Franchise Friday : The Spider-Man Movies Ranked
Franchise Friday: Spider-Man Movies
The news and rumours keep on coming regarding the upcoming third Tom Holland Spider-Man movie. It’s shaping up to be a multiverse crossover full of some of the favourites from all three screen iterations of the wall crawling hero. As the chance to see all three Spidey's share the screen draws ever closer, I’m looking back at all the Spider-Man movies and seeing what sticks.
8) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
I’d like to start by saying I don’t think there’s such thing as an unwatchable Spider-Man movie. Even the so called bad ones have a special place in my heart and were a spectacle to watch on the big screen. It’s just that sometimes, spectacle can’t always be paired with substance. Amazing Spider-Man 2 , like the first, is carried by the chemistry and charm of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. They have the most convincing and interesting romance in any Spider-man movie. Unfortunately, the film around them is a complete mess. Trying too hard to set up several future villains and franchises, Amazing Spider-Man 2 is simultaneously 2.5 hours long and rushed. Jamie Foxx's Electro feels like he’s come from a different movie from 20 years previous, and Dane DeHaan's Harry Osbourne is underdeveloped, shoehorned in and fails to match the intrigue and passion of either Green a Goblin before him. I’ve said this about superhero movies time and time again but when a studio interferes, the art suffers. This is a class A example of that. Marc Webb's character driven style from the first film is completely compromised by Sony's insistence on introducing as many of the Sinister Six as possible. That being said, the performance of Garfield, particularly in the third act, is way too good to be in a movie like this.
7) Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The pitfalls Sony fell into in 2014 were all repeated mistakes. They did the same to Sam Raimi in 2007. His first two Spider-Man movies were groundbreaking milestones in the superhero genre. Beloved by audiences far and wide. Spider-Man 3 instead became a sort of punching bag for everyone. There is a good movie in here. The same characters we know and love inhabit this World. However, the story is stuffed by Sony's insistence to use Venom. There’s three different movies going on. A culmination of a trilogy of build up is overshadowed by a sudden and forced new set of ideas. Venom isn’t handled well at all. Something always feels off in this third movie, but there are some scenes and moments which shine just as bright as the first two, namely the well executed Sandman storyline. Spider-Man 3 isn’t a terrible movie, it’s a passion project that had the passion sucked out of it by Execs, and what suffered was the final chapter of a once great series of films.
6) The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Doomed from the start, audiences weren’t ready to see a new Spider-Man only 5 years after the last trilogy ended. This film had so many hurdles to overcome. It’s noticeably darker in tone than the first films, opting for what feels slightly more in line with a then-popular Batman franchise. Amazing Spider-Man finds itself repeating many of the beats we’ve seen before, though often in slightly different ways. It improves on the romance, Marc Webb thrives at creating convincing and compelling love stories. The action side of things may not be as groundbreaking, but in here is a very different and interesting Spider-man origin. Unfortunately, Sony completely undid that style in the sequel, so this film instead feels like a bit of an anomaly. I think Amazing Spider-Man is a fun, if polarising, one-off look at what Spider-Man would look like if he wasn’t so hopeful.
5) Spider-Man : Far From Home (2019)
I’m not a huge fan of the tone of the new Spiderman movies but they certainly feel fresh and original. Far from Home has some of the coolest action in any Spider-Man adaptation. The story, though slightly too reliant on the wider MCU, gives a slightly goofy villain like Mysterio a compelling and interesting new arc. It does feel like it’s taking this version of Spider-Man a little bit too long to become the independent hero we know and love. 5 appearances in, and this new Spider-Man still feels out of his depth, even for Spidey standards. To me, the new Spider-man films are very fun and enjoyable comic book movies, but they don’t understand the character anywhere near as well as the original movies did.
Full of charisma and operating on a very large scale, Far From Home is a good time even if it does lack satisfying development.
4) Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Homecoming was a well needed breath of fresh air. It’s hard to deny that it was awesome to see Spider-Man finally interacting with the MCU we know and love. Youthful, and much more in line with Ultimate Spider-Man as a character, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is someone you want to see succeed. The story here is pretty solid too, feeling like an 80s high school drama merged perfectly with an Avengers solo film. Michael Keaton's Vulture steals the show and sets a new precedent for taking cheesy villains and making them something worthwhile. Homecoming succeeds at almost everything it sets out to do. My only problem is that as a Spider-Man movie, it lacks the fundamental elements that feel Spider-Man to me as a fan. I do wish it hadn’t strayed so far from the classic Spider-Man setup in some respects. The biggest loss is not featuring or even mentioning Uncle Ben. It feels odd to leave out the number one motive and message that fuels the character, and I understand the Raimi fans who rag on this movie for it. However, unlike some haters, I know how to separate the expectation from the end product. Homecoming is a great movie, but it’s not a great Spider-Man movie.
3) Spider-Man (2002)
I won’t have a bad word said about any of these top 3 movies. Spider-Man is a perfect Spider-Man origin movie. Perfectly capturing the tone of the early Spider-Man comics and translating it into a modern movie. This film changed everything. In 1978 audiences were thrilled to see Superman fly on the big screen, in 2002 they got to swing through New York on a web. A movie like this wouldn’t get made in today’s industry. Imagine a Spider-Man movie only having one core villain, and being driven by the pure character arcs of Peter Parker and his best friends and enemies. Tobey Maguire, though way too old to be a college student, embodies that geeky, yet earnest Peter Parker. He’s awkward, he makes bad choices. He is the Everyman. Every cheesy one liner and flamboyant stunt piece is intentionally effective. The music is arguably Danny Elfman's most passionate and unique work and the actors all give these characters Pathos galore. Some say Spider-Man is dated now, but I say it ages like a fine wine.
2) Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)
This movie came out of nowhere. A sleeper hit that no one expected. Unique on this list as an animated movie completely standing alone. The animation is beautiful, the story is meticulously fine tuned, and the whole thing flows so well. Miles Morales is given the big screen justice he so deserves. A movie for the fans, but also a movie to generate new fans. Into the Spiderverse is hard to explain with words, but if you’ve seen it you know just how unique of a film it is. Visually and creatively packed full of love and effort. I hope when it does eventually get sequels, that they are as creatively free and passionate as this. There is something for everyone in this Spider-Man film. What’s up Danger?
It had to be. Spider-Man 2 proved to audiences that comic book movies can be more than just action popcorn flicks. They can be genuinely good cinema too. Spider-Man 2 elevated everything that was great about the first movie adding one of the best super villains in cinema history, perfectly humanised by Alfred Molina. Peter Parker suffers and succeeds and we as a viewer are taken on every step with him. Raimi's masterpiece, Spider-Man 2 is what really kickstarted comic book movie love. This is, to date, the best Spider-Man story on screen and I don’t know if it will ever be topped.
Comments
Post a Comment