Sam Raimi

Fans thought the casting of Tobey Maguire was nuts -- OK, some still do -- but Raimi's first shot at a comic-book blockbuster was a smash. This franchise didn't need the reboot it got last summer.

When it was announced he was going to helm the big budget production of Spider-Man, most people went "Who?" and ran to check who he was on their 28 bit modems. But it was the right choice. He brought the right amount of camp and human drama to Peter Parker, while staying pretty close to the source material to the delight of comic fans worldwide. There is very little to dissect of this one. Great story-telling, Toby Maguire aces Peter Parker's teen-age nerdishness and of course, Kirsten Dunst's boobies thrilled comic geeks worldwide. After the shock of 9/11, his Spider-Man made a valiant attempt at invoking the tough New York spirit in healing the wound that struck the nation. In one particular scene, added after the attack, a group of New Yorkers band together to fight the Green Goblin and save Spider-Man. Toby Maguire won accolades in his role and topped it off by winning MTV's Best Kiss Award in 2003.

Until Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy, this was the high-water mark for the overcrowded field of superhero movies. Perfectly paced, it was an expert blend of summer-movie action and real heart.

While I really enjoyed the first Spider-Man movie, Raimi made a superhero classic with its sequel, which brought in the very famous Marvel Stan Lee/John Romita storyline “Spider-Man No More!” and blended it with Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Harry Osborn (James Franco) as he continues his search for (and hatred of) Spider-Man, not realizing it’s his best friend Peter Parker. While the Tobey Maguire performance of Parker is a bit weepier than I’d have liked it to be, this movie does it the best and is the best version of him trying to balance a personal life with a saving-people life. And Raimi even allows himself some horror indulgences as evidenced when Doc Ock wakes up in the hospital with the metal arms fused to his spine and with a mind of their own. They certainly do their fair share of murdering before he’s even awake. A major improvement over the first film. I’m really glad Raimi only made those two Spider-Man movies, that’s for sure. *Kyle sticks his fingers in his ears and says La La La*

Spider-Man 2 was a green light from the first trailer of Spider-Man, and Raimi was a sure guarantee to be back in the director's chair after the success of the first flick. The studio threw more money his way and gave him another legendary Spider-Man villain, Doctor Octopus, to envision. If anybody could envision the robotic tentacles of Dr. Octavius, it was Raimi. There was an obvious comfort in working with the cast again and he showed true form in keeping abreast of the abilities of CGI at the time. Now gifted with a budget of $200 million, Spider-Man 2 brought in nearly double that: $373 million at the box office. Spider-Man 2 worked the storyline well; Peter Parker has evolved from the first one and is facing real world late teenager problems: what to do after high school, living in your first crappy apartment, your teenage crush becoming engaged to someone else, the guilt of killing your best friend's father... you know, usual teenager stuff. Raimi holds it all together well and makes more use of the blending of CGI and actors with the extreme complexity of Doc Ock's tentacles, in which some were CGI and at other times actual props.

Worst in the trilogy? Sure. But even that lambasted piano bar dance scene was pure Raimi.

There is something about superhero trilogies that make most people say 'they should stop at two'. Those people are Bryan Singer. Despite seeing his budget continually climb with each new edition of the franchise, the need to 'wow' the audience with new villains, new characters, new situations created no end of problems. Raimi and the internet have expressed frustrations over the weak script, the studio meddling and the overall feeling of having done this all before (and once again not being allowed to have Bruce Campbell in the starring role). Despite the anticipated visualization of Venom, the casting of Topher Grace as Eddie Brock was considered a miss by many who wished for a more comic-faithful rendition. So too with the Sandman and along with his ongoing difficulties with Harry Osborn, who has taken on the crazy mantle of his father, the Green Goblin, there was a lot of balls in the air for Raimi to try and juggle. Although still better than certain other trilogy finales (looking at you, Nolan), it left its own slew of messes.