Friday, March 29, 2024
39.0°F

The best and worst of Spidey on the big screen

by TYLER WILSON/Coeur Voice Contributor
| December 15, 2021 1:00 AM

The release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” this weekend signifies the culmination of almost 20 years of cinematic stories about the iconic Marvel wall-crawler. The new film even incorporates some Multiverse magic to bring together enemies old and new as a new challenge to the current Peter Parker (Tom Holland).

Starting with Sam Raimi’s 2002 blockbuster origin story, some version of Spider-Man has appeared in 12 theatrical films, with even more appearances in the works. Impressively, most of those films have been at least partially successful, both critically and in terms of box office dominance.

Here are the highlights (and a few lowlights) of this memorable cinematic run.

Best villain: Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in “Spider-Man 2”

Credit director Sam Raimi for gifting the good-scientist-gone-mad Dr. Otto Octavius with a full dramatic arc in “Spider-Man 2,” and Molina grounds the character in reality even while all those mechanical arms flail about. There’s a reason why his Multiverse return in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has been so prominently featured in the new film’s marketing.

Worst villain: Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn/Green Goblin in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014)

It really isn’t DeHaan’s fault that Green Goblin feels like such an afterthought in the overstuffed “Amazing Spider-Man 2.” So much of the film gets dominated by Jamie Foxx’s very blue and very over-the-top Electro that Harry’s late-film transformation feels rushed and misguided.

The other popular choice for this award, Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom in 2007’s “Spider-Man 3,” also suffers from rushed plotting, but at least Grace makes Brock’s “obnoxious bro” vibe occasionally humorous.

Best villainous monologue: Michael Keaton as Adriane Toomes/Vulture gives Peter Parker a pre-prom warning, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017).

Keaton’s Vulture is a unique villain in how well he rationalizes his own criminal behavior, so much so that you almost want Peter to ignore all those Stark technology thefts. In a terrific 10-minute sequence, Peter learns that his prom date’s dad is the bad dude he’s been fighting, and that the bad dude has quickly figured out Peter’s secret identity. A stern warning from a protective dad never sounded more chilling.

Worst villainous monologue: Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin “relaxing on a rooftop” while chatting with his masked enemy in “Spider-Man” (2002).

No disrespect to Dafoe, who absolutely crushes it as the first and best cinematic Green Goblin. However, the clunky, metallic Goblin mask didn’t translate too well to live-action and the scene in which the Goblin tries to recruit Spider-Man culminates with the villain laying on a rooftop and shooting the breeze with a bewildered Peter. As Toby Maguire’s Spidey says, “You’re out, Gobby. Out of your mind!”

Best team-up: Peter Parker and Tony Stark/Iron Man in “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018).

The dynamic between Tom Holland’s Parker and Robert Downey Jr.’s Stark serves as the linchpin to Spider-Man’s introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which began in “Captain America: Civl War.” That relationship is given more time in the best subplot in “Infinity War,” in which Spider-Man forces himself into a galaxy-spanning conflict in which he’s not prepared. Then that ending. “Mr Stark, I don’t feel so good.” Oof. It still hurts.

Unfairly canceled sequel: Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 4.”

Many of the problems with 2007’s “Spider-Man 3” can be attributed to a studio that wanted Raimi to do too much in a single movie. In addition to battling Sandman (who is also given a silly connection to dearly departed Uncle Ben, Maguire’s Peter finds an alien symbiote… goes “dark” (it includes dancing), then must face down that same symbiote in the form of Venom. Raimi reportedly didn’t want to shoehorn Venom into the movie, but the studio’s insistence on the black goo villain ultimately added too much plot for a single adventure, which also cripled other plot elements.

Despite its shortcomings, “Spider-Man 3” still made plenty of money, and Raimi ramped up pre-production on a fourth installment. Ultimately, the project got shelved, which led to a too-soon, complete reboot with Andrew Garfield taking over as Spider-Man, and Marc Webb sitting in the director’s chair for another Peter Park origin story.

Fairly canceled sequel: Webb’s “Amazing Spider-Man 3” and Sinister Six plans.

While not necessary, the two “Amazing Spider-Man” movies have a few strong elements, with Garfield and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey providing compelling central performances. Unfortunately ,so many plot elements of these movies simply repeat elements that worked better in Raimi’s trilogy, and the notable deviations all reeked of plot beats from other generic blockbusters of that era.

The end of “Amazing Spider-Man 2” shamelessly folds the concept of a Sinister Six (a Spidey villain superteam for the uninitiated) into its already convoluted mythology. Thankfully, Sony decided to bail on it and let the Marvel Cinematic Universe borrow the webslinger for some far better superhero team-ups.

Best Iteration of Spider-Man: Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018).

Okay, so it’s a small supporting part and sort of a gag, but Cage rules as the voice of the grizzled, fedora-wearing detective version of Spider-Man in the multiverse-bending animated hit.

Best Spider-Man Movie: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse”

Look, I love every second of Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2.” That movie, alongside 2005’s “Batman Begins,” proved that superhero movies could be taken seriously and appreciated alongside more “highbrow” cinema.

“Into the Spider-Verse,” a critical darling in and of itself that ended up winning the Best Animated Feature Academy Award for 2018, is just such an explosive visual feast. The arc of young Miles Morales acts as an engrossing counterpoint to the well-told origins of Peter Parker, though a compelling and funny version of Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson) appears here as well.

“Spider-Verse” also adds “Spider-Gwen, a pig version of the wall-crawler and several new takes on fan-favorite villains, and yet it never loses itself in all the spectacular mayhem, ultimately centering the story on Miles’ hero’s journey. It’s just joyous from start-to-finish.

• • •

Tyler Wilson is a member of the International Press Academy and has been writing about movies for Inland Northwest publications since 2000, including a regular column in The Press since 2006. He can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.

photo

Sony Pictures via AP

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Zendaya, left, and Tom Holland in Columbia Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home."