The first Spider-Man movie was the right film at the right time. The tragedy of September 11th, 2001 were fresh in everyone's minds and the country really craved a hero. Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man was about as safe as film making could be. There was nothing that might deviate from the usual popcorn fare. It was one of those films were all of the actors hit their marks with practiced efficiency and every technical aspect was performed flawlessly. I found it a solid piece of film making, if a little flat. So with the hype machine in full gear for the second film about our favorite wall-crawler, was this the film that burst the super-hero bubble? After all, pop culture is terribly fickle and the current mass appeal of the superhero genre can't possibly last, can it?
This film takes place more than two years after the events of the first. Peter Parker is struggling with his college work and struggling to keep a meager job. Spending time as Spider-Man is making his life a mess. He's constantly late for work, his grades are falling and he has no time for the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane Watson. His friend, Harry Osbourn, now runs his fathers business and hopes that the work of the brilliant Doctor Otto Octavius will make then a greater success than his fathers company ever was. Osborn meets and befriends Peter, but of course, tragedy strikes and the mechanical limbs that he used to handle volatile radioactive elements become grafted onto his body. Devastated when Mary Jane decided to accept a marriage proposal from astronaut John Jameson (yes, JJ Jameson's son, and all Spidey fans know what ultimately happens to him), Peter decides to give up being Spider-Man. As Doctor Octopus loses himself to the artificial intelligence of his four mechanical limbs and Harry is pushed over the edge by Octavius's failure, Peter is forced to return to action.
Hands down, Spider-Man 2 is a better film than the first. Sam Raimi is back to direct and while he still won't be regarded as a particularly daring filmmaker, he pulls off this film with much more style than might have been expected. Virtually all of the small problems that existed in the first film have been corrected here. The action scenes, which were perfunctory in the first are much more exciting this time out. While William Dafoe did a great job as Norman Osbourn, whenever he put on the mask of the Green Goblin, chuckles were inevitable. For this outing we get a much better all around villain in Doctor Octavius. Alfred Molina does a simply excellent job portraying the Doc as a multi layered, basically tragic villain. His was a role which could have very easily been reduced to camp or at least histrionic melodramatics. Instead his performance is one of the many highlights of the film.
As J. Jonah Jameson, the loud Editor of the Daily Bugle, J.K. Simmons was one of the best things about the first movie. He returns in this film and gets considerably more screen time. The extra time means that he doesn't steal every scene that he is in, as he did in the first, but he is still marvelous. In fact, every actor, both supporting and lead, do great work here. There are a number of supporting roles that long time Spider-Man fans will quickly recognize, as not only John Jameson is included, but also Doctor Curt Connors. The possibilities for sequels seem endless at this point. Toby Maguire seems more comfortable here as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. In several scenes he even appears to move his lips. While the chemistry between he and Kirsten Dunst is still not exactly electric, it at least no longer dampens every scene that the two of them are together in.
If there is a chief fault in this movie, it is that it tries to pack too much in. As this is only the second Spider-Man film, it seems a bit early for him to already be considering hanging up the costume for good. There are quite a number of elements dangled that are undoubtedly meant to bait future sequels. There are also a couple of heroic moments that are slightly on the melodramatic side. However, my five year old son could hardly sit still in his seat with excitement. All in all, Spider-Man 2 works on almost every level. That we could have this many excellent super-hero movies in a few short years is more than any comic fan could have hoped for.
