SpiderMan 2 Review
by Ryan Ellis (flickershows AT hotmail DOT com)July 23rd, 2004
Spider-Man 2
reviewed while crawling the walls by Ryan Ellis
July 20, 2004
My Tagline---It doesn't matter what I say, people will see this movie anyway!
I've been procrastinating for nearly 2 weeks now. That much time has passed since I saw 'Spider-Man 2', yet the review is just coming together now. And that was after an agoraphobic bout of not seeing it until a week into its mega-bucks release. Am I afraid of the #1 villain, Doc Ock? Does the thought of publicizing the over-hyped 'Spider-Man 2' sicken me? Am I searching for the right words to express my lukewarm feelings about THE event movie of '04? Is it laziness? Or did the movie not do enough to either impress or depress me? Check, that's the one. Well, it's a bit of that laziness thing too, but I'm neither indignant nor excited about this movie.
So picture Nicolas Cage as Charlie Kaufman in 'Adaptation'. That's me tonight. After finishing that first paragraph, I went to the fridge, put on some music, and found 3 other excuses to avoid writing. And just now it's hit me...Peter Parker can relate to this insecurity. Yes, Spidey's flawed alter ego is the reason people like him so much. He's just a kid with real problems. Forget specifics for a moment, in the broad overview of superhero characters, who of us can relate to Superman, Batman, Hulk (either Incredible or Hogan), or even the X-Men? None of us is a flying alien, a rich psycho orphan, a rageaholic/roid-rageaholic, or a super-freak. None of us can do whatever a spider can either, but the boy behind the mask lives his life the same way we do.
Peter struggles to pay for his dive of an apartment, he's flunking his way through college because he's out fighting crime until all hours, can't get together with his dream woman, and he has to battle his natural growing pains almost as much as the unnatural ones. Things just aren't going well for young Parker. I understand this kid more than most of the other "normal" sides of the guys in the superhero lineup. However, I was never a big fan of the wall-crawling comics and have never dreamt Spidey dreams. The monumental adoration of this character is beyond me. For spectacular superhero action movies, gimme 'Superman' (either the marvelous first one or the excellent sequel). No matter how foolish the whole concept of Kal-El might be (Jesus comparisons notwithstanding), Supe is my go-to saviour.
I can still geek out a little bit to the human spider, though. The first 'Spider-Man' came out two summers ago and theatres were crammed worldwide. Everybody wanted to see it---some more than twice---and the actual quality of the picture took a back seat to this money-making phenomenon. Was Sam Raimi's flick REALLY worthy of grossing $400 mill in the U.S. alone? The DVD may be sitting over there on my shelf, but I was only a fan of the first film, not a BIG fan. It doesn't seem to matter what critics think because the sequel is going to yank in just as many customers, regardless of how many thumbs are held up. While I've avoided reading any reviews, it seems pretty clear that people everywhere---audiences AND scribes---are jonesin' for this one.
Okay, so now I'm delaying to talk about the story. Well, if you have Internet access and are reading this review, then you must know every dirty detail already. Peter (Tobey Maguire, natch) accepted his destiny as Spider-Man at the end of the last movie, sacrificing a romance with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). The Green Goblin was killed in action, but his son, Harry Osborn (James Franco), vowed to kick the webslinger's ass. Alfred Molina joins this cast as Otto Octavius, a scary-smart scientist who uses 4 mechanical arms to manipulate a fusion reaction. When a tragic accident permanently grafts the serpentine arms to Octavius' body, he wigs out and starts using his brain for villainy. He doesn't struggle with his devilish impulses as memorably as Willem Dafoe did in the first film (no amazing mirror scenes for Molina), but the humanity is never buried too deep either. Doc Ock becomes a vicious criminal when he feels he has nothing left to live for. Fair enough.
This movie isn't that much different than the first one. We still get the "we got along before we became enemies" hero/villain dynamic. Peter and MJ are kept apart, even though he's smitten and she is quietly in love with him too (never mind that she's planning to marry someone else!). Harry broods and almost has to do the "ooh, ooh" schoolkid thing to get noticed amongst all the characters. Aunt May (the sly Rosemary Harris) represents goodness and Peter's only link to a rock-solid family. J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) is still as funny in the sequel, although there's not enough of him to lighten up the mood. And then there are the cartoony visual effects. I'm still not completely sold on those F/X, even if they're an improvement on the first outing. Other than that, it's a brand new story!
Okay, so most follow-ups don't have as much depth as the original, but director Raimi & scripter Alvin Sargent seemed to start with the framework of the '02 edition and didn't take any crazy left turns. The biggest stunner may be what happens in the final 10 minutes. As with 'LOTR: ROTK', this flick has a multitude of endings. Some of them had me sitting up straight in my seat. Surprisingly, many of these threads were being left open at the end of this movie, rather than introduced fresh next time. We know they'll keep making Spidey flicks until audiences think the character is used up, but I WANT to see more of this series.
What struck me upon leaving the theatre was just how violent this movie is. Sure, superhumans battling up & down skyscrapers is bound to cause a ton of property damage, but people are really brutalized. In the scene following Octavius' transformation into Doc Ock, doctors & nurses are mercilessly murdered by the robotic arms. The man is out cold, but his appendages have an evil mind of their own. I winced once or twice because it's horrible stuff for a PG-13 production. This part of the movie is definitely not for kids. Send them out to the lobby for popcorn and just tell them Doc Ock got loose without going into detail. A certain amount of realism demands that people die when such inhuman abominations are on screen, but this scene made me a bit uncomfortable when I tried to get back to having fun.
But then again, it's not supposed to be a goofy picnic. Most superhero flicks are about the pathos. Pathos and more pathos. 'Spider-Man' had it (especially with its gutsily dark ending) and 'Spider-Man 2' builds on it. Peter has unfinished business with more than one character when the credits roll on this one, plus he's got the on-going task of keeping his identity secret. Not that he tries as hard as he should. Everybody in New York other than the Yankees' pitching staff sees the unmasked Spider-Man. I don't think he can really trust those subway passengers to keep their mouths shut (another future plot tangent?), but Peter seems like he's ready to burst. He wants to tell the world who he really is, but he knows what that will mean to the ones he loves. Not many teenagers could keep such a secret...
The "I'm losing my powers" angle was muddy and had me wondering if he was going to have to hunt for a radioactive spider to give him another Spidey injection. Along with this failing to control his powers and his desire to have an ordinary life, there's an only-a-matter-of-time angle where he decides to quit as Spider-Man. Clark Kent did the same thing in 'Superman 2' and Batman closed up the Batcave in 'Batman Forever'. You know this isn't going to last---don't Supe & Batsy get right back in action within a day or two of retirement?---but these moments of self-doubt do indeed allow us to connect with these weirdos. They want to be like us, but we want to be like them. Human nature says we'd probably want to be like us again if we ever WERE like them. So the only question is how long will the arachnid outfit be on the shelf?
'Spider-Man 2' tries to be grander, bigger, and more epic than its predecessor. But is it better? I don't think so. It would be generous to say that they're even Steven. Really, the first one excited me more. This one is a good superhero movie and it's done a beautiful job of carrying on what they started, but it's not amazing or anything. Since everyone and their dog has already paid good money to see this movie, I could say that watching it will give you the measles and people would still see it. Will audiences be entertained? Yeah, but they should be prepared to be hammered by the pitch-black themes too. At least Raimi found an amusing way to use the old "does whatever a spider can" theme song. He's strengthening his themes and building to better things. I'm looking forward to episode 3, even if the first 2 episodes are not as great as the box office.
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