10 Movie Scenes You Won't Believe Didn't Use CGI
7. Spider-Man - Tobey Maguire Really Caught That Lunch (After Over 150 Attempts)
Sam Raimi’s iconic and deeply noughties Spider-Man trilogy can be seen as a precursor to the MCU’s lighter, campier treatment of superhero stories, and the director’s comic book influenced directorial style gelled better with the source material than Ang Lee’s clumsy attempts to marry celluloid and ink with 2003’s Hulk. Spider-Man manages to use CGI relatively sparingly given both its impressive budget and the source material’s sci-fi high concept, as shown in an early scene which contemporary viewers would be shocked to learn didn’t require digital assistance.
When Tobey Maguire’s titular high school nerd/ radioactive spider bite victim Peter Parker begins to feel the transformative effect of the aforementioned bug bite, he impresses soon-to-be love interest Mary Jane by catching her entire lunch on its tray after she slips and sends it flying.
Side note, how cool can Mary Jane really be if she’s this publicly Three Stooges-clumsy?
The smooth display is evidence of Parker’s superhuman agility, but in reality it’s the actor himself holding that tray - it just took 156 takes to get it right. Keep a close eye on Maguire’s stunned face the next time you see the scene.