Spiderman (2002) ***1/2

A touchstone of the early 2000s, Sam Raimi's Spiderman kicked off a new era of superhero movies. If Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie marked the first modern superhero epic and Tim Burton's 1989 Batman struck a pop culture nerve through smart marketing and iconic imagery, Spiderman brought a retro charm, a superhero movie both reverential towards the comic book aesthetic and pleasantly cinematic.

Spiderman's origin story remains one of the most ingenious. Peter Parker, a socially awkward teen gets bitten by a radioactive spider and discovers new superpowers. At first he decides to use his powers for financial gain and popularity, but his own selfishness leads to his guardian Uncle Ben losing his life. The first half of the film follows these beats from the early issues of Spiderman written by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The immortal phrase "With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility" becomes the mantra of the film.

Tobey Maguire was cast as Spiderman, and he leans into the awkward charm of the character. Neither a brooding crime fighter like Batman nor possessing the moral perfection of Superman, he faces struggles both socially and economically. His life as a crimefighter often interferes with school and work. Maguire gets to the pathos of the character while skillfully gliding himself out of difficult situations. 

Kirsten Dunst plays Peter's eternal love interest Mary Jane Watson, the central relationship through the Raimi trilogy. James Franco brought an edge as Harry Osborne, who will be both friend and antagonist to Spiderman. William Dafoe is memorable Harry's father Norman, who gets transformed into the Green Goblin, one of Spiderman's earliest foes. Rosemary Harris adds humanity as Aunt May and Cliff Robertson is memorable as Uncle Ben. J.K. Simmons provides comic relief as J. Jonah Jameson, Peter's boss at the Daily Bugle.

The film still looks good. The visual style channels the art of Ditko and the dialogue evokes the pop art style of Stan Lee. Raimi's direction brought a kinetic flare, he always has memorable faces in the frame even for the most minor roles, as an example I would point to the scene when Spiderman rescues a baby from a burning building. Such an approach risks the movie becoming cheesy and in many ways, it is, but its earnestness defied the cynics.