Top 5: Spider-Man Action Scenes

There's a lot about Spider-Man that makes him perfect for movies. His pauper like existence and problems maintaining a double life make him relatable, he's always got jokes in the middle of battles, and his power set is perfectly designed for fun and unique action scenes. And since Spidey is swinging into theaters again, I thought I would pick out five of the Wall-Crawler's best action scenes.

#5 Gwen Stacy Rescue from Spider-Man 3

Not every Spider-Man action scene has to be a fist-fight. In a movie bogged down by excessive CGI, the symbiote suit nonsense, and too many plot threads to keep track of, my favorite scene is the midair rescue of Gwen Stacy. After a construction crane loses control and crashes into a nearby office building, the unlucky Gwen has a floor cut from under her and begins plummeting towards the ground. That is until Spider-Man swings and pushes through the debris not only to get to Gwen before she hits the pavement, but also stop her from being crushed.

#4 Electro Introduction from The Amazing Spider-Man 2

While the Amazing Spider-Man series suffered from subpar scripts, some of the action scenes, including this one, are entertaining. Here the newly created Electro inadvertantly begins attacking civlians and soon runs afoul of the police before Spider-Man intervenes. The subsequent fight works great not only because the villain is discovering his powers but also because Spidey has to think quick and use his gadgets to save innocents caught in the crossfire.

#3 The Airport Battle from Captain America: Civil War

It's impressive how seamlessly Tom Holland's Spider-Man fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Brought in by Tony Stark as backup, Peter takes on some of the best Team Cap has to offer including a Falcon and Bucky team-up and the Captain himself. In the span of about fifteen minutes we see all of the web-slinging, fast-talking, and quick thinking (after all it's his plan that brings down Ant-Man in giant form) we could possibly want...you know until this Friday.

#2 The Finale from Spider-Man

The final battle begin Spidey and the Green Goblin isn't the most unique or technically impressive, the previous skirmish in a burning building with blades flying is in my opinion, but the emotional payoff here is huge. Channeling the circumstance and panels from "The Death of Gwen Stacey" Spidey is given a choice between saving Mary Jane's life or a gaggle school children. As it turns out, Peter has a plan to save both and does so with the help of New York's citizens (which holy crap how hard did this hit after 9/11) and his love for Mary Jane giving him the impetus to fight on after a brutal beating. Tragic, heroic, and inspiring all at once.

#1 The Train Fight from Spider-Man 2

This sequence has had so much praise heaped on it, that I was afraid to make it my number one. But truly nothing else comes close. In what begins as a showdown at a clock tower Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus go toe to toe on a skyscraper before plummeting to the roof of an elevated train. So much about the scene is impressive, be it the constant change in tactics and locations, the excellent use of each character's powers, and what was at the time revolutionary use of CGI. But all that wouldn't mean a thing without the emotional payoff for the audience in seeing Peter back in action and then completing the most obvious and yet effective Jesus impression superhero movies have produced to date. I might be alone in this, but I still get goosebumps.