Spider-Man (2002 film)

"“You mess with Spidey, you mess with New York!” More than any other superhero, Spider-Man is New York. He's the kid from Queens, the blue-collar nerd who got bitten by a radioactive spider and became the world's most famous teenage crime fighter. In Sam Raimi's 2002 film, a random man in the crowd hollers the above line as a group of New Yorkers protect Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) from his arch nemesis The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). It's a sincere moment, unburdened by the self-reflective seriousness found in the genre's contemporary efforts. Ironically for a film often cited as kickstarting the modern superhero movie trend, Raimi's Spider-Man is a bland superhero movie by today's standards. It is simply a story about a guy, the girl he loves and the city he shields from harm. It wasn't Raimi's intention to make a cinematic dissertation on the different types of heroism. Nor for that matter was he attempting to make a generic superhero movie. He set out to make a Spider-Man movie, and making a great Spider-Man movie requires making a great New York movie. As such, Raimi's version of New York is a place where fantasy and reality meet. There is no doubt that Spider-Man is a fantasy, as Peter reacts to his overnight transformation with a goofy grin because he's developed shredded abs. But even with his newfound powers he still suffers loss. He and the rest of New York don't freak out at the idea of a guy swinging between buildings. In this city and the world, Raimi creates within it, that seems perfectly normal. The director injects realism into the story by having his characters work mundane jobs to meet mundane ends like paying rent. They lead regular lives, and we are given hints of their everyday activities. In this film, New York is more than a setting, as Raimi gives his supporting characters lives outside of Spider-Man and The Green Goblin's ideological conflict."

"When Spider-Man was proposed to me originally it was like, ‘Really, you’re going to make a movie from a comic book?’” Dafo said. “It was like I was slumming it, you know? I didn’t see it that way, but some people were like, ‘Really?’"

"Imagine "Superman" with a Clark Kent more charismatic than the Man of Steel, and you'll understand how "Spider-Man" goes wrong. Tobey Maguireis pitch-perfect as the socially retarded Peter Parker, but when he becomes Spider-Man, the film turns to action sequences that zip along like perfunctory cartoons. Not even during Spidey's first experimental outings do we feel that flesh and blood are contending with gravity. Spidey soars too quickly through the skies of Manhattan; he's as convincing as Mighty Mouse."

"Remember the first time you saw the characters defy gravity in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"? They transcended gravity, but they didn't dismiss it: They seemed to possess weight, dimension and presence. Spider-Man as he leaps across the rooftops is landing too lightly, rebounding too much like a bouncing ball. He looks like a video game figure, not like a person having an amazing experience."

"The other super-being in the movie is the Green Goblin, who surfs the skies in jet-shoes. He, too, looks like a drawing being moved quickly around a frame, instead of like a character who has mastered a daring form of locomotion. He's handicapped, too, by his face, which looks like a high-tech action figure with a mouth that doesn't move."

"Peter Parker was crucial in the evolution of Marvel comics because he was fallible and had recognizable human traits. He was a nerd, a loner, socially inept, insecure, a poor kid being raised by relatives. Maguire gets all of that just right, and I enjoyed the way Dunst is able to modulate her gradually increasing interest in this loser who begins to seem attractive to her. I also liked the complexity of the villain, who in his Dr. Jekyll manifestation is brilliant tycoon Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) and in his Mr. Hyde persona is a cackling psychopath."

"9/11 was undeniably a paradigm shift. Its effects would ripple throughout the next decade and continues to impact the world today. The superhero industry's response to the unjust tragedy was felt immediately. Those who went to the movies to escape the ubiquitous news coverage on Sept. 11, 2001 would have seen a trailer for “Spider-Man,” which would be released in the following May. The trailer, which featured Spider-Man trapping a helicopter of bank robbers in a web strung up between the Twin Towers, was quickly pulled out of circulation along with posters featuring the towers reflected in his eyes. The nation, still reeling from the horrors of 9/11, flooded the theaters the following year, hitting a record high for U.S. admissions—1.64 billion moviegoers—in 2002, according to the 2006 U.S. Theatrical Market Statistics. Spider-Man raked in the highest domestic growth of 2002, beating well-established franchises “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” (“All Time Worldwide Opening”). The nation clearly hungered for a figure who could save the country—or, in this case, at least defend New York."

"Q: Do you have a favourite scene in the film?"

"Movies hadn't been doing the sort of opening-weekend business that's fairly common – even expected – today. The first Harry Potter came out about six months before us and it was this phenomenon from Day one. It was so wild because it was a new thing at that moment – and I'm not saying that hasn't happened in movie history, but at the time that was a big jump. and then that happened with us. People didn't anticipate [2002's Spider- Man] to be like that. Leading up to it you start to get reactions and people tell you, you know, what the tracking is and what range your opening weekend box office is likely to be. but for me it was kind of unexpected. So much shifted in my life the weekend the movie came out. it was shocking."

"I worked closely with David Koepp who based his scenario on that of James Cameron. I especially wanted to develop what I like in Spider-Man, that is to say the character of Peter Parker. I really did not care about Spidey, I wanted a movie about Peter Parker. (Laughs) It's interesting because he looks like us, he does not have a lot of money, he grew up in a working class environment, he can not fit in, he has problems at school ... His egoism and irresponsibility contribute to his uncle's death and he does not know how to live with it. But when he realizes that he must live to become the responsible person his uncle wanted him to become, he takes the mask. And that's what I'm interested in Spidey. For me, he becomes a hero by becoming responsible, not by knocking out some bad guys. (He thinks) I feel still invested with great responsibilities. Parents will take their children to see the movie and whether it is good or bad, these kids will point the screen and say, "I want to be like Spider-Man . " I know that there will be this admiration and I had to put on the screen a character who deserves this admiration."

"Initially, I wanted to build a very light camera, from 2 to 3 kg, loaded with a minute of film, mounted on a system of cranes and pulleys, with mini engines. She could have flown over the streets of Manhattan, drifting over passersby and reaching a speed of 60 km / h. But production was certain that we would lose control and kill people! So we tried lots of other things that did not work, like stuntmen hanging from cables, but they had neither the grace nor the acrobatic agility of Spidey. Then John Dykstra, the head of visual effects, proposed a virtual Spidey. I did not like this idea, I did not think I could convince the public with a virtual human, it would not be real enough. But at the point where we were, we tried. And it works. But because Spidey is wearing a suit. If it had been necessary to create skin or virtual eyes, nobody would have believed it."

"I stay true to the spirit of Spider-Man . Its creators, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, wanted Peter Parker to be like us. I can identify with a simple high school student not a genius capable of inventing this mechanism and this canvas. I wanted to tell the story of an ordinary boy who becomes an extraordinary being, not that of an extraordinary boy who becomes an extraordinary hero."

"Tobey Maguire – Peter Parker/Spider Man"

"Willem Dafoe – Norman Osborn/Green Goblin: Harry's dad"

"Kirsten Dunst – Mary Jane (MJ) Watson"

"James Franco – Harry Osborn: Norman's son"

"Cliff Robertson – Ben Parker: May's husband and Peter's uncle"

"Rosemary Harris – May Parker: Peter's aunt and Ben's wife"

"J. K. Simmons – J. Jonah Jameson"

"Joe Manganiello – Eugene "Flash" Thompson"

"Bill Nunn – Joseph "Robbie" Robertson"

"Elizabeth Banks – Betty Brant"