Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-man. If you’re a member of today’s youth, upon whose childhood Disney’s film franchises could feasibly claim an executive producer credit, the name probably evokes images of Tom Holland. Spider-man in his most recent iteration was part of an established brand before he even thwipped his first web in Captain America: Civil War, and his further appearances in Avengers movies as well as his own trilogy of smash-hit films have only thrust the character to greater heights. For the cranky, miserable old men of the audience (hello, Magellans), however, Spider-man evokes a much different set of sights and sounds. Actors who look like they’re at least thirty trying to play high school students. Fight scenes with hilariously obvious wire work. Special effects that we could have sworn were photo-realistic when we first saw them. And one of the most spine-tingling, blood-chilling evil laughs in cinematic history. I’m talking, of course, about the webhead as he was imagined by director Sam Raimi in his 2002 classic of superhero movies, Spider-man. Before the MCU challenged Star Wars for the title of most ubiquitous institution of pop culture, before even Nolan’s dark knight trilogy opened the superhero genre to pretentious film nerds, we had Spider-man, an occasionally cheesy, often funny, and perpetually entertaining relic that spawned two sequels of disparate quality, all of which were a big part of the Magellans’ childhood. Today, then, let’s indulge our nostalgia and revisit this quaint artifact of yesteryear along with the equally quaint but less nostalgic banter and recommendations that this program is supposedly known for. Let’s get swinging!