Now this is better. Much, MUCH better! Picking up about two years after the first film, Spider-Man 2
begins with an ingenious opening title sequence that effectively recaps the
first film using comic book style artwork by legendary comics artist Alex Ross.
When the film proper begins, we find Peter Parker (again played by Tobey Maguire)
is just barely holding things together in his double life as a college
student/superhero. With his gig at the Daily Bugle not quite paying the bills,
Peter has taken a second job delivering pizzas. But despite changing into
Spider-Man and web slinging the pizzas halfway across town to beat the 29-minute
deadline, Peter is still late, and loses his job. His achievements as Spider-Man
also make him miss a great deal of classes, as well-something that makes his
professor, Curt Connors get on his case (Connors is played by Dylan Baker as the
one-armed scientist whom fans of the Spider-Man comics will instantly recognize;
his presence in the film is a nice foreshadowing of possible things to come in a
future film). And as if that wasn't all, Peter's exploits as the web slinger
also keep him from making some very important appointments, such as seeing MJ's
(Kirsten Dunst) performance in an off Broadway play. The empty seat in the
audience where Peter was supposed to have been enrages MJ, driving her away from
Peter and into the arms of another man--John Jameson, who is none other than the
famous astronaut son of Peter's malignant boss J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons,
who is even funnier now that he's got more to do in this film). Spider-Man's
father also makes another brief cameo in the film.
Despite the fact that he is fighting crime and saving lives as Spider-Man,
effectively making such a difference in New York that he is considered a bona
fide hero by all (except J. Jonah Jameson, of course), Peter's personal life is
just falling apart. Peter takes some time out and considers whether he should
continue being Spider-Man, and eventually decides to shuck the whole superhero
life, even throwing his Spider-Man costume out in the trash (in another great
reference to a famous Spider-Man comic book story). But it soon turns out that
Peter's decision to retire from super heroics may have been a bad idea. For Dr.
Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina)--having suffered a terrible accident during a
fusion experiment in his laboratory--has his four mechanical arms permanently
grafted to his body. His mechanical arms, now uninhibited thanks to the
destruction of a chip that prevented them from taking over Octavius' higher
brain functions, turn the good doctor into a raging maniac who is bent on
recreating the failed fusion experiment once more. Turning to a life of crime to
support his experiment, Doc Ock wages a one-man campaign of fear throughout New
York City, robbing a bank by ripping the door of the vault right off with his
tentacles. Already a major threat to Spider-Man, Doc Ock becomes an even worse
menace to Peter Parker and MJ and ultimately tens of thousands of New Yorkers
when he teams up with an unlikely ally.
Once again directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 2 is fifty times better than the
original film. No longer hindered by telling a predictable origin story, Raimi
allows this new film to soar to great new heights in both characterization and
action. The special effects are a hundred times better this time out as well.
The battle scenes between Spider-Man and Doc Ock are spectacular, with the
Computer Generated Imagery blending in so well that it is often hard to tell
what is real and what is CGI. Alfred Molina brings much-needed menace to his
role as Doc Ock; yet while he is a force to be reckoned with, Spidey also gives
as good as he gets, such as in a memorable sequence where he flings the massive
hand of a clock at the good doctor in a riveting clash above the streets of New
York. This stunning battle continues on top of a moving train, and it is so
dynamic in its constant motion that it is simply breath-taking. You have to watch
it more than once just to catch everything.
The two-disc DVD set is crammed with extras. The "making of" feature, "Making
The Amazing"-which can be viewed as a series of featurettes, or as a movie which
is longer than the film itself-is in itself a must see documentary on the behind
the scenes struggle to bring this film to life. Raimi is refreshingly blunt
about the problems he faced in not only continuing the Spider-Man saga, but also
dealing with the raised expectations thanks to the success of the first film.
There's an audio commentary, a blooper reel, an art gallery that features the
Alex Ross' paintings used in the opening credits, two more documentaries: the
first on Doc Ock, and the second on the women in Spider-Man's life. There's also
an extensive, multi-angled look at the final pier battle, and much more. Like
X-2: X-Men United, Spider-Man 2 is that rare sequel that is even better than the
original, and leaves you wanting more. --SF
Main Review Page | Fantasy Reviews |Email Me |Buy This DVD Right Here!