A bit slow in parts, but overall an enjoyable film

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2004)

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first Spiderman on DVD, it was a no-brainer to go and see the sequel on the big screen, and i wasn't disappointed. The makers don't toy much with what worked in the first film, so it is difficult to go wrong.
The film kicks off two years after the events of the first installment, and Peter Parker is having troubles juggling college, a job and being a superhero. Mary Jane is an actor and model, and still haunts Parker. Enter the evil government corporation trying to do something brilliant which will inevitably go wrong and produce a monster who is out to get Spiderman. Hey, it worked last time, why change it?
While the plot is formulatic, it does work, and the exploration of Parker's troubled psyche keeps it interesting. The biggest problem with Spiderman 2 is it's pacing. It begins slowly and contains lengthy scenes in which very little happens. The film makers seem to want to get a bit more thematically out of this film compared to the first, and though it does succeed to an extent, the film could have been just as good being 20 minutes shorter.
Tobey Maguire delivers a solid, if unspectacular, performance. Kirsten Dunst is beautiful, and can act a bit too. All the support cast fade into the background, with noone being bad, but noone setting the world alight either.
Overall, Spiderman 2 is a worthy follow up to what was a fantastic comic-book hero film. Though it had pacing problems, the action scenes easily make up for it and it is on par or even better than the first.