The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See more reviews here.
Spider-Man (2002) directed by Sam Raimi
Nerdy youth Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is unpopular in high school, thanks to his nerdiness. On a school trip he is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider. The bite gives him spider-powers like super-strength, wall-crawling, and web-shooting. At first, he wants to cash in on the powers, especially since his family is relatively poor and the awesome girl next door, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), loves her boyfriend with a car. Peter tells his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) he wants to study. Ben drives Peter to the downtown library and gives the famous "with great powers come great responsibility" speech. Peter is uninterested and secretly goes off to a third-rate wrestling match where he can win three thousand dollars if he stays in the ring for three minutes with their champion, Bonesaw. Peter dresses in a completely amateur Spider-Man suit that hides his identity. He knocks out Bonesaw in two minutes, which means the organizer only pays him one hundred dollars. Peter leaves annoyed. As he's headed to the elevator, a two-bit crook robs the organizer and flees to the elevator. The organizer shouts for Peter to stop the crook but Peter refuses out of spite. Peter goes back to meet Uncle Ben at the library only to discover him shot by a carjacker. Ben dies. In anger, Peter chases the carjacker (who has the police in pursuit) to a warehouse. Peter corners the carjacker, only to discover he is the two-bit crook that he could have easily stopped earlier in the evening. Wracked with guilt, Peter decides to use his super-powers to fight crime. Which is a good thing because a super-criminal is about to show up.
Peter's best friend in high school is Harry Osborn (James Franco), the son of wealthy scientist and industrialist Norman Osborn (Willem Defoe), head of Oscorp. Norman is trying to secure a military contract for a super-soldier serum but the serum is not quite ready for human trials. The general deciding the contract has it in for Norman and will go with a different company in two weeks if Oscorp has no solid results. Norman decides to use the serum on himself. It gives him enhanced strength. His company has also develop a glider and an armor suit, which disappear. When the other company demonstrates their military-grade exoskeleton, the Green Goblin shows up and destroys both the exoskeleton and the observers, including the general. So Osborn gets the contract and the money comes rolling in. He has no memory of what he's done--the serum has obviously caused an alternate, less inhibited personality to emerge. Later, Oscorp's board decides to sell the company out from under Norman, forcing the Goblin on another murderous rampage. Norman wakes up the next morning with no real memories of what happened. His other personality comes closer and closer to the surface as the movie goes on.
Naturally, the Green Goblin and Spider-Man come into conflict. At first, the Goblin wants to recruit Spider-Man to be an ally. Peter wants none of it. To convince him, the Goblin goes after Spider-Man's friends and acquaintances. Peter has been working at the Daily Bugle taking pictures of Spider-Man. The Goblin shows up and threatens editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons), who refuses to name names. Peter quickly changes and fights the Goblin. Later, Osborn figures out Peter is Spider-Man, putting both Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Mary Jane in danger. Spider-Man resists the path of darkness and the Goblin gets accidentally killed in their last confrontation. Norman's dying request is that Peter not tell Harry he is the Green Goblin. Spider-Man takes Norman back to his penthouse. Harry witnesses Spider-Man there and assumes he killed Norman. At the funeral, Harry thanks Peter for being his best friend and vows to kill Spider-Man. Mary Jane professes her love for Peter but he says they can only be friends (even though he loves her) because he knows she will be in danger if they stay together.
The film was a huge hit when it came out. Special effects had finally gotten good enough to make a superhero look okay on the big screen. Some of the computer-generated effects don't hold up as well today. It's kind of like the effects in the original
King Kong--they were spectacular for the day and contemporary audiences should make allowances thanks to the other fine qualities in the film.
The acting is good. Maguire does a fine job as the young and earnest Peter Parker who has to deal with so many issues--money, love, responsibility, etc. Willem Defoe occasionally chews the scenery with his performance but is mostly good. His depiction of the two personalities works well and makes for an interesting contrast with Peter trying to deal with being Spider-Man and Peter Parker at the same time. Osborn goes crazy (which may be a side-effect of the serum) where Peter learns to be a better person. Cliff Robertson hits everything well as Uncle Ben. Simmons is great as loud-mouth publisher Jameson, stealing the scenes he's in.
The story is classic. Spider-Man's origin is probably the best of all superhero origins. Peter is a relatable character who goes through a lot of growing pain. The twist of the carjacker being the two-bit crook works extremely well. The filmmakers do a great job moving the story to the big screen. They also set up a lot of other characters and give them more depth and understanding than you'd expect from a comic book movie. Jameson is a jerk but he sticks up for Peter by not naming him. Mary Jane has abusive parents and a hard time managing boyfriends (she dates a jerk in school and then dates Harry). The ending where the hero doesn't get the girl but gives her up because of his superhero calling only makes Peter more sympathetic and respectable.
Peter is still pining for Mary Jane and still struggling with jobs and school. The super-hero work keeps getting in the way. He can't make it to class on time, or the pizza delivery job on time, and he's tired of feeding Spider-Man pictures to the Daily Bugle which continues to vilify the web-slinger. Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn, constantly badgers Peter to find out who Spider-Man is so he can get revenge for his father's death. Mary Jane is acting on Broadway and Peter can't even make it on time to see the play because of Spider-Man obligations. If that isn't enough stress, Aunt May's house is under foreclosure and Peter seems to be losing his spider-powers.
The only up-side in Peter's life is meeting Doctor Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), a physicist who is working with Oscorp to develop cheap and sustainable fusion energy. Octavius isn't just a scientific mentor, he also provides relationship advice. Octavius's wife, a charming and intelligent woman, is at the lab. She has a degree in Literature. The couple recommends Peter use poetry to win the woman he loves. They also invite Peter to the initial test of the fusion engine.
At the test, Octavius attaches four mechanical arms to help him handle the nuclear reaction. The arms have artificial intelligence to help them work better. Octavius has an inhibitor chip to protect him from the AI since the arms are attached to his nervous system. The reaction destabilizes and Octavius can't get it contained. The ensuing accident kills Octavius's wife and damages the arms, specifically the inhibitor chip. Peter changes to Spider-Man and pulls the plug before the reaction explodes. Harry is furious that the experiment fails; Octavius is taken to the hospital. The surgeons try to remove the arms. Now that they are uninhibited, the arms kill everyone in the operating room and drag Octavius out. In a chilling scene, Octavius tries to reason with the arms but winds up agreeing with them that they need to complete the experiment, no matter the cost. To get financing, Octavius robs a bank--the very bank where Peter and Aunt May are trying to refinance her house. Peter changes to Spider-Man and another fight breaks out. May is kidnapped by Octavius and Spider-Man manages to save her. Octavius rebuilds his experiment on an abandoned wharf.
Peter finds out from MJ that she is engaged to John Jameson, son of Bugle editor and Spider-Man hater J. Jonah Jameson. He has a breakdown and his powers completely vanish. Peter gives up being Spider-Man and puts his regular life back together. He starts going to school, manages to repair his broken relationship with MJ (though she's marrying the other guy), and gets a little peace with his disgruntled landlord. He even gets the courage to tell Aunt May about his role in Uncle Ben's death without mentioning that he is Spider-Man.
But Peter is haunted by the crimes going on around him and is forced to get back in the game when Octavius kidnaps MJ and demands that Peter deliver Spider-Man. Octavius and Harry have a deal--Harry will provide more of the nuclear fuel if Octavius delivers Spider-Man alive. Octavius and Spider-Man have another harrowing battle on an elevated train. Octavius rips out the controls, creating a runaway train that Spider-Man saves. The effort exhausts him and Octavius takes him to Harry. Harry unmasks Spider-Man before killing him and is naturally shocked to find his best friend. Peter tries to appeal to Harry's better nature but Harry is too shocked to do anything.
Peter races to the wharf where Octavius is finishing his experiment. MJ is tied up in the background. Peter subdues Octavius and appeals to his better nature when the new reactor goes out of control. Octavius doesn't want to die a monster and sacrifices himself to stop the nuclear reaction. Peter frees MJ and reveals his identity and his love for her. He explains that's why he has refused to date her, to keep her safe. She reluctantly accepts this.
Later, MJ flees her wedding and goes to Peter's apartment, where she tells him she is willing to take on the risk of being with him because she loves him and he needs someone to save his life. They kiss and then hear a police siren. She tells Peter, "Go get 'em, Tiger." Meanwhile, Harry has discovered his dad's secret room full of Green Goblin paraphernalia. Cue the end credits.
So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.
- SCRIPT--The first film is slightly infamous for overusing the "With great power comes great responsibility" line. Rewatching the film, it isn't used as often as I thought, though they do hammer that point home with the subtlety of a sledge hammer. The script does a great job translating the origin story to the big screen. It also handles the large cast well, not leaving any main characters one-dimensional. The second movie follows suit, though Doctor Octopus is more well-rounded than Green Goblin. Without having to go through the origin story, there's more time to be creative--putting Peter in the worst situations, dealing with his doubts about being a hero, and showing the strain on his relationships with just about everyone. The sequel has a lot more comedy which fits well with Spider-Man. Slight advantage to the sequel.
- ACTING--Maguire and Dunst are good in their roles, as are the supporting members of the cast, in both movies. The big difference is the villain for each movie. Dafoe is good as Osborn, less so as Green Goblin. His best scenes deal with the dual personalities of Osborn, portraying both characters. Occasionally he does chew the scenery. He's a bit of a father-figure to Peter more than to his own son Harry. Molina's Octavius is a more sympathetic character who also has to deal with the alternate personality of his mechanical arms. He is also a father/mentor figure with some genuine care for Peter, making his moral recovery at the end more believable and satisfying. Molina does a solid job with a great character. Advantage sequel.
- ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY--As I said above, the filmmakers did a great job with the origin story and dealing with the role of a hero, which requires a lot of sacrifice. The second movie follows on this tradition. Peter has lots of problems exacerbated by the heroics robbing time from his regular life. The second film looks at the bigger picture of being a hero. When Peter quits being Spider-Man, it isn't just that crime goes up in the city. A lot of people look up to him and are inspired by him. Aunt May has a great speech about how important it is to have heroes. MJ also has a great speech at the end about Peter's need for someone to save his life (which is admittedly in shambles). She is willing to sacrifice for him, as are many other characters earlier in the film. Advantage to the sequel.
- SPECIAL EFFECTS--Both film look a little dated in the special effects department. The movies have a weird mixture of convincing and unconvincing CGI. This category is a tie.
- VISUAL STYLE--Both films have Raimi's distinctive style. The transitions are very imaginative in the first film. The second film shows more of Raimi's horror background, with intense scenes when the reactors overreact and at the hospital where the doctors take power saws to the mechanical arms and the arms fight back. The movie does have a suprisingly effective montage of Peter's life getting back together set to "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." The second movie is a bit more confident in the materials and presentation. Advantage sequel.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Both movies are well done. The first one capture's the origin story perfectly and establishes a lot of characters. The sequel builds on this foundation and is a little more relaxed and confident with the material. Both are good movies, with the second one improving on the first.
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