No Way Home The Road To No Way Home: The Previous Spider-Man Movies Rewatch Thread

[DyeLorean]

Rewatching Spider-Man 1 I gotta say the first swinging scene after Uncle Ben dies is still the best swinging scene of them all. The music, the effects, the camera angles and specially the weight, it doesn't feel like a cartoon but an actual person. They captured it perfectly.

 

[Dweet]

The only SM movies that I find of any interest are SM 1 and 2. 3, frankly, sucked. While I really like Garfield, I found TASM 1 too much of a rehash and 2 was an absolute S*** show. I could be talked into rewatching the MCU SM movies.

Agreed. I love the first two Sam Raimi ones. The third one was a mess with some good scenes. The TASM ones were terrible. I hate how they made such a big deal out of Peter's parents. Nobody cares about them.

 

[GuestStar2004]

I never had an issue with the parent's idea. I mean did no one wonder why Peter Parker lived with his aunt and uncle? Why did he have no parents? Thats not a normal scenario for a kid to only have his Aunt and Uncle. It was never explained with the Raimi movies or alot of other media. Most people just said ah but its like the comics so who cares why its like that. But when you think about it. it's kinda odd.

TASM gave a sense to the audience why Peter doesn't have parents in all these different takes on Spider-man.

 

[The Joker]

I never had an issue with the parent's idea. I mean did no one wonder why Peter Parker lived with his aunt and uncle? Why did he have no parents? Thats not a normal scenario for a kid to only have his Aunt and Uncle. It was never explained with the Raimi movies or alot of other media. Most people just said ah but its like the comics so who cares why its like that. But when you think about it. it's kinda odd.

TASM gave a sense to the audience why Peter doesn't have parents in all these different takes on Spider-man.

Did you see a plethora of reviews on those movies asking where Peter's parents were? No. Nobody was wondering about it. Most people can put two and two together and realize its because his parents were dead. So he was living with family. In this case his Aunt and Uncle. Not hard to figure out.

TASM gave us one of the most boring storylines ever put into a CBM. Everything involving his parents was a complete snooze fest.

 

[GuestStar2004]

Most people can put two and two together and realize its because his parents were dead.

And they died how? Normally when a kid has to live with their aunt and uncle its because something happened to their parents.

Really that same logic applies to MCU Spider-man. we don't need to see uncle Ben or even mention him. you can put two and two together and know he existed, was killed and Peter become Spider-man

 

[DyeLorean]

I didn't care knowing about Peter's parents but the fact that it wasn't a random chance that he becomes Spider-Man is what killed that iteration of the character for me.

 

[The Joker]

And they died how? Normally when a kid has to live with their aunt and uncle its because something happened to their parents.

Really that same logic applies to MCU Spider-man. we don't need to see uncle Ben or even mention him. you can put two and two together and know he existed, was killed and Peter become Spider-man

Nobody cares how they died. They were not relevant to the story. Uncle Ben and Aunt May were his parental figures. That was all we needed.

 

[RaimiWebSpidey]

Just finished up Homecoming! I forgot how much I do not like the tone of these MCU movies and how annoying Peter's reliance on Happy/Tony is. Ned is also a terrible character and very annoying. Vulture was a great villain though.

6/10

 

[Green Goblin]

I thought Homecoming was pretty solid but the cracks in MCU Spidey started to show from that point on.

 

[Venom 1988]

So I just got done watching the Raimi trilogy this past weekend and I forgot how much I love these movies. I used to go back and forth on whether I thought SM1 or SM2 was my favorite of the bunch, but I think after re-watching these movies after a several of years, SM2 easily takes the cake for me. I can't remember how I ranked the Spider-Man movies as a whole in recent years so it's possible I may have ranked it lower due to receny bias (is that the right term lol) of newer movies but it's probably my favorite live action SM movie (we'll see what happens with NWH).

Also for my re-watch, I decided to watch the Editor's Cut for SM3 just to see if my opinion would change much. For the most part there isn't significant difference (in fact some of the changes were for the worse IMO) but I did like the additional scene for Sandman and the removal of the Harry/Butler scene. My opinion of Spider-Man 3 at the time was that I liked it enough but I recognized there was a clear drop in quality from the previous 2 movies. I think I still maintain that view but overall I still feel like there's more good than bad in the movie.

Now I am gonna try to watch the ASM movies and if I have time the 2 MCU ones as well before NWH comes out. I have not watched either ASM movie since they came out on home media (they're the only Spider-Man movies I skipped watching in theatre). So this will certainly be...interesting to say the least lol. I don't think my opinion will change much with these 2 but we'll see.

 

[sdgrandia86]

Watched the Raimi trilogy over the weekend. Some thoughts.

SM and SM2

• • Love the color scheme - the bright yellow and orange along with Elfman's score lift the movie and gives it an uplifting and warm tone. It reminds me of the golden age of comics - the early spider man which is what Raimi drew inspiration from
• • Great supporting cast
• • Great job at balancing Peter's personal life, school, work, love interest, and Spider- Man
• • MJ and Peter relationship didnt have the cutesy and sweet dynamic that Andrew and Gwen had but it was innocent. This Peter is socially awkward and reserved, he is also hesitant in starting a relationship due to the responsibility and danger that comes with being Spider Man. He wants to run with it but doesn't want to put her in danger.
• • The Daily Bugle cast was spot on.
• • Molina and Willem were perfectly cast as the villains. Both started off as a type of father figure/mentor that Peter admired and became bitter enemies. Willem was vicious, played mind games and made it personal with Peter and his loved ones after learning his identity only to die by his glider while Doc Ock was more focused on his goal but vicious as well.
• • The Birth of Doc Ock scene and Train sequences are top cinema
• • The web swinging and Spideys maneuvers and flexibility was straight from the comics.
• • The scene in SM2 where MJ learns hos identity still gives me goodebumps as it took a load of pressure off their conflict.
• • Bruce Campbell and Ivan Raimi were fun characters.

SM3

• • Christopher Young soundtrack was perfect for the darker tone of the film
• • The symbiote saga was straight from the 90s cartoons, it's movement as it crawled/slither and gave it a menacing personality instead of making a good transalted well
• • The Sandman birth with the soundtrack was beautiful. Thomas played what he was given pretty well
• • The tunnel scene with Spider Man hunting/sneaking to catch Sandman like a prefator
• • The end fight with Venom was brutal, the web swinging kick that took off the roof of the car, his fight with spider man mid air as they were falling, the way he used the symbiote as a shield/barrier to block spider mans webbing
• • Venom shrieking/velociraptor screams were unsettling
• • The end fight with Venom holding Spider Man down and Giant Sandman pounding him was very intense, despite knowing they would have Harry return
• • MJ - MJ receives a lot of complaints but I could sympathize with her character

Cons

• • Some cringe dialogue and scenes were out of place
• • I didn't mind the Dance sequence as much as others as it showed a more confident (and obnoxious) Peter; he was getting over his head due to SpiderMan Day and the symbiote amplified that; the scene prior where he fixes his hair was just cringe
• • The bridge scene between Peter and MJ; their breaking up could have been handled better
• • Still undecided on Topher as Brock; he will always be Eric Foreman
• • The Jazz scene could have been done a bit better I think; him striking MJ was left my audience speechless during opening night

I still find the movie to be entertaining

Random thoughts-

The end final swing scenes on the first two movies with the voice overs ended the movie in a great positive and empowering note.

I also loved how much New York and the citizens were a big part of the story and stood by him.

The promotional posters were beautifully done

I don't like how they keep having him take off his mask

I watched ASM and will post about it later followed by ASM2

 

[sdgrandia86]

Amazing Spider Man

Darker and more grounded and modern take on the character similar to the shift Spider Man had in the late 80s and early 90s when Todd McFarlane took over

Aunt May has more layers, she is not the fragile old lady from the Raimi movies, she's is caring, loving and stern. Her relationship with Peter carries a lot of weight and drama after the death of Uncle Ben. She is trying to keep herself together while also reaching out for Peter for mutual support; she sees the changes in him and is afraid of his night escapades.
As much as I love Raimi may we didn't get to explore that as much besides a couple of scenes probably because Raimi Peter moved out to his apartment. Also, Raimi May served more as Peter's voice of conscience.

Love the bit of the eggs

Uncle Ben wasn't much different but reminded more of my old man than Raimis whose Uncle Ben is more of a traditional All American family character.

Peter's conflict with himself and his Aunt/Uncle over the mystery of his Parents felt natural. They planted to seeds to a good story thread that was left unfinished.

This Peter is still a geek but modern and cool which mirrors how the perception of geeks/nerds has changed overtime. When the Raimi movies came out being into comics was just not cool but the exposure of comic books in mainstream media has changed that perception and now everyone wants in on that trend.

Peter and Gween relationship was notebook perfect, sweet, innocent and beautiful. Unlike Raimis Peter, Andrew ran with it. His on and off conflict didn't start until the end and followed into ASM2 and led to her tragic death.

The webswinging, the action and Andrews use of his web shooters the fight at Midtown High in the hallways, inside a small area was creative. I love how the crawls around the Lizard like a Spider and shoots web all around to restrain him.

Shows his intelect by building his own web shooters, solving the decay rate algorithm formula, showing the whole process of making his costume, instructing Gwen to create the antidote, the gadgets he built in his room, helping Uncle Ben fix the leakage and how he attempted to locate the Lizard in the sewers using his web.

The 1st POV shot once he officially becomes Spider Man and the costume reveal was pretty cool.

The Lizard was a formidable and misguided foe, his design worked for the movie and his mission was taken out of the 90s cartoon. Peter not only found a mentor figure but perhaps a link that might provide answer about his dad.

We didn't get the Daily Bugle just a tease but we got Captain Stacy.

The score of this movie is also beautiful and despite the darker and grittier tone of the movie maintains Spider Man as someone that brings hope to people. It follows the trend of using New York and its citizens as a character when they work together to align the cranes for Spidey to reach Oscorp.

The more I keep writing the more I'm finding myself liking this movie and the possibilities of this iteration of the character. I might have rated this below SM1 due to Raimi and Tobey bias but it may end up being my 2nd favorite after SM2. Andrew was the best Peter (more confident and experienced) and best Spider Man, he relied on his instinct and intelligence. I remember thinking and amalgamation of Andrew Spidey with the Raimi supporting cast and tones could have worked perfectly.

Off to Amazing Spider Man 2!

 

[Nardz937]

Going to fit in the Raimi trilogy along with the first TASM and maybe HC between today and tomorrow.

As well as reading the stories it's influenced by, "Happy Birthday" and "One Moment In Time".

 

[MasterBoss]

• • The Jazz scene could have been done a bit better I think; him striking MJ was left my audience speechless during opening night

People laughed in my theater. Never forgot that lol.

 

[Venom 1988]

People laughed in my theater. Never forgot that lol.

My theatre went sorta quiet except for 1 guy that went "Oh ****!" lol

 

[sdgrandia86]

Amazing Spider Man 2

Pros

• Absolutely LOVED Gween and Peter chemistry/dynamic/relationship; one of the best things in the series
• The Death of Gwen Stacy was rushed but impactful, I felt she could have gone to England and then would die in the 3rd installment with a more polished rivalry with the GG but once I realized she wasn't going anywhere I knew it was coming and felt it
• Also enjoyed the playful banter as well as the more dramatic scenes between May and Peter. As much as I enjoyed Raimi May and her speeches, I think these two did a better job at showing their struggles after the death of Uncle Ben
• Gweens speech, these movies loved its speeches
• Great soundtrack - loved itsy bitsy spider and the 4th wall break
• One of the best Spider Man costumes, great web swinging and maneuvers/acrobátics.
• Unlike many, I thought the Rhino suit worked pretty well.
• The introduction to Ravencroft, unfortunately it had a Joel Schumacher nuts house feel to it

Cons

• Juggling between over the top campy and the more grounded and darker; it's like Nolan injecting some Tim Burton on his Batman movies. I personally didn't mind it that much but would have prefer they stick to the original ASM tone.
• Harry/Peter relationship felt rushed, not as rushed as Brock/Peter's rivalry in SM3. I did think Harry's Goblin look
• Captain Stacy ghost just didn't work
• Didn't work - Captain Stacy ghost, Harry and Peters break up dialogue - among, Parents story thread (perhaps it was to be resolved in ASM3 before it got cancelled), Jamie Foxx felt wasted
• Spidey banter while Rhino was plowing the streets - it was funny banter and a funny sequence not to be taken serious but Spidey wouldn't have wasted time to prevent people from getting hurt
• One of the main gripes people have is how Oscorp is the center of everything but then again, in the MCU, Tony and Stark Industries has had the same prominent role still felt after his death. I personally didn't mind.

I can see why some people don't like it. In the end, despite its flaws its still entertaining worth it for Gwen/Peter, Andrew made the best with what he had, Spidey costume, the fighting and acrobatics.

Andrew is still the best as both Spidey and Peter. I still rank this film over HF and FFH.

In about 24 hours I'm going to excit my 1st SMNWH screening

 

[DyeLorean]

Rewatching TASM2: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field, Spidey in action... everything is great.
But the villains' side of this movie is simply horrible. They didn't get a single thing right.

 

[Venom 1988]

So got done watching both ASM movies. My opinion has not really changed on either movie, so they remain at the bottom of the list for me. To be positive, I'm not gonna repeat my issues with these 2 movies for the umpteenth time so I'll just list out things I like (as much as possible anyway lol).

* Andrew Garfield is good casting. I just didn't like the direction or the material he had to work with. But between the 2 movies, there are a lot of good scenes with him, particularly as Spidey. He nails the friendly neighborhood aspect of the character. Same with the quips.

* Emma is great as Gwen as well. She basically elevated what was essentially a pretty hollow character (IMO) into a fully fledge 3 dimensional character.

* The rest of the casting is pretty much on point for the most part. Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Captain Stacy, Electro (just not the direction I'd like with Electro though). Only casting I didn't care for was Lizard and Harry.

* I dig the concept of some Oscorp conspiracy and the company being behind the creation of supervillains. The idea become a little convoluted when they were trying to fast track their Sinister Six (like having Ock's arms, Vulture's wings, Rhino's suit already created and just waiting to get thrown on someone). I prefer how the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon had a more cohesive connection with everyone.

* While I prefer the classic looking Electro, I don't mind having a blue Electro. I just thought the suit he wore was just a lazy 2000s leather suit (yea I get that Ultimate Electro had an all black suit as well, not fan of that either). It would have been better if they tried to emulate more of the classic design with it. I also dug the modifications they did with his voice.

* I know I'm in the extreme 0.00001% minority with this one but I don't really mind Rhino too much lol. While physically not what I'd look for for casting, Giamatti is a great actor. He just needed to dial down the ham and cheese a few notches. I know Rhino is not really a serious villain and you can still have him be a joke to an extent but he should at least come across as intermediating and a threat (I feel the SSM Rhino was balanced well in this respect). Again I prefer the classic Rhino, but they are gonna go the mech route, make it more like the Ultimate version, where it's 100% bipedal and no guns.

I'll see if I have time to watch Homecoming and Far From Home. I'm not gonna be able to see NWH until Tuesday, so I should be able to squeeze them in.

 

[Mr. Peanut]

Just finished rewatching all the Spider-man movies, and finally watched ASM2 for the first time. Honestly, I have no idea why people give that movie such a hard time. Everything I'd heard about it made me think it'd be some sort of whack-a-doodle campfest like Thor: Dark World, or even Batman & Robin or something. Instead I got a movie that took itself seriously, with a reasonably intriguing plot and fun character interactions and cool action scenes. Also the stuff with Peter's parents and Oscorp wasn't really convoluted at all...it just ties everything together in a way that I guess seems convoluted if you go into it thinking everything should have the independent origins they had in the comics, but it's actually pretty simple. Peter's parents were scientists who worked on gene splicing for Oscorp, then they ran away and got murdered because they didn't want their research being used by bad guys. All the superpowered characters are the result of Oscorp's gene splicing with animals, (even Electro because of the electric eels...when I watched NWH the electric eels thing confused me but now I see how it ties together).



Anyway, I guess my viewpoint is colored by knowing what comes next. But really, that's what I loved most about this viewing: it all works so much better now. Before, it always bothered me how ASM and MCU Spider-man both had this sort of soft assumption that you'd seen the previous movies, sort of the way a "What If" episode assumes you've seen the regular story. Raimi's Spider-man established the regular, vanilla Spider-man story elements, focusing heavily on Uncle Ben and Peter's origin, never addressing Peter's parents, teasing Curt Connors with his one arm, using Norman as the villain and building up his son later, focusing on Mary Jane as the primary love interest, eventually introducing Gwen as a minor secondary love interest and introducing the idea of her father as NYPD captain, focusing on classic villains with classic origins and a classic style. Then ASM twists it, skimming more quickly past the Uncle Ben stuff, paying off the Curt Connors tease (just with a different Curt Connors in a different universe), bringing in Gwen as the main love interest instead of a secondary love interest and making her father an important part of the story, adding a heavy emphasis on the question of Peter's parents, killing off Norman right away and having Harry take his place instead, and tying everything together with a narrative about Oscorp's gene splicing. Then the MCU Spider-man comes and skips over the origin entirely while only referencing the spider bite through dialogue, barely alluding to Uncle Ben, going out of its way to avoid any previously-used villains and changing around Peter's supporting cast into a distorted remix of familiar elements, all while tying everything together with the larger MCU narrative and more specifically to Tony Stark. As three independent narratives within separate continuities, this situation was highly unsatisfying. But add NWH to the mix and suddenly you have three complementary alternate universes that lead to a shared climax in a single continuity. And I love it.