OPINION: Are the Spider-Man Movies worth all the Attention?
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Spider-Man is loved by many generations alike. From 1962 when the first comic was made, to 2021 when the latest Spider-Man movie came out, it has been admired by billions of people. The entire franchise has accumulated over $36 billion at the box office after its debut. People may find themselves wondering, “Is watching all nine Spider-Man movies worth my time?” Well, all nine movies combine to be around 753 minutes long, and if I am correct, that would be a lot of time spent watching a teenage boy fight super villains.
Spider-Man (2002) is a great film for young and old alike. The movie is about a teenage boy living in New York in the year 2001. He gets bitten by a radioactive spider which makes him develop superpowers that he uses to help keep the citizens of New York safe. This movie birthed a line of iconic actors and movies. It was immensely captivating. There were many climactic moments that had me invested and wanting to watch more. Although the movie was magnificent overall, the animation was not great. Some scenes looked as though you were playing Fortnite on a microwave. Many great quotes came from this movie, including “With great power comes great responsibility” and “The end of one thing, is the start of something new.” I recommend watching it if you are searching for an action-romance movie or if you want to understand the plot leading up to Spider-Man No Way Home.
Watching Spider-Man 2 (2004), I cried three too many times. The movie addresses Peter’s financial adversity, his struggle to balance being Spider-Man and a student at a top university, and of course, the crisis he faces when his idol turns into a crazy octopi made out of steel. I do not remember why I cried three times watching the movie, but I think it was because of the strong romance between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson (MJ). A quote that absolutely made me bawl my eyes out was “I believe there’s a hero in all of us that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the things we want most, even our dreams.” The amount of hope that this sentence instils within me is gratifying. You should watch it if you want to cry or to prepare yourself for Spider-Man: No Way Home (‘NWH’).
In essence, Spider-Man 3 (2007) is just about Peter failing to acknowledge MJ and becoming an emo spider. Something that made me laugh really hard was when one of the villains said “I like being bad, it makes me happy.” I kid you not, that is the funniest thing that has been said in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, and you cannot change my mind. The romance in this movie puts you through a rollercoaster of emotions. Spider-Man 3 is probably the best one out of the three Tobey Maguire movies for multiple reasons. Number one: Peter becomes emo, number two: Peter becomes emo, number three: Peter becomes emo, number four: Peter becomes emo, and lastly, number 20: it shows how much Peter Parker has grown as a nephew, significant other, friend, student, and friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) had the same storyline as the very first Spider-Man movie. It takes place in the same city and features the same characters, but has a twist in its plot. The villains were different because if they were all the same, NWH wouldn’t have happened. The best thing about this movie was the casting of the actors. My love for all the actors is unfathomable. They understood that they were making an Amazing Spider-Man movie and made sure to live up to the “Amazing” part of the title. The romance between Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker is every hopeless romantic’s dream. The plot of the movie was centred around Spider-Man having to stop Dr. Connors from turning everyone into slimy green lizards. Overall the storyline was great and pairing of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone is *chefs kiss*.
The beginning of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) partially reveals how Peter’s parents died. Being Spider-Man consumes a lot of Peter’s time—it even causes him to nearly miss his graduation ceremony. An old friend from Peter’s past appears and wants his help, however, Peter isn’t able to. Spider-Man retires from crime fighting to become a firefighter. No one could ever be as romantic as Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Spider-Man. We need more men like him in our world. Genuinely, this movie is probably my favourite out of all of the Spider-Man movies. It has a good plot, there’s a lot of suspense, and the end-credits song is great. Everything about it is amazing.
From Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) to Spider-Man: No Way Home, not keeping up with the Avengers timeline makes understanding all three movies a bit messy. The movie starts off with an illegal weapon business. Revealing that he is Spiderman could give Peter the power to be the most popular kid at school, but it could also put the people he loves in danger. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of this movie — probably because my parents got divorced around the time this movie came out so it reminds me of it. It’s a good movie, but it’s not my favourite. The strange thing about Spider-Man: Homecoming is that there was no origin story for Peter Parker.
In Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), after The Blip, countless people mourned the death of the superheroes who died keeping them safe from Thanos. Peter went on a school trip to Europe, but his trip was ruined by a man named Quinten Beck. Beck got Peter caught up in a scheme he organized to make himself famous. It turns out that he was a fraud (thank god because we don’t like Jake Gyllenhall) and wanted to take over the whole world. If I’m being 100 per cent truthful, this movie was not good. It was better than Homecoming, but the fact that Jake Gyllenhall is one of the main characters makes it awful. However, it’s great that we get to see more of MJ showing her true self. One part of this movie that was probably the best out of all of the Spider-Man movies before it were the visual effects.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) is currently the sixth most grossing movie in all of history, making almost $2 billion at the box office. In this movie, Peter is left all alone without parents, Tony Stark is dead and the whole world hates him. He tries to fix everything, and, well, it doesn’t work. His attempts involve him tampering with the multiverse, which results in all of the Spider-Mans, including Tobey Mcguire and Andrew Garfielf, having a family meeting. Everything about it is amazing. It features all of the Spider-Mans and the end-credits song is amazing.
In summary, yes, the Spider-Man movies are definitely worth all of the attention they get. I cannot imagine the world without the Spider-Man movies — it is simply incomprehensible. A world without Spider-Man is absurd to think about. I spent over 753 minutes just in preparation to write this (yes, I watched all the films), and that excludes minutes it took to physically write the article. What you should take away from this article is that with great power comes great responsibility.