Spidey flies again

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2004)

Well with a great movie like Spider-Man, it is very easy for the sequel to become a disappointment, but luckily for me and others the Spider-Man franchise does not take a fall after the first film, because the director and the cast did their jobs good as did the people who wrote the script. They all stayed true to the original Spider-Man comics and comic series as a lot of people learned to love them.

I must say that I was really amazed at how well Tobey Maguire pulled off the nerdy Peter Parker once again, with him being even clumsier and unluckier than in the first film. This did not only make for some very funny scenes but it also made me feel for him as much (if not more) than in the first film. When it came to his personal life and the things that had happened in the first film, I was moved a great deal and I shed some tears as I watched. The amount of emotion and the feeling of honesty and reality created by the director and the cast that moves you to tears is something that is not usually found in Â‘action' films and I want to than the people involved in creating such a real and believable experience for the viewer in the cinema and at home.

What I loved most about the Spider-Man comic series and what I love most about this film though is the way the writers are able to create dilemmas all of us can identify with. They are what give Spider-Man a very human face and not make him a superhero like for instance Clark Kent in the Superman films. He seems to have much less of a burden than Spider-Man, which seems somewhat unbelievable, regarding the complexity of a superhero life.

In my view there is only one downside to this film is J.K Simmons who portrays Jonah Jameson. I found him to be quite annoying and to tell the truth I thought that he was a bit unbelievable in his role, but that is just me. The rest of the film was really good. The action, the comedy the story, the actors and the romance. It just was GOOD. All of it. I especially enjoy the on screen chemistry between Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire and must confess that in my mind Tobey = Spider-Man and Kirsten = Mary Jane. I therefore hope that they will continue to make at least 2 maybe 3 Spider-Man films, although I doubt they will do another one after the third. But this is more than praise, this is a WARNING. This is a warning to all at Columbia Pictures and Marvel Enterprises. DO NOT DARE to replace Tobey or Kirsten and continue the franchise, for I will not stand for it (and many other won't stand for it as well). If that does not help, take a good look at the Batman franchise, that almost died after Michael Keaton left.

As much as I enjoyed Spider-Man 2, I felt that the film was a notch worse than the first film 2 years ago. This does not mean that the film was worse, but rather that it isn't as new and exciting anymore. Sequels do not only have to live up to it's predecessor, but they also suffer from the fact that a the shininess has worn off a little bit and they've got more mileage. Still the best film I've seen in a while (including The Return of the King).

8,25 out of 10