The special quality of Tobey Maquire

Rating: Null/10 (2 July 2004)

Spoilers
No, Tobey Maquire does not have a face that you'll remember instantly, such as..how about Brad Pitt. What we see in Maquire is a character that starts out unassuming, but grows, and deepens, and broadens. This is an underdog that one can easily identify with. But then, he is not the kind of underdog that you indulge in feeling too sorry for, and here's when that special quality comes in  even at his lowest moments of rejection, there's always that stoic near-smile that seems to say that it's alright after all. Here's a comic-book character that has a real life and soul, and a real-life character that has a comic-book air. Only Maquire can pull this off. (On second thought, Jake Gyllenhaal maybe another).
The others in the cast all give a level of performance that solidly sustain the movie on the drama plain, making it more than just a visual treat. Alfred Molina, whose spectacular performance in Frida as Diego Rivera nearly outshone Salma Hayek in the title role, gave that little bit more to the tragic Doc Orc than a lesser actor would, to make this otherwise ridiculous character credible and pitiable. Kirsten Dunst, going from a one-dimensional Betty Warren in Mona Lisa Smiles to a character with a surprising little twist in Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, gave a little bit more to MJ Watson than she did in Spider Spider-Man I. Rosemary Harris is truly lovable as May Parker. J.K. Simmons is even more flamboyant than in Hidalgo and The Ladykillers. Finally, James Franco is all ready, willing and able to pick up from Willem Dafoe the villain role in Spider-Man III! The high-tech is sensibly managed so as not to give the audience indigestion, and this is helped by having a good balance in a strong drama line. The arch villain of Doc Orc is well designed, in physical form if not in anything else. The true beauty of the physical makeup of Spider-Man is that although he has three-dimensional mobility, he does not actually fly like Superman, as his movement is ultimately hinged from solid objects. The mixture of airiness and solid substance makes Spider-Man unique, in a way that is superior even to Superman (sorry, just can't resist this). In his adversary Doc Orc, a similar 3-D mobility can be found. What is lacking there in dexterity is compensated by power. And this is good, because there is no fun watching two identical Spider-Man fight. The `hard' Doc Orc and the `soft' Spider-Man (and this is only relatively speaking) fighting in a three-dimensional arena is however something to behold.

There you have it, Tobey Maquire, an excellent cast and smartly designed action sequences, putting Spider-Man 2 among the very best of this genre.