SpiderMan 2 Review
by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)July 12th, 2004
SPIDER-MAN 2
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2004 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
Poor Peter Parker.
Fired from his day job as a pizza delivery boy and in danger of losing his staff photographer gig at the "Daily Bugle" (for snapping touchy-feely vs. hard hitting front page photos), Peter could sure use a break. But he's also getting failing grades ("brilliant but lazy" claim his Manhattan college professors)
and his Aunt May just got served a foreclosure notice.
All that, and his Spider-Man suit runs in the wash.
These are just a few of the personal problems besetting the indomitable Spider-Man at the outset of "Spider-Man 2," the highly-anticipated sequel to the summer smash of 2002 that saw director Sam Raimi ("The Gift," "A Simple Plan") stringing together a surprisingly competent--and hugely entertaining- blockbuster about a web-spinning superhero from the pages of the Marvel™ comic book.
Two years later Spidey is back, a little darker, maybe, a little more conflicted,
definitely, still hopelessly in love with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), still abhorred by Harry Osborn (James Franco), the son of Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin, absent herewith God rest his maniacal soul). And not, it would seem, altogether sure of his future as a legendary urban crime fighter, as his silver bungi-web spinning abilities fail him over and over again, oftentimes
at seriously inconvenient moments.
Fortunately for Spidey (and the audience) there's a new malevolence in town, a well-meaning nuclear physicist (Dr. Otto Octavius, played to the hilt by the wildly under-appreciated Alfred Molina) whose Oscorp-sponsored fusion experiment goes seriously awry (don't they all?), unwittingly unleashing "Dr. Octopus," a hell-bent, building-scaling super fiend sporting huge and fearsome mechanical limbs with hell-bent destructive minds of their own.
Like its popular predecessor, "Spider-Man 2" works because it spends as much time on its characters as it does its special effects. Tobey Maguire, back in the title role, is appropriately confused and vulnerable; Molina, never
one to settle for just an adequate performance, is great; and Rosemary Harris (who plays Aunt May) is nothing less than Oscar®-worthy. Even Dunst's M.J., the weakest link in the original, has a little more depth this time around and J.K. Simmons (as newspaper magnate J. Jonah Jameson) is back with a lot more scenery--and cigar--chewing screen time.
When it comes to mixing his moods, the director does a wonderful job. There are white-knuckle scares (courtesy a runaway elevated train ride) and cartoon violence (especially during Doc Ock's incendiary transformation, although
that particular sequence borders on the inappropriately violent) offset by some
cheeky humor (the riotous elevator sequence, for example). The film is exciting
one minute, touching the next. Raimi has, essentially, covered all of his bases.
The upshot is that "Spider-Man 2" is that uncommon sequel that's almost as good as the original (and there are many who will call it even better than the first!). With a screenplay by the 73-year-old Alvin Sargent (the Oscar-winning
screenwriter of "Julia" and "Ordinary People" of all people), "Spider-Man 2" is that rare oxymoron: a surprisingly smart summer spectacular.
Sit back, relax, and hang on to your popcorn!
--
David N. Butterworth
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
