I rewatched Spider-Man 1 the other day.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Had wondered about making a thread about this at the time but doing it now instead since the strike thread has me wanting to talk about it but I don't want to bog the thread down with this side tangent.

So yeah, only my second time seeing it - first was maybe about a decade ago? - and on first viewing I was pretty lukewarm on it. This time around... Eh, I'm mixed leaning positive?

The positives I think are that it's incredibly quotable and just a fun ride all around, it hits all the bullet points of what you'd expect out of a Spider-Man origin story and does them well. Dafoe's great, there are a lot of memorable side bits, kind of just a lot to love about it on that front and I do definitely get how it's a movie a ton of people have loads of nostalgia for. Can definitely see myself turning it on again sometime when I need to run something for noise so it did certainly elevate the movie in my opinion.

The negatives to me are that once the movie does settle into having established its hero and villain it kind of just feels like a series of plotless vignettes of them bumping into each other until someone dies, which granted is pretty much just the Batman 89 style of structuring a movie and I love that one I guess but I think it just makes me think too much of Batman and that does it better. I also can kind of at no point buy Tobey Maguire in the role, his acting is just really hokey and at all times I just see him as a 30 year old badly pretending he's a high schooler. It's probably a wise decision that the movie is pretty quick to ditch the high school setting since that stuff does feel like it just drags the experience down, probably should've just had him in college from the get-go.

Something I also just find weird about it is the way it's edited? Scenes just kind of jump from one to the other in a way where it feels really choppy, characters tend to just pop with no real establishment first, and there is this distinct filmed-with-where-to-put-commercials-in-mind style to it which I guess to be fair does make sense to do for the period of time when it came out.

This thread may evolve into something else later because I've been meaning to rewatch other Spider-Man movies for awhile (my experience with those for the record - seen 2 one time, 3 twice, Amazing multiple times but it's been a long while, Amazing 2 once, Homecoming once, not seen Far From Home, No Way Home once). Just after Across the Spider-Verse I rewatched the first one so that probably wouldn't be one I'll watch again for awhile, still an excellent movie, not much else worth saying on that one.

[Fade]

That’s..all about true. Still think of it as a game changer at the time, in terms of re-embracing superheroes in film. Waaay more than X-Men. Wasn’t around at the time for Superman, but it felt like my generations version of it.

It’s a quaint, silly, hokey fun movie. I always did find Tobeys performance understated. Even compared to his other work at the time.

The jump from 1 to 2 is massive though, imo.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Jul 25, 2023 10:22:42 GMT -5 Fade said:

That’s..all about true. Still think of it as a game changer at the time, in terms of re-embracing superheroes in film. Waaay more than X-Men. Wasn’t around at the time for Superman, but it felt like my generations version of it.

It’s a quaint, silly, hokey fun movie. I always did find Tobeys performance understated. Even compared to his other work at the time.

The jump from 1 to 2 is massive though, imo.

Yeah, do definitely need to give it that I feel like if I watched it when it came out I'd get a lot more out of it. It's very obvious how much a ton of movies, especially the MCU, have taken a ton of influence from it, and compared to other stuff coming out in the years around it there's really nothing else quite like it even if it does feel a bit stock now.

[Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story]

I will always remember that movie fondly, even if it feels slightly generic today. I went to high school in Manhattan and this movie came out like 6-7 months after 9/11, so we all had a blast and a bit of catharsis watching a fun movie about a superhero saving the day.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Jul 25, 2023 10:22:42 GMT -5 Fade said:

That’s..all about true. Still think of it as a game changer at the time, in terms of re-embracing superheroes in film. Waaay more than X-Men. Wasn’t around at the time for Superman, but it felt like my generations version of it.

It’s a quaint, silly, hokey fun movie. I always did find Tobeys performance understated. Even compared to his other work at the time.

The jump from 1 to 2 is massive though, imo.

Yea Spiderman is yall's generations version of Superman 78 or Batman 89.

Even as a kid I wasn't a big superman fan. But when I got told I was going to the drive in to see the new superman movie I was so excited I kept running around the house like I was flying.

[Sephiroth]

The editing-that’s a Sam Raimi thing. He’s always directed that way. Like how his brother and Bruce Campbell always have to have a cameo.

[The Ichi]

I love it. It's definitely that generations Batman '89, for pretty much the same positive and negative reasons.

And I still think Tobey is the best Spider-Man.

[ace]

My memory of seeing it in theaters was that a friend and I went to a daytime showing so it wasn’t full. I stared at the screen in stunned silence as Green Goblin and Spiderman had a long rooftop conversation cutting back and forth in close-up between two masks incapable of showing emotion or even the mouths moving. I didn’t say anything but it was maybe the dumbest thing I’d ever seen. I did say something at the end of the movie when Tobey walks away and the voice over says “who am I? I’m Spider-man”. I burst out laughing and the woman in front of us turned around and looked at me. I wiped away a tear and said “I’m sorry…but this was so cheesy”. I love Sam Raimi…but this is the most overrated movie of maybe all the times.

[Magnus the Magnificent]

BONESAW IS REEEAAAAAAAADYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

[Natural Born Farmer]

People forget how bad and hokey a lot of comic book movies were before X-Men and Spider Man.

That it was even pretty good seemed like a staggering achievement at the time.

[Hit Girl]

It's a great movie, other than bad CGI.

[Ultimo Gallos]

The only part of the film I don't like is Dunst as MJ. Not sure if it is the script or Dunst but she just doesn't feel like MJ.

[Wilfred]

Maybe it’s nostalgia but for me the first two Spider-Man movies are still the best. Some people online seem to make fun of Tobey but I think he’s good in the role, especially 2. Have seen the newer ones with Holland once each, but don’t really feel the need to ever watch them again.

[thechase]

First film I saw three times

[Non Banjoble Tokens]

It's a sad fact of this reality that the words "Spider-Man 1" doesn't refer to a movie where Spider-Man is a hideous, monsterlike spider/human amalgamation who fights an evil scientist and an army of other mutated animal/monster hybrids.

[DSR]

Jul 26, 2023 2:35:08 GMT -5 Non Banjoble Tokens said:

It's a sad fact of this reality that the words "Spider-Man 1" doesn't refer to a movie where Spider-Man is a hideous, monsterlike spider/human amalgamation who fights an evil scientist and an army of other mutated animal/monster hybrids.

You might like What If? Vol. 2, #88. It's at least partially that.

[BorneAgain]

Spider-Man 1 was always one of those movies I could always respect but never quite get into. The tone is too Silver Age for my tastes and the title character just not funny enough for me to see as my Spider-Man.

[Deleted]

Jul 26, 2023 2:19:07 GMT -5 Wilfred said:

Maybe it’s nostalgia but for me the first two Spider-Man movies are still the best. Some people online seem to make fun of Tobey but I think he’s good in the role, especially 2. Have seen the newer ones with Holland once each, but don’t really feel the need to ever watch them again.

I don't think it is nostalgia, though it can play a factor. The fact of matter is, Spider-Man, along with the X-Men, where the first comic book movies that were successful.

As far as Spider-Man 1 goes, from what I have gathered, Sam Raimi did not expect to make a sequel until after the success for the first movie. The movie had a lot of cuts, the film itself was pretty grainy also visual wise. The romance between Peter Parker and Mary Jane was a bit annoying. There are flaws in the movie.

Overall though, it set the trend, along with X-Men. I'd argue there wouldn't be an MCU today if not for these movies, as these movies proved to Hollywood and comic book stories sell.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Jul 26, 2023 8:26:08 GMT -5 @coolio1234 said:

The fact of matter is, Spider-Man, along with the X-Men, where the first comic book movies that were successful.

I wouldn't go that far. Notable examples of being successful during a down period for them certainly but X-Men made significantly less money than Batman Forever did and just a bit more than Batman & Robin, and that's without even getting into the 89 movie or Superman.

[Deleted]

Jul 26, 2023 8:29:29 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Jul 26, 2023 8:26:08 GMT -5 @coolio1234 said:

The fact of matter is, Spider-Man, along with the X-Men, where the first comic book movies that were successful.

I wouldn't go that far. Notable examples of being successful during a down period for them certainly but X-Men made significantly less money than Batman Forever did and just a bit more than Batman & Robin, and that's without even getting into the 89 movie or Superman.

Fair enough. I guess you can say this put Marvel movies on the map? Batman and Superman movies are always popular.