Better than the first...

Rating: Null/10 (7 July 2004)

So here we are again, with the second cash-in on the Spider-man comic-book. Breathe a big sigh of relief, - the CGI is much better this time, although not perfect. Kirsten Dunst plays her usual vapid self, and Toby Maguire plays his usual characterless self, but for some reason, this edition of Spider-man was a lot, lot more fun than the first. I believe this is the result of a far more intriguing storyline. This time around we have Peter Parker's inner struggle, the struggle with Harry Osborn, the struggle with his grandma, and of course the struggle with Mary Jane Watson, who for no explicable reason goes from Peter-Parker-lovesick to engaged to some marine/navy/army (whatever) Joe. This cumulative struggle though makes for a more engaging superhero. The first movie featured a lack of 'real evil bad guy', and the second movie suffers the same, perhaps more so. Octavius is NOT a bad guy at heart, and is controlled by some experiment gone awry. However, the movie still works because we see Parker's struggles interspersed with battling Octavius. In this way, I found myself, surprisingly, cheering for the young hero.
At the end of the day, it's another comic-book adaptation, but this time it's enjoyable! Kick back and enjoy the ride.
On a side-note, kudos to the CGI team. It's a shame they didn't have a few $$ left over at the end to properly model the helicopters that Spiderman swings by during the final sequence of the movie. I cringed. A lot.