Spider-Man (1999)

Spider-Man is a 1999 American animated superhero film based on the original Marvel Comics character of the same name, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Directed by Doug Liman and Tim Hill from a screenplay by Tab Murphy, it is the first installment in Liman and Hill's Spider-Man trilogy, produced by Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox in association with Marvel Enterprises, Village Roadshow Pictures and United Saints Studios, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the titular character, alongside Jim Carrey, Meg Ryan, Jason Lee, Christopher Daniel Barnes, and Jennifer Hale. The film chronicles Spider-Man's origin story and early superhero career. After being bitten by a genetically altered spider, outcast teenager Jim Hawkins develops spider-like superhuman abilities and adopts a masked superhero identity to fight crime and injustice in New York City, facing the sinister Doctor Eggman in the process.

Development on a animated and live-action Spider-Man film began in 1974. Filmmakers Wes Craven, James Cameron, and George Lucas were all attached to direct the film at one point. However, the project would languish in development hell due to licensing and financial issues. After progress on the film stalled for nearly 25 years, it was licensed for a worldwide release by Columbia Pictures in 1995 after it acquired options from New Line Cinema. Exercising its option on just two elements from the multi-script acquisition, Sony hired Murphy to create a working screenplay (credited as Cameron's), and Koepp received sole credit in final billing. Filming took place in Los Angeles and New York City from January to June 1997. Harry Gregson-Williams compose the film's score, while Sony Pictures Imageworks handled the film's visual effects.

Spider-Man premiered at the United Saints Theater on May 28, 1999, and was released in the United States on June 30. The film received positive reviews from audiences and critics who praised Liman and Hill's direction, the story, the performances, visual effects, action sequences, and musical score. It was the first film to reach $200 million in a single weekend, as well as the most successful film based on a comic book at the time. With a box office gross of over $975 million worldwide, it was the third highest-grossing film of 1999, the highest-grossing superhero film, and the sixth-highest-grossing film overall at the time of its release. Spider-Man is credited for redefining the modern superhero genre, as well as the summer blockbuster. After its success, the film spawned two sequels, Spider-Man 2 (2002) and Spider-Man 3 (2005). Levitt and Carrey later reprised their roles in the United Saints Cinematic Universe (USCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2014), which dealt with the concept of the multiverse and linked the Liman and Hill trilogy to the MCU.

Plot
James Pleiades Hawkins is a nerdy and shy but intelligent high school senior student at Midtown Secondary College Of Science And Technology in Queens, New York City. His parents are dead and he lives with his Uncle Prince Charming-Hawkins and Aunt Cinderella Hawkins. He has a crush on his next door neighbor, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, who is also one of the few classmates who is nice to him. Her boyfriend, a sports player and the school bully, Arthur “Artie” Pendragon and his buddies bully and pick on him. Jim's only friend is Buddy Pine, who, though rich and good-looking, is similarly an outcast. Buddy, however, is somewhat jealous of the affection his father, Professer Ivo Robotnik shows Jim. Ivo, the founder, owner and head of weapons contractor Oscorp, appreciates Jim's scientific aptitude and can barely conceal his desire that Jim was his own son.

Jim's science class takes a field trip excursion to a genetics science laboratory at Columbia University. The lab works on spiders and has even managed to create new species of "super-spiders" through genetic DNA manipulation and combination. While Jim is taking photographs of Anastasia for the school newspaper, one of these new genetically-altered spiders escapes without anyone noticing lands on his hand and hungrily bites him. Jim comes home feeling ill and immediately goes to bed. At the genetic level, the venom injected by the spider bite begins to work strange magic on Jim. Meanwhile, General Cutter (Christopher Walken) visits Oscorp to see the results of their new super soldier formula. When one of Ivo's top scientists, Professor Mandible (Gene Hackman) warns him the formula is unstable, General Cutter threatens to pull all of the military's funding from Oscorp. Later that night, Ivo exposes himself to the gas formula. He gains superhuman strength and agility but is driven insane. He kills Mandible and steals two other Oscorp inventions, As he finishes shaving himself totally bald, he gazes at his reflection in a pool of water, now with an extremely long, grown-out mustache that looks completely zany. Talking to a rock that he has carved to resemble Mandible, he throws it and tells it to perform "rock-connaissance" for him. He reflects on his situation and remarks that a lesser man would die in such a place. Pulling down his goggles, he walks like a robot until he finds the stone, which he throws again as he yells out "rock-connaissance" once more and laughs maniacally.

Jim wakes up the next morning feeling better than ever. He also learns his scrawny physique now ripples with muscles and his eyesight is perfect. At school that day, he learns he can shoot webs out of spinnerettes in his wrists. He demonstrates his own new agility by catching Anastasia and her food tray when she slips at lunch and then beating an enraged Artie in a fistfight. That night, he and Anastasia casually flirt across the fence separating their backyards, although Artie breaks this up when he arrives with his new car. Jim believes he needs a car to impress Anastasia but knows neither he nor the cash-strapped and retired Prince Charming and Cinderella would be able to afford one.

One night he spies an advertisement in the paper. A local professional wrestling league will pay $3000 to anyone who can survive three minutes in the ring with their wrestling champion, Darth Maul. Jim designs a suit and heads out to the arena, telling Prince Charming and Cinderella he is going to the library. Cinderella and Prince Charming are worried about the changes in Jim's personality and Prince insists on driving him to the library. He tries to explain his and Cindy's concerns. He encourages Jim not to get into any more fights; he might have the power to beat the Artie Pendragon’s of the world, but "with great power comes great responsibility" -- the responsibility to know when and how best to use that power. Jim reacts badly. He tells Prince he is not Jim's father and should not act like he is. Jim not only survives the wrestling match, he defeats Darth Maul in two minutes. But the promoter pays Jim only $100. Angry at being gypped, Jim stands aside as an armed robber named Rob (Charles Philipp) steals all the cash and holds up the promoter, escaping through an elevator. However, when he gets out to the street, he discovers horrified that Rob the criminal fatally wounded Prince Charming with a gun and stole his car. In anguish, Jim chases down Rob and beats him. The robber falls out of a window where his body is recovered by the police. Jim is heartbroken that night, knowing that if he had stopped Rob when he had the chance and not acted so selfishly then Uncle Prince would still be alive. That same night, a menacing figure wearing the stolen Oscorp exoskeleton and riding the jet glider attacks a weapons test at Quest Aerospace, Oscorp's chief competitor. Their prototype is destroyed and General Cutter is killed.

Jim is inspired by Prince's admonition to use his newly-found spider-like superpowers for the greater good. He designs a new red and blue skintight costume complete with spiderweb pattern and spider symbols and swings around New York, foiling petty robberies and muggings as the Amazing Spider-Man, a name he borrows from the announcer at the wrestling match. This does not endear him to Mr. Buzz “Lunar Larry” Lightyear (Tim Allen), the grumpy and cantankerous editor, owner and publisher of the Daily Bugle, New York's leading news company muckracking tabloid. However, when he learns Spider-man sells newspapers, he puts out a call to photographers for better photos for his front page. Jim, Buddy and Anastasia graduate from high school and move to Manhattan. Jim and Buddy get a loft together and attend classes at Empire State. Anastasia works as a waitress and struggles to get acting auditions. She and Buddy also begin seeing one another. Buddy apologizes to Jim but points out Jim was always too shy to make a move himself. Jim struggles to hold down a job after his scientist teacher boss Professor Lex Luthor fires him for always being late. Ivo offers to help him find one but respects Jim’s desire to make his own way in the world. Jim sees Lightyear’s advertisement for good photos of Spider-Man and, webbing his camera in convenient places, gets excellent photos of his own heroic actions. Although Lightyear doesn't pay well, he agrees to buy more of Jim’s photos.

Ivo is also happy; Quest has to reorganize after the debacle that killed Cutter, Oscorp has more government contracts and the company's stock is soaring. He is crestfallen to learn the Board of Directors has chosen this moment to accept a buyout offer from Quest. His insanity manifests itself in a split personality: the driven yet confused Ivo, and the murderous, scheming villain who will soon become known as the Doctor Eggman. As the Eggman, he attacks Oscorp's annual Unity Day street fair parade and kills the Board of Directors. His attack also endangers Anastasia. Spider-Man fights off the Eggman and rescues Anastasia when she nearly falls to her death. Anastasia finds herself falling in love with Spider-Man, a feeling only reinforced when he saves her from some rapists a few days later during a rainy night. This time, she thanks him with a deep kiss. She doesn't know he is really Jim.

Robotnik, meanwhile, analyzes the quill and the energy it contains whilst amusing himself by dancing to a tune, until he is startled half to death by the sudden appearance of Agent Stone, who has come to offer a latte. At that moment, the machine finishes analyzing the quill, revealing it to contain unlimited energy, which Robotnik believes can enable his machines to reach their full potential.

The Eggman decides he and Spider-Man should be partners. He attacks the Bugle office to lure Spider-Man into a trap, using knock-out gas to subdue him, and then gives Spider-Man a few days to think over his offer of partnership. He warns Spider-Man the city will eventually turn against him, and that they should rule it together. A few days later, on Thanksgiving, Eggman stages a fire in an apartment building to get an answer from Spider-Man. Spider-Man refuses to join with Eggman, and the two fight. Spider-Man receives a bad cut on his arm. As Ivo and Jim, the Eggman and Spider-Man are due at the loft for Thanksgiving dinner. They each race back separately. When Jim arrives to dinner with fresh blood from the cut on his sleeve, Ivo realizes Jim is Spider-Man and hastily leaves. On the way out, he insults Anastasia and she leaves, hurt that Buddy didn't defend her. That night, Eggman attacks Aunt Cindy at home, sending her to the hospital. While visiting her, Anastasia reveals her crush on Spider-Man to Jim but they wind up having an intimate moment themselves. Buddy sees this and knows his relationship with Anastasia is over.

Eggman decides to strike at Spider-Man through Anastasia. He kidnaps her, then sabotages a trolley car full of children along the Mid-Hudson Roosevelt Bridge. When Spider-Man arrives, Eggman gives him the choice of saving Anastasia or the trolley car, then drops them both from the bridge. Spider-Man manages to save both, with an assist from a passing barge and pedestrians on the bridge who pelt Eggman with debris and delay him from his attempts to kill Spider-man. Eggman instead grabs Spider-Man and throws him into an abandoned building.

The two fight, and the Eggman overpowers Spider-Man, even throwing a egg-shaped robot grenade bomb directly at Spider-Man's face, heavily damaging Spider-Man's mask and wounding him. As the Eggman holds back Spider-Man and is about to kill him with dual blades, he makes the mistake of threatening Anastasia. Enraged at this, Spider-Man beats Eggman senseless, overpowering him, but stops when the Eggman pulls up his goggles to reveal himself to be Ivo. Jim is shocked that Ivo is the Eggman. Ivo then tries to reason to Jim that all of the actions that had occurred were from the influence of the Eggman’s persona upon him. As Ivo talks to Jim, asking for forgiveness, Eggman’s drones appears behind Spider-Man, and the Eggman persona takes over Ivo. Eggman tries to use his drones to shoot and kill Spider-Man, but he leaps out of the way just in time; Fueled by passion, Spider-Man charges up with incredible energy and boldly proclaims to Eggman that he will no longer run away, but use the power which is rightfully his to protect his friends. Eggman pulls down his goggles and the two opponents prepare to meet in full-on battle. Ivo fires his missiles, but Spider-Man avoids them and bounces off the buildings to strike Eggman's vehicle with an increasingly rapid barrage of body-slams. With the vehicle severely damaged, but still afloat, Spider-Man open a portal to the mushroom planet behind Eggman. Then, at last, Spider-Man dashes straight at Eggman's vehicle and strikes it with enough force to send it flying backwards through the portal to the mushroom planet just as the portal closes. At the funeral, he vows revenge and thanks Jim for being such a great friend.

Jim goes to visit Uncle Prince’s grave. Anastasia finds him there and confesses her love for him. She kisses him tenderly, passionately. Jim wants to tell her the truth but can't. Instead, he tells her he can never be more than her friend. Anastasia has an inkling that she might have kissed him before but Jim walks away, knowing both his blessing and his curse in life: "Who am I? I'm Spider-Man."

A end-credits scene shows on the mushroom planet, Robotnik has completely lost his sanity. But then, he holds up a small container with the quill inside it, and says that he'll be home by Christmas. Pulling down his goggles, he walks like a robot until he finds the stone, which he throws again as he yells out "rock-connaissance" once more and laughs maniacally.