Reviewing EVERY Spider-Man Movie | Tobey Maguire | SPIDEY-CEMBER

in august of 2021 i posted a poll on my twitter asking you guys who your favorite spider-man was toby mcguire andrew garfield or tom holland and despite not having appeared as spider-man in about 15 years with over 12 000 votes cast toby maguire came away with the win and almost 50 percent of the total vote ouch andrew garfield people seem to think that these toby maguire films are the peak of this character in a live-action sense and so i wanted to put that to the test by spending my december leading up to the release of no way home reviewing every live-action spider-man film in the modern era to give you guys some context i hadn't seen these films since they were in theaters so for those of you that aren't counting that's like 20 years in the case of spider-man 1. i loved these films when i was 10 years old but now that i'm a tired and jaded 30 year old man i want to see if these actually hold up in my research for this video i watch each and every one of these films about six times this includes the director and actor commentary i also went ahead and watched all of the behind the scenes stuff interviews and shows on youtube all in all by the time i got around to writing this video i had actually watched about 30 hours worth of content in preparation was 90 of it a waste of time absolutely but hey i found this clip of toby mcguire getting roasted on live television did you get out of shape because i saw some pictures of you looking quite poorly pretty sure you just called me fat okay i know i joke but i've gone to all this trouble because i wanted to make a video worthy of this character worthy of the cultural icon that spider-man has become and to explore my feelings towards these films to see if they have more to them than i remembered i'm totally not mark and this is my review for the incredible the spectacular the iconic sam raimi spider-man trilogy [Music] when i was a kid this was my favorite film ever until spider-man 2 came out back then i could sit back relax and allow sam raimi and toby maguire to take me on a ride the likes of which would encourage me to look at films as an art form in the future i related intensely with sam raimi's peter parker in more ways than i'd care to mention aunt may felt so similar to my grandmother it hurt whenever she was threatened and i felt both empowered and captivated by the final act of this film where toby mcguire had to face a lunatic that tried to force him to make a sadistic choice between saving children and the love of his life but back then the most boring part of the film for me was the beginning before he got the powers back then i didn't really think the show started until spider-man showed up and no not that one this one seeing these scenes not only cemented my good time as a kid but forced me to go see the film four times in theaters much to my mom and dad's dismay however when i went back to look at this film i noticed that my opinions had completely changed i still love it perhaps more so than i did before but for entirely different reasons the first difference being i now love this opening act far more than i did before peter may introduce my father norman osborne i've heard so much about you great honor to meet you sir the origin story broadly speaking this is a story about two characters primarily peter parker and norman osborne as they both grapple with surprisingly similar philosophical dilemmas side by side suddenly becoming endowed with power and responsibility peter inadvertently and norman purposefully what made this original comic's run so effective and the theme of responsibility in it so potent was peter parker's natural aversion to it in those comics he came across as a victim of bullying yes but also someone that would become a bully if he had the power to do so and in many ways he did so once he became spider-man and it's that very quality which makes his uncle ben moment so powerful and more broadly the theme of responsibility so perfect for this character because he's not someone that naturally would adopt responsibility he suffers from a host of character flaws that run counter to that philosophy very few of which are demonstrated by sam raimi's version of the character in this film toby maguire's peter parker is shown to be a quiet but pleasant guy that actively avoids confrontation at all costs there are of course elements of that original urge to take advantage of that responsibility particularly in the wrestling section which in and of itself is a direct homage to the comics but outside of that it takes the promoter being totally unreasonable to force peter parker into making the wrong decision and while right now it might sound like i'm pointing out a flaw in this film it's actually the opposite this is perfect as i mentioned peter parker isn't the only main character of this film there is another but you can't do this to me you know how much i sacrificed instead of leaning entirely on spider-man grappling with the theme of responsibility sam raimi instead utilizes the norman osborn character to create a natural contrast that conflicts directly with the decisions and actions of peter parker which i think more than makes up for that difference seen in the comics and works perfectly for a movie narrative format while we get to enjoy the coming of age naivety issues and hijinks associated with a young man coming to grips with his new powers norman osborne too begins exploring his own new abilities in a sense leading to both of them being faced with consequences of their actions peter with uncle ben and norman losing control of his company and this is the important part the beginning portion of this film shows both of these characters stories progress side by side and it's at this crossroads this exact moment that these two characters take different paths that ultimately decide who they're going to become for the rest of their lives with every subsequent decision made by peter allowing osborne to look more evil and vice versa crap crap mega crap the costume okay look i'm going to put my hand up here now and say this is going to be a hot take and i appreciate that not everyone is going to share my opinion on this one but here are my thoughts i know the tobey maguire spiderman suit is loved by many and i used to love it as a kid in fact i used to draw it religiously it was my favorite part of the film however now as an adult i've found my opinion has changed considerably and perhaps not for the reasons you might think it's not because i specifically prefer any other live-action spider-man adaptation of the costume in fact i don't think any suit has really gotten it spot on instead it's that i don't necessarily like the design philosophy of these suits and what they stand to take away from the performance of the actors beneath them let me just say right off the bat that this suit looks really cool and it looks just as cool as i remember it however i think that's part of the problem not because it's cool but more so because it seems like the cool factor was prioritized over what the costumes stood to offer the story for example many might not know this but underneath every single spider-man mask in these films whether it be garfield holland or in this case toby is another hard face shield or helmet not for safety or anything but to create a uniform shape to the head this has practical benefits that allow stuntmen to use the suit and not look dissimilar to the actor however whenever toby attempts to talk or emote while inside this suit it feels emotionless or stilted the elevator scene in spider-man 2 is a prime example of this it works as a scene because of how it's written but it doesn't look like toby is speaking at all as we can't see even his mouth or jaw move there are countless scenes in this film and indeed this trilogy where the suit prevents an otherwise emotional reaction or performance from toby there are plenty of scenes where the green goblin dock or even sandman perform reprehensible acts or threaten his loved ones and the suit just mutes the performance i think forcing him in scenes where children and mary jane are in mortal danger to react and emote in the exact same sort of way he would in that elevator scene there's no expression and when you fast forward to nowadays it's helped a bit by cgi but we also get closer to a cartoon's interpretation of the character with the fluctuating eye shapes all of this has been praised as a fresh idea and i agree that it has lots of upsides it definitely helps to solve the problem i spoke about earlier concerning a lack of emotion however i think this is akin to putting a bandage over a wound that really doesn't need to be there for me the most interesting and uplifting aspect of spider-man is and always will be the struggle that takes place behind the mask the humanity in the character when peter's hand gets raised and his name gets called out by the ring announcer after the wrestling match we can see his smile through the creases in that cheap mask he's created now something to be clear about is that i don't want a recreation of the mask that he wears during this wrestling section i mean that looks awful but i think there's a happy medium to be met here with the philosophies of both i mean just look at any of the artwork of spider-man by alex ross he goes to tremendous effort to make sure that you can see the mouth nose and features beneath the mask because that's the important part we get to see the performance it tells us so much about the character emotionally that he loves this sense of power and adulation from the crowd he's never gotten it before and that speaks to the actions he takes right after this sequence of the film replace that mask with the helmet we get later and what it looks cool spider-man the most human of all the superheroes at least to me loses a lot of his humanity these are the years when a man changes into the man he's going to become the rest of his life just be careful what you change into the lesson every single one of these films has a lesson to be learned and this one is the most fundamental one of the reasons why i love norman osborn and peter parker's relationship early is because i genuinely believe that these words of affirmation sincerely meant something to peter throughout this film practically everyone to an almost comical level expresses disinterest or negativity towards peter parker whether it be the bus school or outside in the real world but norman at every turn expresses not just positive affirmations unto peter but treats him with respect dignity and helps him to feel proud of himself in many ways he acts like a father figure for this troubled young men and to reinforce this point right after his conversation with peter parker at the graduation the next scene shows peter sitting alone crying that his uncle ben couldn't be there to see him graduate there's a gaping hole in peter's life now for a father figure a mixture of guilt and longing and every single time osborne tries to reach peter parker he does so while building him up in ways that peter doesn't get from many other people the lesson of with great power comes great responsibility is one that he learns following his uncle's death however he doesn't truly start to understand the scope of that mission statement until the goblin comes along with a certain proposition in spite of everything you've done for them eventually they will hate you why bother this is the most important question norman asks peter in this entire film and in effect their answers to this question are what makes their characters so different the goblin's answer to this question is obvious but thanks to the way sam remy built up that character in the first act we have a small bit of insight into why he might think this way but you can't do this to me i started this company unlike the rest of the world norman sees spider-man as his kin someone that unlike the rest of the world that has betrayed him he sees himself in which also goes a long way in explaining why he treats his son like he's nothing and why he shows interest in peter because he sees peter as someone that's exceptional just like him in this film norman is betrayed by his friend max and the board members they are people looking to take advantage of him and what he's built therefore they're not worth consideration furthermore harry his son doesn't demonstrate any exceptional qualities unlike peter and therefore he thinks nothing of him which his relationship reflects and finally even to norman mary jane is just another one of those unremarkable individuals that uses people for everything they've got before spitting them out just like his wife did just like his friends did in spite of everything he thinks he's done for them eventually they've all turned against him and this olive branch goblin is extending represents an alternative for peter a philosophy that acts as a perfect opposite to what uncle ben tried to instill within him peter doesn't believe it at first but eventually the city thanks to some spectacular journalism on behalf of j jonah jameson starts to turn on spider-man eventually learning to hate him [Music] on the topic of the city spider-man saves so many people in this film something a lot of modern superhero films i think failed to demonstrate instead choosing the focus on the superhuman side of the coin rather than the hero that defines the genre and in essence it's that which is necessary for us as an audience to see spider-man as a hero first and foremost personally i think part of the reason why these films are so quotable is due to their intentionally colorful and at times melodramatic scripts they aren't afraid to sound hokey or corny embracing everything about these characters to immerse them in a world that feels both distinct and fun and personally i think that's the trilogy's greatest strength everyone from the main character to mary jane to the supporting characters to even the background extras sounds hot the daily bugle is a terrific example of this in the film specifically only one of these characters needs to be characterized in the way that he is to drive public opinion of spider-man down but within seconds of meeting him courtesy of a legendary performance by jk simmons by the way were introduced to not one but three other characters in the building all with distinct motivations and personalities that bounce off each other in spectacular fashion a technique that will be used to great effect in the sequel films too and as a direct result of these films embracing this corniness we enjoy countless rich and engaging characters resulting in this iteration of new york city feeling alive finding beauty in some of the darkest and most unlikely of places i want to spend time in this world i want to see that weird blonde guy in the subways singing that strange but catchy spider-man song i want to have a weird conversation with some stranger on the elevator i want to talk to bruce campbell that seems to be bouncing from job to job across all of these films there's so much life in them and in many ways in peter's pursuit of living his life in new york city and doing the right thing we continuously learn more and more about the best supporting character in all of these films the city of new york itself however in the process of doing the right thing it leads goblin directly to peter and by extension the people he loves most watching this scene no matter what age i am will always and forever give me chills goblin and spider-man have both been built up to be examples of diametrically opposed ideologies and right here we see the natural conclusion to everything the goblin has been saying to peter right here the goblin asks peter an impossible question and somehow he finds the answer peter's relationship with mj in this film feels slightly awkward but in a sort of genuine and endearing way kirsten dunst's performance of mary jane carries with it an endearing authenticity toby does perfectly fine in the unassuming nerdy type that doesn't know how to say something correctly but kirsten perfectly pulls off the sweet girl next door with a demon in her closet i want to talk more about mary jane for sure but i'm going to save it for later in this video you mess with one of us you mess with all of us new york proves once again why it's one of the best characters in these films the city that once turned its back on spider-man came to his rescue the sadistic choice that green goblin offered peter had an answer and his love for mary jane wasn't his weakness but a strength this is what i mean about the mask being a limiting factor in these films this is an emotionally rich scene where the themes of the struggle between good and evil finally come and bear their fruit anger fear struggles sadness confidence all of this is on display through the torn and tattered mask of peter parker in this simple but brilliant fight scene and it wouldn't have been possible if it was a helmet everything from the set design to the choreography is a goosebump-inducing affair with peter fighting off the back foot as soon as goblin threatens mary jane boom he finds the strength not to defeat the goblin not to solve all of his problems but he found the power because he wanted to protect her from this monster before him and again perfectly in character as soon as peter gains the upper hand and norman can no longer fight he removes his mask to reveal to peter for the very first time his true identity peter is shocked one of the only people who didn't make him feel worthless who made him feel impressive and powerful is the green goblin for the duration of this film in almost every scene he shares with peter the goblin has been trying to pry the ideals of uncle ben from him and in a last desperate and pathetic attempt to manipulate peter he pushes that button to buy himself some time i've been like a father to you [Music] be a son to me now the two father figures in his life are telling him two completely different things to deny responsibility and look out for himself and to accept responsibility in order to protect those that need protection one of those decisions is easier gives him freedom and may even come with a father figure itself but what i think makes this scene so damn powerful is that throughout this film norman is proven wrong time and time again new york saved him when he was at his most vulnerable mary jane empowered him when he was at his weakest and ben parker was and always will be his father i have a father his name was ben parker peter parker has chosen to lead a life of responsibility and goblin knows that god speaks spider-man the story of the first spider-man film was one that captioned my heart and mind as a child and going into this re-watch this retrospective review i was worried that i wouldn't feel the same magic and in a way i didn't there's no way for me to relive these films the same way i did when i was a child and honestly i'm okay with that because now i have an entirely different experience and appreciation for this film that clearly had so much blood sweat and tears not to mention passion poured into it by the cast crew and the director sam raimi himself it's a captivating coming-of-age tale chronicling the importance of responsibility against tremendous forces of light and dark and to think they not only managed to make a better sequel but an infinitely better secret [Music] it's not enough to just want it it's not enough to wish or to dream it's not enough to be good enough you gotta be more you've got to triumph every day in the long journey that leads to synergy you gotta have what it takes to incentivize the toughest challenges time comes for everyone are you just gonna lie down and wait or are you gonna take a stand against the world and consume products give mark your money give me your money not only is it possible for you to challenge and determination of perseverance on the path to success and the endurance of tenacity and faith but you will you will fight you will battle and you will courage for momentum and initiate to the bone time to get to work g-fuel influence spider-man 2. spider-man 2 is everyone's favorite film from this trilogy it was my favorite film when i was 12 years old and upon revisiting it for the purposes of this review i can confidently say that it was way way better than i remembered it being here's why [Music] raising the bar before the creation of this film spider-man 1 was arguably the most successful and most critically acclaimed superhero film at least in recent memory it captured the hearts and minds of a generation and even within the director's commentary for the first film jk simmons and toby were hearing rumors of a sequel in the works and it wasn't until later in behind the scenes interviews that we learned that raimi pretty much went from working on the first film to the second without delay the point is the first film really worked and sam raimi had clearly tapped into something few others before him had which must have come as a relief to sony who had been planning for this film since at least 1998 and i say that because apparently david fincher had approached sony with the ambition for creating an edgier spider-man flick in 1999 starring edward norton as a jaded and older peter parker there were sincerely some interesting ideas for this film but given the landscape surrounding the first film's release i think it's easier then to see some of the reasons why raymies was successful and why finchers never got off the ground remy's offered an uplifting inspiring and hopeful message to america and the wider world following those attacks which is why i think this scene where new york jumps in to protect their city was so powerful and cathartic but the question was could sam raimi equal or better his prior efforts and if he could then how well within these three films there's a fascinating attention to detail concerning their themes and morals in spider-man 1 peter struggles to resist the urge to take revenge on uncle ben's killer in spider-man 2 he struggles to make the necessary sacrifices for the betterment of others and even in the third film when offered more power and a way to make his job easier he struggles to let go of that and in the process literally and emotionally cripples both himself and those most important to him looking at things like this it's clear to see the road map that sam remy was shooting for particularly with spider-man 2. but a message is only clear when you see both sides at the coin willem dafoe's portrayal of the green goblin in the first film has been praised rightfully as a sadistic and twisted adaptation of the comics his performance while appropriately camp and menacing also clearly depicts quite literally a man at odds with himself until finally it leads to his own demise however in spider-man 2 a similar philosophical argument is made with a much more nuanced center than the comparatively black and white good versus evil between spider-man and the green goblin enter dr otto octavius a genuine man endowed with the gift of intelligence he intends on using for the good of the world a person who by all accounts is pleasant to those around him something i don't think could be said generally speaking about norman osborn who as i pointed out clearly neglected his child emotionally and had personal hang-ups over his past relationships in short otto is a more righteous person than norman which is a fascinating point from which to build a villain from a choice that i think elevates this film to hide seldom seen in the superhero genre and absolutely deserving of the praise this movie received similar to norman osborn in the prior film otto octavius enters the story as a friendly face to peter parker thanks to an introduction from his best friend harry while the relationship between norman and peter in the prior film felt rich with plenty of connective tissue and symbolism at the end alluding to peter's uncle ben otto octavius doesn't share such connections to peter and due to that fact you might believe their relationship and dynamic within this story might not live up to defoe's green goblin and well i can see that line of thinking in a way but i see a much more potent visceral connective tissue through their shared philosophy while norman osborne in the prior installment shared a relationship with peter and in a sense and admiration for him he didn't share at all the philosophy that peter learned to value which reimy ended up using to the film's strength telling the story of one person who denied responsibility versus one who embraced it and so what makes otto octavius interesting in this film and i'd argue the best villain in the sam raimi trilogy isn't that he disagrees with the philosophy of responsibility in fact it's quite the opposite actually he agrees with it well being brilliant is not enough young man you have to work hard intelligence is not a privilege it's a gift and you use it for the good of mankind this is why i love this character and why i love this film while it has the best action in the trilogy and some of the most poignant monologues in i think cinema history it also manages to be a master class in dramatic frameworks and narrative cohesion for in that one short blink and you miss it portion of their very first interaction otto offers peter the answer to every single problem these two meet in this film which makes what happens to otto all the more tragic and believable for just like peter in this film otto is fallible and has a focus on his own self-interest the power of the sun in the palm of my hand in sam raimi's spider-man 2 he explores what happens when you try to uphold one philosophy while losing yourself to other negative and indulgent parts of yourself otto looks at what he's created a successful fusion reaction something he's worked alongside his loving wife to fully realize in order to he says help mankind but in a quiet moment of self-reflection instead of thinking about what he made this for mankind he instead focuses on the vanity of the achievement the power of the sun in the palm of his hand this is otto's ego and proof that while the arms do gain influence over him this part of his personality was always there it's what started all of this he wants to feel powerful he's prideful of his own intelligence which in turn has offered him immense power and when things start to go wrong in the process of this fusion reaction instead of doing what's best for mankind instead of giving up this power that he clearly loves he throws caution to the wind risking everything to salvage his life's work and as we've come to realize his ego and with this decision to embrace his ego leading to his wife's death [Music] peter's struggle while the first film was all about accepting that responsibility this film explores what it's like to live with that responsibility throughout this film peter parker is faced with a cruel reality that he can't live his life how he wants as peter parker if he is to accept the responsibility that's been thrust upon him as spider-man he can't have both and when faced with a series of relatable and harsh circumstances that bring his social professional and eventually secret life into ruin he starts to resent this responsibility he has he starts to wish that he wasn't spider-man before watching this film i remembered clear as day the struggles peter goes through towards the start in fact out of all the films outside of the bombastic moments these scenes were what really stood out to me as a 12 year old kid at that age people started to ask me questions like what i wanted to do with my life a question i didn't have an answer for when i was 22 let alone when i was 12. i knew my family had money troubles and above all else i was entering my teenage years where i knew new schools friends and obligations awaited me it was very much a formative time in my life and this film deals with that in a very visceral sense that scene where aunt may gives peter 20 for his birthday and he tries to give it back because she needs it more than him hits so close to home for me that i can't help but be moved by rosemary harris's performance every single time and now as an adult looking at this film i resonate with peter even more going to the bank with aunt may only to be disappointed getting fired from his job because he needed to focus on other more important things struggling to make rent dissolving relationships misunderstandings leading to resentment amongst his friends these set pieces and scenes are written to effectively bury peter parker beneath a seemingly never-ending avalanche of negativity failure and sorrow because we need to as an audience feel the same way or relate to these issues he's having in order for the story to work in order for this scene to work as a kid watching peter parker walk away from his suit in an alleyway it felt awful even after being followed by that raindrop's upbeat montage showing peter parker doing well in school seeing mary jane's play and having time for aunt may still around every corner were the responsibilities he was choosing to ignore until he found one that he couldn't ignore any longer [Music] many people might watch this film and think the burning building scene was the first instance where peter started to become spider-man again but in reality it's in this scene with aunt may shifting the burden of responsibility for uncle ben's death from her unto himself confessing to her that he was the one responsible for his death it's an emotional scene with great performances particularly by rosemary harris once again as she struggles to unpack the revelation that just unfolded before her and this is all to say that at this moment in time peter realizes the importance of what he is that he needs to put other's needs before his own which is exactly the opposite of what happens to doc ock a hero in all of us i'm not sure if this is a controversial take or not but rosemary harris's performance as aunt may is the single best performance across all of these films bar none better i think than toby maguire's kirsten dunces william defoes alfred molina's or anyone else's performance in this universe and that's not the takeaway from any of them they all did a tremendous job but this aunt may character presents a quiet but loving sincerity all wrapped up in a delivery so warm and comforting that i moved to tears in almost every other scene she plays a part in she's the most loving and supportive person in these stories and is specifically in this film the shining beacon that manages to inspire peter and help him resolve his internal conflict in this scene she's his hero throughout this film peter has been rejecting and resenting a side of himself beside that spider-man the side that has responsibility the side that uncle ben fought to try and instill and decide that aunt may reminds him that people need where is he henry and i agree we don't see his picture in the paper anymore he uh quit i'm not going to mince words here at may's hero's speech to peter is i think the single greatest piece of spider-man dialogue ever put to film representing in a concise and powerful fashion everything this character meant to me as a kid and even me now as an adult spoken through the point of view of a character that in effect is in the process of losing everything that's meant anything to her she's lost her husband blamed herself for it is in the process of losing her home the place where she lived with ben and most recently had to come to terms with the reality that her adopted son peter was the reason for her losing ben in the first place when you put it all together like that it reframes everything she's saying to peter as something that's not only being offered as advice but coming from our own lived experiences this scene for one reason or another is powerful to millions of people but for me upon re-watching this film recently it hit me in such a way no other film or indeed story has ever affected me and there's a particular part to this that i resonate with most and it's this everybody loves a hero people line up for them cheer them scream their names and years later they'll tell of the day they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them to hold on just a second longer i believe there's a hero in all of us i can't begin to describe what that means to me today it's been no secret that over the last two years the world has collectively endured some uniquely horrible things isolation loneliness loss with friendships dissolving and conflict being the order of the day every day in march of 2020 i lost my grandmother to cancer it came out of nowhere and we couldn't have the funeral she wanted i didn't even get to say goodbye it happened so fast a few months later i really started to struggle with the series of lockdowns that my country imposed months of isolation and then my dad got sick very sick i wanted to be and was there for my father but having to watch on as someone you once viewed as invincible being reduced to a shadow of themselves frightened and crying for help is in every sense of the word a difficult patch to get through and something that honestly terrified me thankfully my dad pulled through and is on the mend now however following those series of events i felt and anxiety now i was terrified of my own looming death in the future something i never worried about before suddenly made me feel so anxious i routinely felt myself on the verge of a panic attack i didn't know what to do i went to see a psychologist it helped greatly but what can you really say to someone who's scared to die but then i saw this film and i don't care how this might sound but i needed to hear what sam raimi alvin sargent and rosemary harris had to say in this scene telling me that there's a hero in all of us that keeps us honest strong noble and allows us to die with dignity spider-man 2 as crazy as it sounds is a film that i needed and one that represents the reason why i connect to and find filmmaking and more specifically the character of spider-man so inspiring i needed him as a kid and now as an adult i found that once again i needed him to become steady again to be there for those that needed me nothing i can say will ever do justice to what this film and this scene means to me but i hope that this at the very least helps to capture at least a small glimpse of that spider-man was a hero just couldn't see it he stole my suit i want spider-man [Music] the train fight the train fight sequence between doc ock and spider-man is iconic in fact it's so iconic i'm going to use it as an excuse to talk about the action across the trilogy as well as the train fight itself what becomes immediately apparent while watching these films was that while the cgi in places looks a little janky for a film series produced in the early 2000s i standing in 2021 and blown away by how so many of these shots hold up i know high top films covered this in his review of the action but i think it's worth repeating for the sake of this point sam remy was dedicated to making this film feel real whenever we get a shot of something in cgi more often than not it's followed up by a practical effect or intersperse with live action elements furthermore there's a wonderful attention to the color scheme of this film many of the fight scenes feel like they're being shot during golden hour everything from the scenes the covers of the dvds look uniform soft around the edges and above all else more often than not realistic enough to suspend my disbelief which brings me to this train fight kicking things off i love the transition from peter parker swinging to mary jane's rescue to the close-up of dr octopus's sunglasses reflection i do however have one issue with this fight and the fellas over at mr sunday movies pointed this out and to be honest since they pointed it out i can't unsee this if spider-man can do this and this or this then every single time he punches doc ock even if i'm taking into account that peter's pulling his punches for otto's sake he still should be capable of knocking him out otto's just a guy with robot arms a smart guy but still just a regular human being but yeah that's the only nitpick i have for this fight and honestly i don't even care that much about it because the choreography is spectacular there's such a delicate finesse to how spider-man moves and is animated in this fight scene navigating both his surroundings and the arms of doc ock with some of my favorite aerial acrobatics on show in this encounter like him being thrown at the bridge but managing to thread that needle and slip through the architecture they fight on the building in the sky on top of around and inside the train always utilizing everything at their disposal seeing stuff like spidey swinging around a pole inside the train using it to launch himself out the window and then catch himself using his webbing just tells me the folks that orchestrated this fight were having the times of their lives there's absolutely no stone left unturned and it more than shows and most importantly never loses sight of what spider-man prioritizes over everything else saving people you have a train to catch it's here during the chaos of this situation doc ock has created that the strengths of this raimi verse can be seen peter parker some kids cycling through and trying various ideas as they come to him in a panic to save these people knowing that they're effectively hurtling towards their deaths if he can't stop this runaway train and what makes this scene work i think is that dedication raymie had in giving the civilians of new york city their own personalities as spider-man tries to stop this train with his mask off once again by the way notice how the people inside the train talk with him and express themselves this is vital as it shows us what's on the line compare that specific element of this film to spider-man homecoming sinking ship scene and the difference is emphatic in this train we see hear and get to know these people whereas in homecoming we don't they're just people non-descript people and that creates a massive difference for an audience in this we watch a hero redline himself push himself past his limits all to give these real people we've gotten to know a chance at surviving and when he succeeds the unthinkable happens spider-man kids like henry need a hero courageous self-sacrificing people setting examples for all of us togetherness unity the sense that we're all in this together trying to support each other it's such a powerful message of hope and trust and not wanting to give up your faith in humanity and as doc ock arrives on the scene to clean up the scraps once again they are there to support and protect each other with all they've got it's an incredible scene that speaks to the speech aunt may gave moments earlier peter became that courageous self-sacrificing someone that awakened the hero in all of them it's an incredible watch and honestly i don't know how or if it will ever be topped the climax spider-man 2's greatest strength is in how it highlights embraces and thrives in the differences that exist between otto and norman osborne unlike osborne part of otto still believed in that philosophy that intelligence is a privilege to be used for the good of all mankind which if you haven't already noticed is effectively a rewording of with great power comes great responsibility you once spoke to me about intelligence that it was a gift to be used for the good of mankind a privilege peter parker as a hero not only saves mary jane in this scene from doc ock but otto also by being courageous righteous and by trying to do the right thing peter brought otto back from the brink reminding him that his intelligence was a privilege to be used for the good of mankind and that sometimes to do what's right we have to be steady and give up on the things that we want the most even our dreams encouraging octavius to not be defined by the worst parts of himself to not die a monster and ultimately helped him become another one of the heroes in this story perhaps even the main hero of this story sacrificing himself to stop his own plan in order to altruistically save everyone in new york including spider-man in this film we started out with two heroic figures with a strong sense of responsibility brought on by the gifts they both possessed both were placed under tremendous pressure and incentive to abandon that responsibility in order to indulge in what satisfied them personally no matter what they ended up sacrificing by making that choice thankfully however due to the good one of them did during their time spent embracing that responsibility they managed to bring out the hero in others enough to inspire themselves once again while the other never managed to crawl out until it was too late until too much damage had been done auto octavius is a tragic example of what happens when someone who once tried to uphold a particular ideal fails in doing so one that demonstrates that even if you have a change of heart if too much hurt has been caused then there's nothing left to salvage and that in accepting this reality when one needs to after all this suffering in the end it's always worth it call deborah tell her not to open the caviar spider-man 3 this might be a hot take but i think the real reason people didn't like this film when it came out not years later in video essays but when it came out largely was due to how the script treated the character of venom in a number of behind the scenes extracts from this film as well as some of the commentary tracks they explained how popular the character of venom was to the fan base and later in interviews how unpopular he was with sam raimi well okay that's a bit of a stretch i don't know if he actively didn't like the character or not but what i do know is that venom wasn't a character raimi himself resonated with or grew up with and so there wasn't any drive to make a film starring him as a main villain and unfortunately this is where the divide between raymie and his audience was the most pronounced in these films and i can attest to that at the time this movie was being made 2006-2007 i was their target demographic and at the time i didn't know and to be honest still don't know anyone that's gone back to read the original run of the comics which in and of itself is a tragedy at the time everything my friends and i knew back then about spider-man came from spider-man the animated series which aired during the 90s and wrongfully i came away from that series with the impression that venom was one of if not the main spider-man villain in the 90s i loved that power of the show so much i actually got it on vhs and broke the videotape by playing it too much i mean the moment i walked out of the theater after seeing spider-man 1 myself and my brothers wanted to see venom in these films he was our favorite villain albeit for childish reasons but what can i say i was 10 years old and so while i can absolutely appreciate that sam raimi didn't want to make a venom movie and that they shouldn't have insisted on him doing so i can also 100 understand why the producers pushed him into including that character i mean the movie made more money than both spider-man 1 and spider-man 2 on the promise of venom alone so while i cannot defend the creative decision that was made whatsoever the producers did their job they made sure the character the fans wanted most was in this film and that concludes my defense of this decision because really i don't agree with it at all from a creative standpoint for a host of reasons so time to break it down you know i guess one person can make a difference enough said better than i remembered coming out of the theater in the summer of 2007 i was left disappointed i was 15 years old and having grown up to expect a certain feeling from these films i was left somewhat satisfied but given my expectations for this film were sky high thanks to the inclusion of the character of venom one of the only characters in spider-man's extensive rogues gallery that i was familiar with it left me with a sort of empty feeling fast forward 15 years i'm now twice the age i was when i last laid eyes on this franchise and when going through each of these films thoroughly enjoying my time doing so with each installment far exceeding my expectations my mouse constantly hovered over spider-man 3 putting it off for as long as i possibly could not wanting to once again spoil the good time i was having with these films i didn't want to repeat what happened when i was 15 years old and then i watched it and what i found wasn't the disappointment i experienced when i was a younger teenager it wasn't the infamous train wreck the internet had been reminding me that it was it wasn't a meme okay maybe it was a little but you get my point when i watched this film i saw something i never saw in this film before now take on this i love this though it does have its faults but it's nowhere near the experience i was expecting it to be i think if i was to say anything about this film it's that it should stand as a monument to how fearless the team behind these films really were despite studio intervention in truly exploring the themes of responsibility in the first film we saw what it looked like to accept that responsibility in the second we saw what it took to live with that responsibility and all the sacrifices that came with that decision and in the third we see yet again the natural progression of these ideas in the vanity that comes with this unique responsibility the poison that can seep in through the cracks of your once altruistic facade to create a monster the villains one of the only things i remembered about this film outside of was that this film had way too many villains and for the most part i think i was wrong now before you unsubscribe and report this video for violent and repulsive content hear me out because i was actually shocked to come away from this film with my mind having been changed on that front let's go through these quote villains flint marco or sandman as he later becomes known is a remarkably likable character with righteous motivations that over the course of his life just made some bad choices choices that ultimately ended up defining him he's a character that sam raimi clearly had a lot of time and respect for his introductory scene demonstrates that alone we see him running from the cops ducking into alleyways climbing a fire escape and into a young girl's room a sick young girl's room he reaches into his jumpsuit and he doesn't pull a knife or a gun but a stack of letters for her this is a father someone that's done bad things in the past all in the name of earning money to help make his daughter healthy again and much like the rest of reimy's villains he too can be defined by a single quote not a bad person just had bad luck and as the film progresses this bad luck seems to follow him falling into a testing facility and becoming imbued with supernatural sand powers and due to the choices he's made in the name of doing right by and connecting to his daughter those same choices might be the reason he may never be able to connect with her or protect her ever again this is a man that has led a tragedy of a life and i just adore how his character is handled particularly in the first half he's amazing also the cgi around his powers rivals the stuff we have today that scene where he walks towards the camera as the sandman for the first time and turns back into his regular self is honestly seamless and i do mean seamless i can't pick the instance where cgi becomes real life because it all looks real but okay that's flint let's talk about harry osborn harry does this weird face in the film where he likes to open one eye and have the other half open and he always thought this looked weird but upon watching these films numerous times i think he was trying to look a little like norman osborne under the influence of the goblin but that's only a small thing i noticed i'm a big fan of james franco and he really had a lot of fun with this role clearly i know that face jokes aside though the slow progression harry undergoes throughout this trilogy of films is in every sense of the word textbook from a negative change arc standpoint and it's all the better for it i think and with a film with this many characters vying for screen time his position in the film is helped tremendously by the fact that he doesn't need a long extensive scene to introduce his character we've seen all the underlying reasoning and plans we understand his bad relationship with his father we know the history we know the misunderstandings we know what his motivations are which is why his fight with peter happens at the beginning of the film and honestly it's an underrated fight i particularly like the part where peter was trying to avoid dropping aunt may's engagement ring but then the amnesia happens and this might be one of my biggest issues with this film choices like giving key characters amnesia and random rocks with plot falling from the sky to further things in the story or allow certain plot points to happen are i think inexcusable flimsy writing choices choices that actively work against what this film's message really is all about but i digress none of these or the parts they play in this story are flawless none are as fleshed out or as well executed upon as otto or norman in the prior films i think so where am i going with this well they didn't need to be fleshed out or as well executed and i think that's the genius part of this film because the main villain of this picture isn't sandman isn't harry osborne or even venom it's peter gonna cry at its core this is a film about choice the beginning of which shows peter happy it opens as all these films do with a monologue but what sets this one apart however is that unlike the others where he carries with him a much more melancholic tone in this he seems thrilled to be spider-man almost smug a smugness that causes him to become at first oblivious and eventually insensitive and later irresponsible with the feelings and safety of those around him and as his good times are denied by mary jane eddie brock and eventually the new surrounding uncle ben's killer he slips deeper and deeper into this indulgent desire for revenge eddie brock with the venom symbiote isn't a compelling villain really at all in fact i'd go as far as to say that they are the weakest part of the film if not for the fact that the venom symbiote is used much the same way doc ock's arms were as a vehicle to exacerbate a pre-existing urge within peter parker this symbiote represents all the worst parts of peter stripping him of his understanding his kindness and eventually his responsibility he becomes a monster mary jane this was and still remains to this day one of the only times a film felt like it slowed down in time for me the idea that peter parker would do anything to hurt let alone hit mary jane was a concept so far into where these two characters began that the more i think about it the more it makes sense that this was the moment action and choice that convinced peter that he had become something unrecognizable something he shouldn't be there's a scene in the first film it's right after peter saves mj falling from a balcony during the parade the scene itself is bright hopeful with those two characters shot side by side sharing an intimate moment the conversation ends like this who are you you know who i am i do you're friendly neighborhood spiderman [Music] but a lot has happened since those days who are you i don't know though the question remained the same the answer is now entirely different and they are no longer sharing the screen together the relationship between peter parker and mary jane watson is an awkward beautiful and tragic tale with thankfully a happy ending personally i think kirsten dunst's performance as mary jane is spectacular and comes with a quiet sincerity and vulnerability very few actresses at the time could pull off complemented perfectly by the character itself at her core mary jane watson just wants to feel like she's loved like she's worth something in school she was showered with affection there she could be the person that she wanted to be but when she came home you're trash you're always gonna be trashed just like her i have to go to school the one person she should be able to trust screams at her and calls her trash which is why this scene here makes me tear up i wanna act [Music] on stage really well that's perfect this is mary jane watson this is her opening up about something personal to her expecting the usual reaction she's always received from people and instead peter shows her love i could talk for hours about why i love these two and their dynamic but when it comes to these two as characters i love the contrast that occurs in this moment in the bar in spider-man 3. the person who was once so loving so encouraging so considerate now finds himself looking to humiliate and in the process of doing so hurt the person who truly understands and accepts him for who he is it's a brilliant scene i'm fine i don't need your help everybody needs help sometimes peter even spider-man the climax the interesting aspect of this fight and really this entire trilogy is that unlike the other films which have set a precedent which states that traditionally venom and sandman should be playing the role of the villains in this picture and indeed this conclusion they are instead in large part in this position due to the bad choices peter has made right now both of these individuals with their hatred and determination to stop peter have created the most visually imposing threat to new york from this trilogy due to their shared interest in peter parker off the back of his symbiote abuse an abuse which has led spider-man here unable to protect mary jane unable to protect new york city unable to protect himself there is another hero in this film and his name is harry osborne there's a quiet scene where harry's alone reflecting on what happened between himself and peter scarred from the encounter scarred from peter's hatred within that quiet scene after those events harry's butler bernard comes to inform him of something he frankly should have done long ago the true nature of his father's fatal wounds the act that defined peter parker in the first film to not killed green goblin now acts as the mechanism that brings harry back to the light the good in peter parker is what brings harry to his side a brilliant contrast to venom and sandman in this instance but his choice in coming to peter's rescue off the back of that information wasn't the only thing i enjoyed about this section it was his choice to come back from this this is a very real attack unto harry from peter despite it being in retaliation to his own attempt on his life harry felt justified and peter never needed to go that far but did so anyway similar to sandman and eddie brock in this instance harry has every right to feel as they do to embrace this hatred for peter after the reasons he's given them but he doesn't instead he represents the most powerful part of this film its final message whatever comes our way whatever battle we have raging on inside of us we always have a choice my friend taught me that he chose to be the best of himself it's the choices that make us who we are and we can always choose to do what's right and in the end he does just that in an effort to do the right thing he gives up his life overall with everything considered this film is still the messiest out of the trilogy it makes strange and at times unconvincing choices in terms of its narrative and above all else fails to utilize a fan favorite character in the way that they were expecting instead opting to use it as a mechanism to bolster the themes of this story with that said however the symbiote absolutely serves a purpose in this film by amplifying the incorrect bad and horrible choices peter made the story of sandman while glossed over somewhat during the run time still feels like one of the most human and likable characters that while contributing to the plot in a satisfying way reaches a magnanimous conclusion if not in an ambiguous fashion in the end both of these characters instead of feeling more like norman and otto's equals in this trilogy felt more like a means to an end in some respects which i think is this story's greatest weakness too and that is frustrating but with all of that taken into consideration this film had something really interesting to say about the character of peter parker and the lessons of choice that no matter how bad things get everyone can choose to do the right thing i found peter parker's struggle against his darker tendencies to be both poignant and at times terrifyingly tragic i found the side and background characters once again adding to the stakes of each encounter the way that only they can i found the resurgence of harry osborn to be both a wonderful albeit sad end to what ultimately should be remembered as a trilogy that while focusing on the tragedy finds the light at all costs when i was 15 i went in with an entirely different set of expectations however now at 30 going into this film with an open mind i not only found that i was wrong before but that i also had an amazing time and felt as though that this was a fitting way to end the trilogy despite there being plans in the pipeline for a fourth film that ultimately never got made this is a very special story to me one that i never thought would match the gravitas it did when i was a child but man was i wrong recently someone decided to ask me what spider-man meant to me and throughout this video i hope i managed to give you some indication spider-man is my favorite superhero and he's my favorite not because he's got the best costume or has the best action it's not because he has the best villains or even the best anything really it's because he represents the very best and worst of us we live in a world full of suffering much of which exists due to the selfish and indulgent desires of those that choose to make it that way the story of spider-man while being a tale concerning itself with the struggle of light and dark isn't simply a fairy tale of black and white it isn't about how wonderful a person peter parker is or how terrible those he fought against were instead it highlights all of his worst attributes his flaws his insecurities and his desires plain as day so that we can see him struggle against all of those impulses because it's the right thing to do spider-man is my favorite fictional hero because he represents mankind's greatest quality our capacity for good that we are who we choose to be that inside all of us is a hero and that one person really can make a difference enough said [Music] all right

Channel: Totally Not Mark

Views: 1,131,802

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Id: tCajHkPA6OM

Length: 58min 16sec (3496 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 02 2021

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