The second installment of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy is..or was, further proof that superhero sequels will always top their predecessors. The first movie was very good, but a bit of dodge cgi, a bit too much schmaltz, and a power ranger Goblin(despite Willem Dafoe's excellent performance out of the suit) couldn't go unnoticed. Spider-Man 2 improves on the first one in pretty much every way. Of course we will always get the "Dunst isn't hot enough", "Organic we shooters suck" crowd but I'm reviewing the movie for what it is here, if some minor changes for adaptation completely ruin a movie for you I suggest you stop watching them and stick with the comics.
The film begins 2 years after the first, with Peter Parker finding is very difficult to balance his personal life with that of his crime fighting alias. His relationship with best friends MJ and Harry Osbourne suffering greatly because of it, and Harry'd obsession with getting revenge on Spider-Man for the death of his father further straining things. Meanwhile, well meaning but egotistical scientist Otto Octavius embarks on an experiment to create an unlimited energy source which will lead to tragedy in the death of his wife, and his insanity, turning him into the mechanical armed Dr Octopus. He then begins to wreak havoc on the city both in an attempt to both rebuild his machine, and to destroy Spider-man who he blames for the death of his wife. Parker having decided to hang up his suit and live a normal life must decide to take the responsibility that comes with his great power and get back in the web head's duds.
Its not exactly a complex or very original plot, but it works very well. The performances are excellent too. Everyone outdoing their previous work in leaps and bounds. Tobey Maguire makes a great Peter Parker, whether you LIKE this particular take on the character or not, to deny how well he performs is sheer stubbornness imo. As Parker's life begins to unravel and he just can't seem to get a break, we are right there in the crapper with him. Likewise Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. So she isn't as "model hot" as the MJ from the comics(are you going to the theater solely to jerk off? Because they have special places for that..), she still does a great job with the character. James Franco as Harry, J.K. Simmons as J Jameson and Rosemary Harris as Aunt May all over stellar support. But its Alfred Molina as Doc Ock that threatens to steal the show. Some feel that making his character too sympathetic water down his villainy, I disagree completely. Its the sympathetic villains that provide the best drama because when they do evil things its all the more shocking and unexpected. Its also just more realistic in terms of a movie. In a comic a villain(any character) can be fleshed out and explored over a long story arc, a 2 hour film isn't afforded that luxury so they have to cram as many layers as they can in over that running time. Would it have made more sense if Octavius was an eeeevil scientist with an eeevil plan that becomes MORE eeevil after his accident? Of course not, that would have been silly. Anyway, that's just my take on it. I know my friend Billy Black will have an argument for me! The action scenes are also outstanding. This movie is actually one of the very few that successfully gets that balance of drama, comedy, action..just right. In fact a train top fight between Spidey and Ock is so good that it probably should have been saved for the climax, which admittedly could have been stronger.
So onto the bad. As much as I love Raimi's style, he does tend to go a bit over board on the soppy stuff and here its no exception. It works, simply because with these actors and this script you do genuinely care about the characters, and no CBM we have seen has as much heart as these films, but to tone it down ever so slightly would have made even more of an impact I think. Also, some bits just don't make a lot of sense, mainly Ock flinging a car at Peter Parker BEFORE he questions him about Spider-Man. How did he know he would be able to get out of the way? And as I mentioned, the end could have been better. Such a difficult thing to get right in any movie, but CBms really seem to suffer with endings because there is always that balance between finishing of this chapter and knowing that there will be another one. And we all know how that one turned out! But, to be honest I didn't even think
Spider-Man 3 was THAT bad anyway. Look out for the revisit;)
So, am excellent film I think. Flawed, of course, but Marc Webb has his work cut out if his reboot hopes to be half as good as this.
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