A brutally human and fallible Spider-Man that not everyone will easily swallow.

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 2019)

This movie is the predictable sequel to the 2002 Spider-Man movie. In this movie, we continue to follow the life of young Peter Parker and his difficulties to reconcile two distinct lives: the masked avenger and the ordinary common guy. The movie is good, has an interesting story and shows a much more human, insecure and teenage Spider-Man than in other films of this superhero, which can be seen as a breath of fresh air in the character.
I understand those who say they didn't like the way the main character was thought of in this trilogy. It is something that somehow breaks with the stylized and artificial image of the superhero. It makes perfect sense, though: Peter Parker may have superpowers, but he's still a teenager, a young adult, whatever you want to call it. The action and fighting scenes between heroes and villains are there and the villain is, as in the first movie, the fruit of an accident during a scientific experiment that failed due to his own ego. There is a certain notion of karma here: the villain was not born villain nor is it necessarily and entirely bad, but it is the result of the bad choices he made earlier. His personality, as a villain, is the same as before, but his defects are enhanced and amplified by the powers he has acquired.
Problems or defects? Yes, they exist. For starters, the movie wastes more time in unnecessary and accessory scenes than its predecessor. I felt that at times the movie is too long, and that slows the pace a bit. I also found the whole plot strongly predictable. Half an hour before things happened I was mentally anticipating them.
Tobey Maguire, you still seem quite satisfactory to me as Spider-Man. He knows how to be a hero without leaving out his more human side. Kirsten Dunst and James Franco were also able to keep up with the work done on the first film and, if they didn't get better, they didn't get worse either. Alfred Molina, who gave life to the villain, Dr. Octopus, surprised me by not expecting to see this actor playing this kind of character.
Technically, the movie didn't surprise me. I think it has improved a lot in terms of visual effects and CGI when compared to the first movie, and there are some really well filmed scenes. But that is essentially it. The soundtrack is regular, but I'm not even able to hear that "Spiderman" song without immediately thinking about "Spider Pig" and Homer Simpson. It's stronger than me!