In many ways, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man revolutionized the film industry and put superhero movies on the map. The film tells the origin story of Spider-Man, chronicling Peter Parker's life and the various hardships he experiences. Primarily, though it covers how Peter gets his powers, and how he deals with them once he gets them. It also covers his fight against the Sinster Green Goblin, with whom he has a scary connection.
Upon release, Spider-Man received exceptionally positive reviews. It was also a massive financial success. Famous film critic Roger Ebert moderately enjoyed the movie (he gave it a rating of 2.5 out of 4 stars), but said that audiences should "Consider the scene where Spider-Man is given a cruel choice between saving Mary Jane or a cable car full of school kids. He tries to save both, so that everyone dangles from webbing that seems about to pull loose. The visuals here could have given an impression of the enormous weights and tensions involved, but instead the scene seems more like a bloodless storyboard of the idea."
Many other critics, however, loved the film. Reads the Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus, which sums up critics' thoughts of the film: "Not only does Spider-Man provide a good dose of web-swinging fun, it also has a heart, thanks to the combined charms of director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire." Also, against a budget of $139 million, the film made back $821.7 million at the box office.
