Spider-man 2 Review

Let me start of by saying that the best movies have a lot of emotion, a lot of depth and make you see the world through the main characters eyes, Spiderman 2 accomplishes this. For the first half of the movie and to a lesser extent the last half, Sam Raimi puts Peter Parker, aka Spiderman, through physical and psychological torture and makes you just wanna pull him out of the screen and help him out. However all this psychological torture helps the ending become such a huge emotional payoff and you cant help but cheer for him when PP finally tells MJ how much he loves her. Another reason this emotional battering is such a great addition to the movie is that everyone can relate to being alone at some point in their life and thus allowing us to become fully emerged in the PP experience. Some people will cringe at the moments of cheese splattered throughout the film but it works in the context of the film and even makes the movie better for it. This type of melodrama doesn't work too well in a lot of movies but in this one its both necessary and important to the themes of love, destiny and loyalty.

It was refreshing to see this type of emotional input inserted into a superhero/comic book movie, as of late many of these types of films have had artificial dramatics and never felt to have added to the overall value of the film. The lack of genuine emotion and drama in these films seem to stem from the inability to incorporate both action and pizzazz (like the word...lol) in a two hour period. Some might argue that the Hulk had a lot of drama, however action and excitement was sacrificed in the attempt to add more of the human story, not that this was a bad thing it just wasn't right for the genre of film. Sam Raimi has now proven that it is in fact possible to have a comic book movie with a soul while maintaining high levels of excitement.

All this drama however could not have been accomplished without the actors and the roles they portrayed. Toby Maguire is the only person who can portray all the elements that make up Peter Parker, a nerdy but lovable fella who must sacrifice all that he loves to fulfill the duties that come with the mask. This inner struggle climaxes however when he finally decides that he wants to live the life of a normal teenager and throws away the costume for good. When he finally returns, we the audience both wish him back with open arms but also want him to remain happy without the burden of his Spiderman duties, I believe it takes some special actor to make you feel torn like this. Now, you cannot have the good without the bad and Doc Ock is one bad mother and quite possibly the best villain in the Spiderman universe. One of the weakest elements of the first movie was the Green Goblin, and I don't blame that on Wilem Dafoe's acting but rather on the script, this is not at all a problem in the second movie but is rather a strength. Each and every fight between Doc Dok and Spiderman is a pure adrenaline rush sending us into the dizzying heights of the New York skyline. Because D O climbs buildings this allows for some hair raising action, and for a complete CG creation its totally believable. With all 8 arms, Spiderman has a huge challenge ahead of him. Another reason that D O is a brilliant villain is the simple fact that he isn't completely evil like many comic book bad guys, hes a good man that makes a bad decision and because of that decision his life turns upside down and in the end is possessed (literally) by something evil. This isn't really a unique character arc but what makes it memorable is his brilliant acting. Kirsten Dunst brings the same sweet and sexy MJ to the second movie and is just as brilliant as she was in the first. The highlight of this movie was the PERFECT timing f her trademark 'Tiger', its perfectly positioned and will have all the fan boys screaming in joy. Actually that's not the only memorable part of the movie, but that is defiantly the part all us geeks will notice.

The CG was solid and every scene with Spidy was totally believable and will have all the New Yorkers looking to the skys. So needless to say the rest of the special effects in the film were spot on. Nothing much to say here really except that its a mind blowing experience.

My favourite scene in the whole movie which incorporated everything that I love in film was the sky rail fight. This fight extended from the heights of the tallest skyscrapers to the top of a speeding train and was 100% excitement. Spidy went from saving his own life to saving the life of dozens of commuters in a scene which will no doubt be remembered for years to come, not only for the rescue but also for what is immediately revealed afterwards. At this point look around the cinema and see all the dropped jaws, but remember this ain't the end of it ;)

If I had any problems with it, the main one would be Uncle Bens dream sequence which I thought was unnecessary but can appreciate why it was there, but I do believe that everybody has gotten the whole 'with great power comes great responsibility' message.

All in all, this is so far the best movie of the year and that's saying a lot as the first film wasn't in my top 5 of 2002. Its a cracker of a movie, not flawless, but what movie isn't these days? And in my humble opinion one of the greatest movie sequels ever. I cannot recommend this movie enough.