Finally I get to review the greatest Spider-Man movie ever! Spider-Man 2 came out in 2004, returning director Sam Raimi and actors Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco. This was a highly-anticipated blockbuster that didn't disappoint. However, it wasn't quite perfect.
One of the best things about Spider-Man is that he is a real-life superhero who must deal with real-life problems, and this movie perfectly captured that aspect. We saw Peter Parker struggling to pay his rent, falling behind in his school work, worrying about his family and having plenty of problems with his awkward love life. Even though he has the proportional strength of a spider, he's still a nerd when he's not wearing his mask, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll add one point for this.
But now I have to take a point off for the tiring subplot of Harry Osborn swearing revenge on Spider-Man for "killing" his dad. I still don't see how he can really think that's true (especially after Spider-Man directly saved his life). I also didn't appreciate his contradictory attitude of being buddy-buddy with Peter, then randomly hating him for not revealing Spider-Man's identity. Why is Peter supposed to know who Spider-Man is? Did you ever think he just might be a talented photographer? Unfortunately, this would lead to an even worse subplot in the next movie.
I'll bring the score back up to a 6 for Alfred Molina's touching performance as Otto Octavius. We didn't get to see much of him before his accident, but it was just enough for me to fall in love with the character. He was not only a brilliant, kind and likable scientist, but this movie added a sweet romantic side to him. He had probably been married for 20-plus years, but was still deeply in love with his wife. This made his accident and transformation into a monster all the more tragic.
I'll add another point for the quiet humor in this movie. There were so many nice, funny moments that didn't call too much attention to themselves, like the broom closet scene, the usher at the theatre and the funniest, the elevator scene. Sometimes action movies have too much or not enough humor, but this one found the perfect balance. Just enough to take off some of the harshness of the intensity, but not too much to overshadow the importance of the storyline.
The score will rise to an 8 for the creation of Dr. Octopus. Not only was the actual accident horrifying and tragic, but the scene in the hospital was captivatingly terrifying. When he violently killed all those doctors, I knew I was watching the best superhero movie of the time. But more importantly, he was a legit super villain for Spider-Man to fight. He was strong, fast, smart and insane. Unlike the Green Goblin (who wanted to eliminate his business competitors and somehow take over the world?), Doc Ock had a much more understandable motive. All he wanted to do was complete his fusion experiment and would stop at nothing to see it happen. I also loved his design — the trench coat and sunglasses with truly cool-looking robotic arms. I have to credit the filmmakers for not relying too much on CGI and using sophisticated puppets that could perform delicate actions like lighting a cigar. I loved this character so much I didn't even care that the "inhibitor chip" thing didn't make any sense.
As cool as Doc Ock was, his first fight was a little flawed. After taking Aunt May hostage to keep Spidey at bay, he threw her up into the air and she all-too-conveniently caught onto a statue with her umbrella handle. Not only did that sequence look fake, but Aunt May held onto that statue far too long for a 70-year-old woman to support her own weight. It was a rather unfortunate moment that took me away from what was a good fight scene and will cost the movie another point.
Luckily, this movie is usually able to redeem itself after each miscue. I'll bring the score back up to an 8 for the re-creation of one of the most iconic Spider-Man comic book covers — "Spider-Man No More!" There are only a few comic book images as haunting as Peter Parker walking away from his Spider-Man costume hanging out of the trash can. It's one thing when a superhero is killed, but it's much worse when he just decides to give up.
Aunt May really was frustrating in this movie. When Peter told her how Uncle Ben died, she got mad and left the room. In my mind, Aunt May would comfort Peter and say, "Don't blame yourself. If you tried to stop that criminal, he probably would've killed you and Ben." But she didn't! However, she did redeem herself later with the hero speech she gave Peter, which ever so slightly hinted at her knowing Spidey's secret identity. I would have liked a stronger indication that she knew who he was — I mean, she'd recognize his voice, right? — but this was good enough to keep the score at 8.
I'll add another point for the amazing and shocking scene of Doc Ock throwing a car at Peter and MJ right after he said he doesn't love her. This was made into an effective trailer, and it still was exciting and unexpected in the movie. This also led directly into the best part of the whole movie.
Spidey and Ock's fight on the train was nothing short of epic. We really got a sense of how powerful these two were. I also loved how casually Doc Ock threw the people around, almost using them as weapons. And then there was the intense and beautiful moment of Spidey collapsing after stopping the train and all the people of New York coming to his aid again. And then the final confrontation and death of Doctor Octopus was really good, too. If the movie would have ended with that, it would have had a perfect score.
But instead, we had to go back to Harry for one more annoying scene. In a drunken stupor, he hallucinates his dad demanding revenge and then accidentally discovered his dad's secret lair, complete with shelves of pumpkin bombs, a spare glider and Green Goblin mask, and extra canisters of the serum that turned him into the Green Goblin in the first place. But if you remember from the first movie, Norman Osborn had to evaporate the serum in a large, expensive machine that he destroyed. So why did he have extra serum lying around? I have to take a point off for this.
I have to take one more point off for Mary Jane running away from her wedding while in her wedding dress. What a jerky thing to do! She already found out the boy she always loved was the superhero she had a crush on, so why did she wait until two minutes before the actual wedding to decide to cancel it? I think that's a little extreme. But the filmmakers all thought it would be good cinema to have the bride running down the street with J. Jonah Jameson making the awful "put away the caviar" joke. I, however, didn't appreciate it and lost all respect for MJ.
Like I said, this wasn't a perfect movie, but it still was pretty darn good, and as it stands, it is still the best Spider-Man movie ever made. Maybe this new one might surpass it, but I highly doubt it. Spider-Man is much more than special effects and classic villains, and when people forget that, bad things happen, as we'll see in Spider-Man 3.
Final score: 8
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