**The Good**:

+ **Sam Raimi's** classic superhero flick has a nostalgic cast; **Tobey Maguire**, **Kirsten Dunst**, **James Franco**, **Willem Dafoe**, **Rosemary Harris** and **J.K. Simmons** all breathe life into their characters
+ Simmons and Dafoe are the particular standouts here - it's difficult to understand how we didn't figure out that Dafoe has been the Green Goblin all this time.
+ It's the now classic retelling of how Peter Parker got his superpowers. Everything moves along at such a brisk pace we barely even get to know the characters properly before they change drastically.
+ The storytelling is classic in its style and feels like a living comic book.
+ From a hilarious first hour with Peter discovering his superpowers, culminating in the touching death of Uncle Ben, we are moved into the splendid superhero territory.
+ The interactions between Spidey and the Goblin are among the finest moments in the movie
+ The script handles Norman Osborn/Green Goblin well, and makes him feel like a real human, even if he is less likeable than Octavius in the sequel.

**The Bad**:

- Released in the middle era between the classic camp superhero movies of the 90s and the modern era mega blockbusters, the first _Spider-Man_ is surprisingly dated by today's standards.
- Having seen Tom Holland play a believable, funny and likeable version of Peter Parker, Maguire feels overly awkward and stiff in his portrayal.
- Maguire and Dunst lack any real chemistry and their scenes together are quite painful to watch.
- None of the primary cast members are particularly believable as high school students, and that bothers me.
- Some of the CGI hasn't aged well.
- _Spider-Man_ features some huge and inventive action scenes, but a couple of them are clumsy and somewhat camp.

**Verdict**:

Sam Raimi's _Spider-Man_ began the new era of superhero movies, but nostalgia has made us forget about the dated action scenes, bland performances and simplistic storytelling.