Rent Spider-Man (2002)

The Gold Standard in Spandex - Spider-Man review by griggs

For years I treated superheroes like football teams: you picked Superman or Spider-Man and stuck with it. The old animated Spidey shorts never stood a chance against Christopher Reeve, and I happily kept my distance until Into the Spider-Verse softened me up.

So I finally tackled Raimi’s Spider-Man, still half-expecting noisy myth-making and not much else. Instead: balance. The origin stuff is sketched with surprising care, then the action drops in at just the right moments, like punctuation rather than filler. It’s got heart, proper laughs, and stakes that feel human-sized even when the buildings aren’t.

Best of all, it’s blissfully unencumbered — no homework, no winks to twelve other films, no franchise admin. Just a smart script, a great cast, effects that still sing, and a tone that knows when to be sincere. Watching it 24 years late, I’m mildly annoyed to admit it: this is the gold standard most capes still haven’t caught.