In 2002, Sam Raimi changed the world thanks to the long-gestating first major live-action adaptation of Spider-Man, and it remains incredibly good.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 3, 2025

From Willem Dafoe’s menacing Green Goblin to the absolutely iconic Spider-Man/Mary Jane upside-down kiss, this film really did set the standard for what Marvel films should be.

| Jun 20, 2023

Everything feels more real and urgent, it actually feels more human than some live-action films we get to see.

| Original Score: A | Jun 6, 2023

Amiably impersonal, painless yet fundamentally forgettable.

| Original Score: C | Sep 17, 2022

The first Spider-Man isnt the best of Raimis three Spidey films, but it's a very important film, one that set the template for how Marvel superhero movies would look for the next 20 years. (20th anniversary)

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 3, 2022

The 2002 Spider-Man film is crucial for how it changed both blockbusters and the superhero genre for generations to come.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 3, 2022

Raimi made this special.

| Dec 17, 2021

The visuals even out the problems with characters and storyline concepts for a first-class comic book adaptation that impresses more often than not.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 9, 2020

A perfectly-cast Tobey Maguire leads from the front with a surprisingly textured performance for a blockbuster, and the back-up he receives from co-stars Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe and the electric direction of Sam Raimi is equally effective.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 12, 2020

A true masterpiece, er, make that, web-masterpiece.

| Nov 15, 2019

It's all lightly done, and Raimi never forgets his family-friendly, crowd-pleasing remit by making everything visually breezy and morally comprehensible.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 13, 2019

Watching Spider-Man today, it's easy to see why it worked as well as it did, while also fully acknowledging those parts of the machinery that have gathered some rust in the interim.

| Mar 22, 2019

Tobey Maguire brings to the film a tenderness and also a watchfulness... His ability to endow lines as basic as "Goblin, what have you done?" with introspective echoes carries the film to a deeper place.

| Nov 6, 2018

If there are 15 spiders in a lab that can give you superpowers, why does just one kid get them?

| Aug 29, 2018

This is about as good as a comic-to-film adaptation gets.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 7, 2015

Sam Raimi's fine slapstick skills shine to their best advantage.

| Jul 7, 2015

Even with its flaws it's a satisfying adventure that manages to appeal to the head and the heart even when it's taking your breath away.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 7, 2015

Spider-Man is the most modest would-be summer blockbuster in a long while, an adaptation of the 40-year-old Marvel comic book that's surprisingly heartfelt, but also a bit pokey and underwhelming.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 7, 2015

This is the fun blockbuster of the summer: great characters, great heart, great performances -- everything that Star Wars isn't.

| Jul 7, 2015

To me the only marvel about this Marvel Comics cinema hero is that Americans should be going to see him in such large numbers.

| Jul 7, 2015