(Spider-Man, 2002, Sam Raimi)
I was going to start this post by thanking (or blaming) Spider-Man for making superheroes America's favorite film subject for the last eight years, but then I realized that X-Men came out in 2000, so that point wasn't really valid. I will say this, though: Spider-Man was my first exposure to the new generation of films about superheroes, so I can at least thank (or blame) it for hooking me on the genre. Because I've never been a wild comic book fan I can safely say that if Spider-Man had sucked I may never have seen another movie about superheroes. But we all know that it didn't suck, and I know that I saw many a superhero flick since then, so here we are.
I have to start with a little side story. My mom and I love to re-watch movies from 10-ish years ago because we often get a kick out of seeing people who are now major stars in random, small roles. For example, James Franco is in Never Been Kissed. I'm not sure he even has any lines, but he's in it as one of Guy Perkins' cronies, and we think it's pretty funny. Anyway, re-watching Spider-Man gave me one of those little treats. I finally started watching True Blood this summer, and one of the especially pleasing pieces of eye candy on that show is the werewolf Alcide, who's played by Joe Manganiello. Who is in Spider-Man early on as Mary Jane's boyfriend Flash. I have to admit, I prefer him as a werewolf (scruffy and muscular), but it was fun to see him in one of his earlier roles. Okay, moving on.
Something about a nerdy kid who is constantly tormented in high school being transformed into a muscly, web-slinging superhero by a spider bite strikes a good chord with me. I don't know if it's because I was kind of a nerdy kid in high school, but something about Spider-Man just makes me feel really good. Maybe it's because a part of me has always wanted to wake up with some kind of super power (a part of me still wants to believe that my Hogwarts letter is coming, too), and even though I'm terribly afraid of spiders I'd be happy to let one bite me if I knew that afterward I'd be able to climb walls and sling webs and have spidey senses. No matter what makes me love it so much, the truth is that I find joy in watching Peter Parker discover his new abilities and secretly wish for the day that I find mine, even though I know it's almost certainly never coming. But a girl can dream.
Speaking of Peter Parker, is there any better casting choice than Toby Maguire as the nerd turned superhero? Maybe just one, and that's Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Willem Dafoe is kind of a terrifying man, even when he's not playing a villain. That craggy face and raspy voice just scream "BAD GUY," and Dafoe nails Osborn's struggle between his real self and his evil alter-ego. It's a tragedy that the Green Goblin has to die at the end of the movie, because his presence probably would have improved the second and third installments in the Spider-Man franchise. Not that I have anything against Alfred Molina, but just like I feel like Michael Caine should be the only person allowed to play Ebeneezer Scrooge, I also feel that Willem Dafoe is the best choice to play pretty much every villain ever.
So there it is. I love Spider-Man because I am a nerdy person who hopes that one day I'll be able to fly or read minds or something. I love Toby Maguire as Peter Parker, but not as much as I love Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn. And even though it's completely unrelated to this movie, I secretly hope that my invitation to study at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is on it's way to me as we speak. Because I am a nerd. And Spider-Man is a movie for nerds.
Something about a nerdy kid who is constantly tormented in high school being transformed into a muscly, web-slinging superhero by a spider bite strikes a good chord with me. I don't know if it's because I was kind of a nerdy kid in high school, but something about Spider-Man just makes me feel really good. Maybe it's because a part of me has always wanted to wake up with some kind of super power (a part of me still wants to believe that my Hogwarts letter is coming, too), and even though I'm terribly afraid of spiders I'd be happy to let one bite me if I knew that afterward I'd be able to climb walls and sling webs and have spidey senses. No matter what makes me love it so much, the truth is that I find joy in watching Peter Parker discover his new abilities and secretly wish for the day that I find mine, even though I know it's almost certainly never coming. But a girl can dream.
Speaking of Peter Parker, is there any better casting choice than Toby Maguire as the nerd turned superhero? Maybe just one, and that's Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Willem Dafoe is kind of a terrifying man, even when he's not playing a villain. That craggy face and raspy voice just scream "BAD GUY," and Dafoe nails Osborn's struggle between his real self and his evil alter-ego. It's a tragedy that the Green Goblin has to die at the end of the movie, because his presence probably would have improved the second and third installments in the Spider-Man franchise. Not that I have anything against Alfred Molina, but just like I feel like Michael Caine should be the only person allowed to play Ebeneezer Scrooge, I also feel that Willem Dafoe is the best choice to play pretty much every villain ever.
So there it is. I love Spider-Man because I am a nerdy person who hopes that one day I'll be able to fly or read minds or something. I love Toby Maguire as Peter Parker, but not as much as I love Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn. And even though it's completely unrelated to this movie, I secretly hope that my invitation to study at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is on it's way to me as we speak. Because I am a nerd. And Spider-Man is a movie for nerds.
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