Back in 2002, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s famed wall-crawler made a cinematic splash with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, a huge box office success that spawned one of the biggest movie franchises of the decade and was the final boost we needed for the revitalization of superhero movies that began with Blade and X-Men.
Now 15 years and seven movies later, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is still going strong. This past weekend, the wall-crawler's first solo movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming, opened atop the box office with the second-biggest debut of any Spidey film and with widespread critical acclaim.
However, not all of Spidey’s cinematic adventures have been created equal, so we thought now would be a great time to rank all the films thus far.
When this feature was originally published in 2014, we ranked ASM2 in third place but a lot has happened since then to diminish the film’s standing. While ASM2 largely balanced the romance, the superheroics, and a slew of new villains pretty well, it also killed the franchise. Sony and Marvel eventually brokered a deal to essentially share the character on the big screen, quashing Sony’s plans for a universe-building Sinister Six spinoff in the process. (As widely loathed as Spider-Man 3 may be to many fans, it didn’t kill the web-slinger’s franchise; it was only rebooted after director Sam Raimi dropped out of helming Spider-Man 4.)
ASM2 did offer yet another heartfelt performance from Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and brought the death of Gwen Stacy to the screen in a most heart-wrenching manner, but it also got mired in a convoluted backstory involving Peter’s parents. Jamie Foxx’s Electro had a few good scenes, but his character was too akin to Jim Carrey’s Riddler, while Dane DeHaan tried his best to breathe new life into the role of Harry Osborn, aka the Green Goblin.
Despite the massive amount of dough Sam Raimi’s trilogy capper brought in at the box office, Spider-Man 3 wasn’t as well received as the previous films in the series. It suffered from a sizable cast, most notably the shoehorning of Eddie Brock/Venom, and a dance number that left some viewers irked. Not to mention the fact that our hero, Peter Parker, actually punches his girlfriend in the face. Not exactly a recipe for success.
Still, there’s some cool stuff in Spidey 3. Thomas Haden Church as Sandman is fantastic (but underused), and the continuing thread of Harry/Peter was an emotional rollercoaster that paid off here in context of the previous movies. As successful as Spider-Man 3 was financially, Sony ultimately decided to reboot the franchise with a new cast and director only 5 years later.
The Amazing Spider-Man’s approach to the franchise reboot left some underwhelmed, considering it’s another origin story for the wall-crawler. However, Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker was perhaps the most familiar the character’s ever been for comic book fans; cracking lame jokes while he battles the baddies, creating his own web-shooters, the works. Coupled with Emma Stone’s charming portrayal of Gwen Stacy, audiences were captivated by the romance between the two characters more than they were Spider-Man’s battle against the Lizard.
The Amazing Spider-Man also took a large cue from Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man comics, giving Peter’s parents far more involvement in his eventual destiny as ol’ web-head. With lots of seeds for Spider-Man’s future, The Amazing Spider-Man reboot was built with the clear intention of turning the Spider-Man franchise into something bigger than was ever envisioned way back in 2002.
If Blade launched the new wave of superhero movies and X-Men made them viable, Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man launched them into the stratosphere. Despite some controversial changes to the Spider-Man mythos (Organic web-shooters?! No Gwen Stacy?!), fans embraced Raimi’s depiction of the wall-crawler as he fought his greatest nemesis, Green Goblin. The dynamic between Peter/Norman/Harry is incredibly well-played, but more importantly, Peter Parker is identifiable and his origin is handled perfectly.
The movie itself is a fantastic superhero yarn, but it’s worth noting the timing of this release came less than a year after the 9/11 attacks, cementing its place as something more than just a movie. It gave us a true hero to root for in an increasingly cynical time, and the movie’s incorporation of the spirit of New York City became one of its defining aspects.
The wall-crawler made his highly anticipated MCU debut in this Team Cap vs. Team Iron Man epic. Spider-Man is arguably the best thing in Civil War. He not only steals Cap’s shield, he pretty much steals his movie, too. Marvel managed to reboot the character in a fresh and exciting way and make fans excited to see the web-slinger on the big screen again.
While Spidey isn’t absolutely integral to this movie’s plot, actor Tom Holland captures what makes teenager Peter Parker such a sweet, great hero and leaves the audience wanting more. And after five big screen appearances so far, Holland's is the closest and arguably best approximation of the comic book character yet.
As with the very best of the web-slinger’s Marvel stories, Spider-Man: Homecoming is a winning combination of a fun superhero adventure tale with a heartwarming story about a regular kid dealing with some very relatable issues. It's a sweet, witty, briskly-paced romp that captures everything that's made Peter Parker and his costumed alter ego such a lovable and enduring character for over half a century.
Homecoming being a high school movie in the vein of a John Hughes film distinguishes it from so many other superhero movies. Peter making it to his academic decathlon matches is as important here as his sleuthing into the Vulture’s activities. This speaks to Peter, like this movie, trying to strike the right balance between his dual responsibilities as a student and a superhero.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is ultimately strongest as a coming-of-age story, a film that wisely knows its greatest responsibility is to its title character and not necessarily the great powers he possess.
Upon its release, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 immediately became the new superhero movie by which all others would be judged -- a title many would say it holds to this day. Spider-Man 2 pit the web-slinger against Doctor Octopus, who was given his own emotional journey from Peter’s mentor to supervillain. The movie encompasses Spider-Man in a way no other Spidey movie has been able to, showing the character’s true struggle with being a hero and being a man, inspiring hope in the city and sacrificing his own happiness.
It’s a complex journey for every single character involved, and Raimi balances it all with utterly thrilling action sequences like a train fight and the great climactic battle with Doc Ock. But Spider-Man 2 also has the great moments of levity that is a staple of the Spider-Man world and even a great throwback to Raimi’s Evil Dead roots. From any point of view – as a Spider-Man fan, a filmmaking enthusiast, a hopeless romantic – Spider-Man 2 delivers on every level.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire