Spider-Man 2

Spidey weekend Part 2

Alrighty, so in installment numero uno, we have Peter Parker struggle with his new found powers from a genetically engineered spider bite, his uncle's death at the hands of a thief that he let loose, and the descent into madness of his best friend's father while his best friend thinks his alter ego, spidey, killed his father. But not was all bleak, wait, yes it was. Since he gave up his true love Mary Jane at the end. Oh well, the first installment stayed true to the origins and story of Spider-Man. Also Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell had great cameos. Now, for part II.

Well, to start, Spiderman is now delivering pizzas which of course is great for a couple of chuckles while introducing us to the squalid and unhappy life of Peter Parker after High School. Almost two years since his uncle's death. Harry now runs Oscorp and is backing a brilliant scientist named Dr. Octavius who is trying to create a sustainable renewable energy source, aka, a small sun. Lots of family and relationship issues. Dr. Octavius has some fusion issues with a cool four armed toy and bang, we have Doc Ock and a steaming young Harry pent on revenge against Spider-Man. All superhero vs evil villain story aside, their really isn't much in this story regarding lasting changes to Peter Parker's life. But oh well. The story is still fun and it has some great stuff regarding Doc Ock's character.

Directing wise, Sam Raimi abandons his usual low-tech style in favor of more of a CG/wire approach to film making. This lends the film a more polished look, although the CG is still too rough to ever mistake Tobey Maguire as actually flying about the city as Spiderman. The choices made by Raimi regarding how to shoot Doc Ock are well done as his CG effects never actually get in the way of showing Alfred Molina, and thus making the character more believable. Also, he does the usual NY hearts spidey thing. My favorite bit though of his directing is the sometimes blatant ripping he does from other movies. It seems to me that the more I watch, the more I realize that Raimi is using the Spider-Man movies as a way to pay homage to his old favorite films. There's a great sequence that is made to be in reference to King Kong and another where Spider-Man rips his shirt in a similar fashion to the old Christopher Reeves Superman films. I'm not going to lie, but I think Raimi was probably slightly jealous when Bryan Singer got to direct the recent incarnation of Superman over him. I especially liked seeing Maguire dealing with the loss of powers and his struggle to give up completely and to have a normal life. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Raimi does the story and all of teh characters justice, although I think perhaps some more fleshing out Doc Ock's background and maybe a better reason for his "craziness". I'm sorry, it's not Molina's fault, its the writing. If someone's mind has been taken over by 4 apparently crazy killing metallic arms, then there really is no point in time where you can reason with them...ever.

Acting wise, Tobey does his nerdy Peter Parker impression with less fire this time out and his whispy voice is sooo annoying he almost makes me hate Peter Parker. Almost. Kirsten Dunst does a great amount of flirting and changing boyfriends...figures. J.K. Simmons is Hi-larious! Dear God! If someone thinks they could play J. Jonah Jameson better, give them five dollars and make em disappear. This guy is great! Aunt May is still strong and sweet. Alfred Molina and James Franco are the ones who really tear up the screen. Maybe its the second movie curse to be the one that prominently features the villains and their stories, Empire Strikes Back anyone? But Molina brings a believability that surpasses the excellent acting of Willem Dafoe in the first movie. Franco begins to have more fun with his character by getting into the dark side and ordering a hit on him. Harry's such a troubled and yet ennabled character that he borders on tragic. Very nice gentlemen. It's just too bad that Molina was killed in this film since he is definately a great villain. Sadly, Stan Lee's cameo was much smaller in this film. But thankfully, oh sooo, thankfully, Bruce Campbell's was bigger and hilarious. I maintain that the best actors in the series so far are Campbell, J.K.Simmons, and Molina. He's just too good with the little bits offered him.

Conclusion:
A very good tale and a worthy sequel to Spiderman, the newer more polished look of the Spiderman series is not as much fun to me and the story when trimmed down leads to very little actual character development for those still standing at the end. Although, what does change, changes in a necessary way that arranges for the third film to occur. Because of this, I think it is barely not as good as the first if only for the wider character arc in the first and the better acting of Tobey Maguire in that one. Unfortunately, Alfred Molina turns in an incredibly well polished and distinguished Doc Ock and James Franco shows he's more than just a troubled face. So next time you see this film, remember to eat your spidey popcorn, with your spidey coke, oh and don't forget your spidey glasses to keep you from being blinded by the Spidey sun, and...

4.2 out of 5

Wannabe

P.S. I LOVE the opening artwork obviously painted by the very taleneted Alex Ross. Maybe a Kubert or two in there, but it looked mostly to be Ross' work. And if you don't know who he is, go buy the coffeebook from DC featuring all of his cover artwork and be amazed! This guy is soo good, he does comic book covers for a living...just the covers!