Spider-Man (film)

Spider-Man is an extremely successful film released in 2002, directed by Sam Raimi, which stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and Willem Dafoe. It is an adaptation of the Marvel Comics comic book The Amazing Spider-Man, focusing on the title character's origins and his fight against his first major enemy, the Green Goblin, even while he struggles to show his feelings to his love, Mary Jane.

Critical reaction

The general critical reaction was enthusiastic, with Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe being singled for particular praise for their performances as the hero and the villain respectively. There were complaints about the second half of the film being rather derivative and the CGI being overused towards the end. The relatively flat acting from most of the other lead actors, especially Kirsten Dunst and James Franco, also created some criticisms.

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In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, some of the CGI shots of New York were redone to remove the World Trade Center from the shots. It is rumored that the last image of Spider-Man sticking to a flagpole with a large American flag was added as a patriotic gesture.

Related Topics:
September 11, 2001 attacks - World Trade Center - American flag

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Some vocal comic book fans aired complaints about the change made in Spider-Man's webs. In the comic books, Peter Parker invented a mechanical web-shooting device, while in the movie he produced his webbing naturally. These complaints were largely dismissed by fans of the movie as fanboy griping. (Similar complaints had been made about the film adaptation of X-Men.)

Related Topics:
Fanboy - X-Men

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The film was a smash hit grossing $403,706,375 in its theatrical run in the United States alone, becoming the highest grossing film of the year. It grossed $114,844,116 in its opening weekend, setting a still-standing record, and became the first film in history to earn over $100 million in a single weekend. It had an equally successful home video release which made Tobey Maguire, previously known as a baby-faced character actor into a major star. Spider-Man was the highest-grossing film of the year and, as of February 2004, one of the biggest box office smashes of all time.

Related Topics:
United States - Biggest box office smashes

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Marvel Comics tried to use Hollywood accounting to deprive Stan Lee of due royalties from the films enourmous profits. To exclude the "jackpot" profits from the Spider Man film, Marvel had claimed that "earnings" were not profits. Lee sued in 2002, and won. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2458083.stm

Related Topics:
Hollywood accounting - Stan Lee

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