SpiderMan 2 Review
by Bob Bloom (bob AT bloomink DOT com)July 1st, 2004
SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons and Donna Murphy. Visual effects designed by John Dykstra. Music by Danny Elfman. Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Screen story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Screenplay by Alvin Sargent. Directed
by Sam Raimi. Rated PG-13. Running time: Approx 140 mins.
Poor Peter Parker. He's lost his job, behind in his rent, his schoolwork is suffering and he always seems rundown and tired.
Perhaps, the young man is spending too much time playing superhero. That is the dilemma facing Parker as he returns to the big screen in Spider-Man 2.
Screenwriter Alvin Sargent, who won Oscars for his adaptations of Julia and Ordinary People, has taken the screen story written by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Michael Chabon, and drafted that rarity — a character driven, comic
book-adventure film.
Gough and Millar, creators of the WB hit, Smallville, and Chabon, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, know something about what drives such characters, and it shows in the story.
In this outing, Spidey battles another of his comic book enemies, Doctor Octopus, or simply Doc Ock.
Like Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin before him, Doc Ock is a scientist transformed into a villain after an experiment to help better mankind goes awry.
Director Sam Raimi has created a more multilayered, adult drama. The feature offers just enough of Spidey in action to whet the appetite, but the main focus
rests on the tangled relationships between Peter (Tobey Maguire), Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and Harry Osborn (James Franco).
Peter loves Mary Jane, but keeps her at arm's length for fear of her being harmed by Spider-Man's enemies. Peter is Harry's best friend, but Harry is obsessed with finding and destroying Spider-Man for killing his father and Peter feels guilt over Norman Osborn's death. Mary Jane, after breaking up with
Harry, becomes engaged to an astronaut because she can no longer pay the emotional price of her unrequited love for Peter.
All Peter wants to do is live a normal life; go to the theater to see Mary Jane
perform in The Importance of Being Earnest; hold a steady job; earn enough money to keep his aunt from losing her home; and keep up with his college course work. But at every turn he is thwarted by the weighty responsibility created when donning the Spider-Man costume.
You can't help but like the movie. The blending of action, humor, drama, angst
and romance is as balanced as a high-wire performance.
Maguire's eyes tell Parker's story. He is conflicted always looking for answers. To whom does he owe the greater responsibility, his loved ones and himself, or humanity?
At one poignant moment, Parker unburdens himself to Mary Jane on the phone knowing she is not listening on the other end. It is a heartbreaking and tender
moment.
Dunst takes a more pro-active stance. Her Mary Jane has taken control of her life. She is no longer the helpless victim. Dunst brings more self-assuredness
to MJ, while still retaining a bit of the vulnerability that makes her so appealing.
Franco's Harry bubbles with anger and resentment toward Peter, Spider-Man, the
world in general.
Alfred Molina brings a tragic resonance to Doc Ock, a good man transformed by
technology into a monster.
The CGI work outdoes the effects in the original. The legendary John Dykstra makes his characters so lifelike you forget they originated in a computer. Spidey and Ock use New York as their battlefield, hurling each other into various structures, creating millions in damages.
The feature only falters near the end with an anti-climatic finale, which is basically to establish the conflicts that will arise in Spider-Man 3. But, you
will have to wait for 2007 for that story.
Meanwhile, content yourself with this dazzling sequel. It's fast, it's fun, but most of all it has heart.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He
can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal and Courier
Web site: www.jconline.com
Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site: www.rottentomatoes.com or at the Internet Movie Database Web site:
www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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