. Jonah Jameson again in
the Tom Holland Spider-Man franchise.
But it would be negligent of me if I didn’t stop and say a word about
Willem Defoe. His performance is something
you can’t take your eyes off of. Defoe
is menacing, gripping, and at times, downright chilling. The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde portrayal is another
intriguing layer. As for the star of the
film, Tobey Maguire, his work is off the charts. I didn’t take the time to find it again, but
I read somewhere recently that Tobey’s performance was praised by critics and
fans alike – including Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland.
The content
“Spider-Man” has a spectacular story or
content (I needed another “C” word). It
has great action sequences, and compelling good versus evil plots, but one
thing that stands out is the genuine moments of heart. I think, for example, of Peter’s pining for
Mary Jane. In one scene, he gives these beautiful, heartfelt words to Mary Jane – all on the flimsy pretense that he
was relaying to her what he had supposedly told Spider-Man about her:
“The great about
M.J. is when you look in her eyes, and she’s looking back in yours, everything
feels not quite normal. Because you feel
stronger, and weaker, at the same time. You
feel excited, and at the same time, terrified.
The truth is, you don’t know what you feel, except you know what kind of
man you want to be.” Years later, on “The Big Bang Theory” Sheldon Cooper
quoted these very words to Amy Farrah Fowler.
She was moved, and he confessed, “That’s from the first Spider-Man
movie.”
The conclusion
There’s so much I
want to write regarding the ending scenes of “Spider-Man”. I wish I could
delve deeply into what Green Goblin calls a “sadistic choice”; he asks
Spider-Man who he will save from certain death on the bridge – M.J. or a group
of kids in a cable car. And how Spidey
disregarded Goblin’s game and ultimately saved everyone. What a scene!
I would love to delve into the very last scene, where Peter decided to
protect Mary Jane by choosing not to be with her romantically, as she
wanted. This not only left M.J. in
tears, but it broke Peter’s own heart as well.
Instead of
digging into any of that, let me just submit to you that Peter/Spider-Man’s
example in this movie left me inspired. To
use Peter’s words, I knew what kind of man I wanted to be. I was encouraged to be noble, courageous, honorable,
and selfless, just like him. 20 years
later, Maguire’s Spider-Man continues to spur me on to consider and serve
others. Really, what more can you ask
for from a superhero film?
Kevin
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