Spider-Man Trilogy
Premise - Peter Parker, an ordinary, nerdy teenager from Queens, New York gets bitten by a radioactive spider on a school field trip. He gains the spider's superpowers, including super strength, inhuman agility, sticky extremities for climbing walls, web-shooting wrists, and spidey senses. He assumes a secret identity as vigilante superhero "Spiderman," anonymously saving lives and fighting crime. All the while, he simultaneously struggles to live an everyday life, with human adversities such as love, grief, finance problems, and school.
Review - I get scary defensive when speaking about these films. They are some of my favorites in the entire world, and I will shove them down my children's throats and force them to like it. I don't care how many Spider-Man reboots come in the future, or how many different actors will represent Peter Parker. I don't care if these films are one day forgotten or ridiculed, or if a much more highly regarded hero arises. I will always regard these as the greatest superhero films of all time (and I'll start sobbing if you try to tell me otherwise). Therefore, it is impossible to discuss all of the reasons why I love these films in a reasonable amount of space. I'll try to hit the highlights.
Sam Raimi took these classic comics and just added so much... HEART and LIFE into the characters, in addition to all the cool special effects and powers and fight scenes. These films are a perfect balance of action, drama, comedy, and romance, that makes the story incredibly human. I am a complete sucker for well-balanced, multi-genre narratives. There is a push and pull between showcasing an infallible hero, and also exploring Peter's extreme flaws and vulnerabilities, that takes a great deal of sophisticated balance as well. These films successfully deal with this dialectic in a manner that maximizes the tension between the two sides of Peter. I am also a complete sucker for double-life narratives, where a character has two different personas. All the better if one of the personas is a secret to everyone else. It creates these incredibly complicated friendships and romances that just tug at every heartstring. You can start to see that this series hits my preferred formula in all the right ways.
Or, perhaps, the reason that I love multi-genre films, particularly with complicated heroes and double-life stories, is because of Spider-Man, and not the other way around. I watched the first film in, what, Kindergarten? First grade? After I watched the first one for the first time, I would reenact the movie with my friends LINE BY FREAKIN' LINE. These films were a momentous part of my childhood. Perhaps they shaped my taste for the future.
I can tell how important these films are to me every time I hear the music. Danny Elfman composed an absolute masterpiece. Hearing the main theme creates this intense nostalgia that I cannot possibly describe. The music is used expertly throughout the films. The uses of leitmotifs for each character or circumstance is undeniably well done on a technical level, but really what gets me most is how emotional the musical themes are.
These films explore the themes of altruism and always taking the higher road. It warns against the toxicity of hate, revenge, and unnecessary violence. He wants to always put the safety of others first, even if it means distancing himself from the people he loves. Peter Parker is the ultimate hero and just one of the loves of my life. I would give more than 100/100 if I could (100/100).
Quote - I'd be an idiot not to choose Uncle Ben's "With great p.ower comes great responsibility" but I also love Aunt May's "I believe there's a hero in all of us."
Also, NOW DIG ON THIS.
What to watch for - The upside down Spidey kiss scene from the first movie has got to be one of the most iconic moments in cinematic history, as is the train scene in Spider-Man 2.
If you liked these movies, I'd recommend The Pendragon Series!
Director: Sam Raimi
Distribution Company: Sony Columbia Pictures
Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Steven Ditko
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