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SPIDER-MAN
There
are two men, two acts and two results.
There is a solidarity of evil and a solidarity of good,
but the latter far surpasses the former.
Reviews by Mike Furches, Annette Wierstra and David Bruce
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SPIDER-MAN
(2002)
This page was created on February 10, 2002
This page was last updated on
May 29, 2005
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Directed by Sam Raimi
Writing credits (WGA) Stan Lee (comic book) David Koepp (screenplay)
Tobey
Maguire .... Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Willem Dafoe .... Green Goblin/Norman Osborn
Kirsten Dunst .... Mary Jane Watson
James Franco .... Harry Osborn
J.K. Simmons .... J. Jonah Jameson
Michael Papajohn .... The Burglar
Randy Poffo .... Bone Saw McGraw
Joe Manganiello .... Eugene 'Flash' Thompson
Rosemary Harris .... Aunt May
Ted Raimi .... Hoffman
Cliff Robertson .... Uncle Ben Parker
Bill Nunn .... Joe 'Robbie' Robertson
Bruce Campbell .... Ring Announcer Stan Lee
Produced
by
Avi Arad .... executive producer
Stan Lee .... executive producer
Ian Bryce .... producer
Laura Ziskin .... producer
Grant Curtis .... associate producer
Original
music by Danny Elfman
Cinematography by Don Burgess
Film Editing by Arthur Coburn and Bob Murawski
Rated
PG
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
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With
Great Power,
There Must Also Come Great Responsibility
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STUDIO
SYNOPSIS:
Orphaned at an early age, Peter Parker (Toby Maguire) lived in Queens,
New York with his beloved Aunt May (Academy-Awards®) nominee Rosemary
Harris) and Uncle Ben (Academy Awards® winner Cliff Robertson).
Peter leads the life of a normal student, working as a photographer
at the Daily Bugle under the tutelage of publisher J. Jonah Jameson
(J.K. Simmons), pining after the beautiful Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten
Dunst) and hanging out with buddy Harry Osborn (James Franco).
On
a school trip, during which Peter and his classmates are given a
science demonstration on spiders, Peter is bitten by a genetically
altered spider. Soon after, he discovers that he has unusual powers:
he is endowed with the strength and agility of a spider along with
a keen, ESP-like "spider sense."
After
discovering these powers, Peter appears in a televised wrestling
match and, armed with his new spider strength, wins the match in
record time. But the wrestling match promoter refuses to award Peter
the $3,000 prize money, alleging that Peter won too quickly. Soon
afterwards, Peter has the opportunity to catch a burglar fleeing
from the promoter's office, but because he wants revenge, he refuses
to stop him. Moments later, the same burglar kills his beloved Uncle
Ben.
As
Spider-Man, Peter apprehends the burglar but is plagued with guilt
for not being a hero sooner. During his time of turmoil, Peter remembers
something Uncle Ben once told him: "With great power, there must
also come great responsibility." Peter takes this to heart and decides
to us his extraordinary powers to fight crime.
Meanwhile,
megalomaniacal businessman Norman Osborn (Academy Award® nominee
Willem Dafoe), Harry's father, is undergoing some changes of his
own. An experimental formula has blown up in his face, increasing
his intelligence and strength but also driving his insane. He is
now the Green Goblin, Spider-Man's arch-enemy, who will put young
Peter Parker's vow to fight crime and help innocent people to the
ultimate test.
© 2001 Columbia Pictures
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CD
SOUNDTRACK
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 Spider-Man
--Soundtrack
Various Artists - 2002
1. Theme From Spider Man 2. Hero - Chad Kroeger (feat. Josey Scott)
3. What We're All About - Sum 41 4. Learn To Crawl - Black Lab 5.
Somebody Else - Bleu 6. Bug Bites - Alien Ant Farm 7. Blind - Default
8. Bother - Corey Taylor 9. Shelter - Greenwheel 10. When It Started
- The Strokes 11. Hate To Say I Told You So - The Hives 12. Invisible
Man - Theory Of A Dead Man 13. Undercover - Pete Yorn 14. My Nutmeg
Phantasy - Macy Gray (feat. Angie Stone and Mos Def)(Tom Morello
Mix) 15. I - IV - V - Injected 16. She Was My Girl - Jerry Cantrell
17. Main Titles - Danny Elfman 18. Farewell - Danny Elfman 19. Theme
from Spider-Man - Aerosmith
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BOOKS
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 Spider-Man
by Peter David
It
begins with an orphan named Peter Parker, raised by his beloved
Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, New York. A quiet student, he
works diligently at his studies and pines for the beautiful Mary
Jane Watson. But this ordinary teenage boy is about to have his
life turned upside down, when he is bitten by a genetically altered
spider. Suddenly, he finds himself possessed of spectacular powers.
He is now and forever Spider-Man!
Follow
Spider-Man's action-packed journey, from his struggle to harness
the extraordinary gifts that will prove to be both blessing and
curse, to his fight to save innocent lives while the media tears
him to pieces. It all leads up to his ultimate battle high above
New York streets, against the death-dealing madman known as the
Green Goblin. While the city watches helplessly and countless
lives hang in the balance, Spider-Man confronts his archnemesis,
and the Goblin puts Spider-Man's vow to fight crime to the ultimate
test . . .
About
the Author
Peter David is famous for writing some of the most popular
of the original Star Trek: The Next Generation novels, including
Imzadi and A Rock and a Hard Place. His original works include
the original fantasy Sir Apropos of Nothing, the Arthurian novel
Knight Life, and the quirky werewolf story Howling Mad. He single-handedly
revived the classic comic book series The Incredible Hulk and
has written just about every famous comic book superhero, including
Spider-Man and the futuristic Spider-Man.. BOOK
INFO
 Spider-Man
Confidential: From Comic Icon to Hollywood Hero
by Edward Gross
Book
Description A Paperback Original. Just in time for Spider-Man's
major motion picture release: the unauthorized biography of one
of the world's most popular comic book superheroes.
For
four decades, Spider-Man has enthralled fans of his comic books
and television show. Now, step inside the story behind the superhero's
growing empire, which is as fascinating as any of his adventures.
Entertainment
writer Edward Gross tells all in this first unauthorized history
of the Spider-Man (a.k.a. webslinger), his creator, and the movie
that will catapult him into the public eye. Gross shows how Stan
Lee's frustration as a comic book artist spawned the creation
of a revolutionary comic book hero as he follows Spider-Man's
popularity through the '60s and '70s. He provides Spider-Man's
fans with a riveting biography of the superhero, a rogue's gallery
of archenemies, and a behind-the-scenes episode guide to all five
television series. Spider-Man is back and this fact-filled, fully
illustrated book will become the perfect resource for his millions
of fans.
About the Author
Edward Gross has been a correspondent for Starlog, the science
fiction world's premier magazine, the senior editor of Cinescape,
and the editor in chief of Not of This Earth. Currently he serves
as executive editor of Life Story magazine and is a regular contributor
to Total Movie magazine. He is the author of Captains' Logs: The
Complete Trek Voyages, X-Files Confidential and Planet of the
Apes Revisited, among other titles. He lives in New York. BOOK
INFO
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ON VIDEO AND DVD
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POSTER
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REVIEW
By David Bruce
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| Spider-Man
in many ways is a retelling of the story of Superman
which is a telling of the life of Jesus Christ. There are differences,
of course. Spider-Man focuses more on the coming of age teenage years
than does Superman. In fact, Spider-Man
IS a coming of age story. |
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 A
TALE OF TWO BOYS.
As in Spielberg's Prince of Egypt,
this is a tale of two "brothers." Harry is the natural
son of Norman Osborn, and Peter Parker is the surrogate son. Like
the Pharaoh in Spielberg's animated feature, the father favors the
other/second "son" over his natural son.  This
theme of the second sibling over the first born is a popular theme
in ancient Hebrew (Jewish) stories like Abel over Cain, Isaac over
Ishmael, Rachel over Leah, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his older
brothers, etc.
This
favoring of Peter Parker over actual son Harry Parker by the man
who becomes the Green Goblin sets up amazing drama and tension.
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 ACCIDENTS
HAPPEN
The transformations of Peter Parker to Spider-Man, and Norman Osborn
to Green Goblin, are intercut together. It shows two very different
ways of handling life-changing incidents. Peter Parker/Spider-Man
responds to his "handicap" in a positive way. Norman responds
in an evil manner. The story underscores temperament and determination
as the motives toward particular outcomes. Peter Parker is an awkward
teen, an innocent lamb, with no guile. Norman Osborn is motivated
by greed for money, and intolerance toward others.
He is very self-centered. The life-changing incidents amplify their
differing life styles. In the Spider-Man story it is not outcome,
or the bottom line, that matters. Rather, it is where the person
is coming from that matters. Outcome is subservient to motivation
and desire.
There
are two men, two acts and two results. There is a solidarity of
evil and a solidarity of good, but the latter far surpasses the
former.
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 AMERICAN
ADAMS -- BIBLICAL ADAMS
This is the term that pop culturists use to describe superheroes.
American Adams are archetypal heroes. Superman
is the first of the current super hero types, but he is not the
first of the hero myths. Both Superman
and Spider-Man are connected to a long line of heroes. In the
Spider-Man movie Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) and Peter Parker
(Spider-Man) are archetypes of the conflict between good and evil.
In
the Bible there are two Adams. The first Adam is found in the
book of Genesis. This first Adam brings about the fall of humanity
by giving into "the dark side." The second Adam is Jesus
Christ who undoes the work of the first Adam. In an interesting
way the story of Spider-Man can be used to illustrate this. There
are two men, two acts and two results.
 The
great ideas of Sin, Death, and Judgment are here shown, in the
Bible, to be involved in the connection of the human race with
the first Adam. But over against this there is the blessed fact
of union with Christ (the second Adam), and in this union righteousness
and life.
There
is a solidarity of evil and a solidarity of good, but the latter
far surpasses the former through Christ. Although sin and death
are ours in Adam, righteousness and life are ours in Christ, and
these latter two are infinitely the greater (Rom 5:11); whatever
we have lost in Adam we have more than gained in Christ.
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 THE
ASSOCIATION TO HELL FIRE
There is a difference between the Hell Fire in popular myth and
the Hell Fire in the Bible. In recent myth Hell is often associated
with the Evil One. Satan is viewed as the god of Hell Fire.  However,
in the Bible, God is associated with Hell Fire which is prepared
for the destruction of the Evil One. Hell Fire is God's way of cleansing
the world of evil. The word fire in biblical Greek is "pur"
from which we get the word "purify."
 The
popular association of fire to the Evil One is not that far off
from the Biblical understanding, however. In the Bible, Satan is
the one that comes to "rob, kill and destroy" -- all of
which can be associated with the destructive qualities of fire.
In Spider-Man the Green Goblin "robs, kills and destroys"
and fire is one of his tools. Spider-Man uses Green Goblin's own
weapons against him. The Green Goblin's own fire ultimately consumes
him, which is very much like the the biblical model. Indeed, "We
reap what we sow."
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SPIDER-MAN
IS DIFFERENT THAN JESUS
Although there are some obvious parallels between Spider-Man and
the life of Jesus, the differences are more outstanding. Whereas,
Superman is patterned after the life
of Christ, Spider-Man is not. Peter Parker is more representative
of a person gifted by God for a particular mission in life: "With
Great Power, There Must Also Come Great Responsibility."
Peter
Parker is not a messiah character. Rather, he is a regular everyday
person that makes the most of his unique situation in the best way
he can. His unique blessing is also his curse. In life our strengths
can also be our weaknesses (e.g. trusting others can also make us
vulnerable, etc.).
Peter
Parker is more Chrst-like than a Christ-figure. He attempts to do
the right things. He is not the savior of the world. Rather
he is a savior in the world. Just so, we can all be helpful
savior-like people who are there for others. Spider-Man speaks to
the notion of being a true friend.
Spider-Man
reminds us of what we can achieve. We can be insecure, awkward and
still achieve great things in life. None of us are God, but we can
do godly things. All of us are human with certain faults, just like
Peter Parker. The Spider-Man story reminds us that we can rise above
our human faults, fears, handicaps and uncertainties. We can be
all that we were created to be.
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Spider-Man
Synopsis and Review -click here
Review by Mike Furches -click here
Review by Annette Wierstra -click
here
Spider-Man Posters -click here
Spider-Man Trailers, Photos -click
here
Spider-Man Production -click here
Spider-Man Spiritual Connections -click
here
Spider-Man Forum -click
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