"Go get 'em, tiger."

Rating: Null/10 (5 September 2004)

The chances of "Spider-Man 2" being little more than a rehash of the first movie were, when you think about it, pretty remote - the TLC with which the original was handled meant we weren't likely to get a soulless cash-in; indeed, the sequel gives characters the priority over action, and that's what makes this movie an equal to the first one. It may not have its freshness, but it has just about everything else.
Director Sam Raimi and screenwriter Alvin Sargent (the latter successfully negating the influence of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who share screen story credit with Michael Chabon, and whose (dis)credits include "Smallville," "Shanghai Noon" and "Lethal Weapon 4") don't tell the most original story - as another poster pointed out, this shares some plot points with "Superman II," chiefly that of our hero wondering if he can continue playing the hand fate dealt him and choosing not to... at least for now (but better that than "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace," right?) - and on thinking it over it has its share of plot holes, but nothing that truly wrecks the movie.
For a start, "Spider-Man 2" gives us a Peter Parker whose angsty day-to-day life is immensely easy to sympathies with - he may be able to zoom around the city spinning webs and have amazing strength, but that can't help him keep a job or pay his rent. It also gives us people who've moved on and been built up from last time - except perhaps for J. Jonah Jameson (wonderfully played by J.K. Simmons - "Miss Brant? Get me a violin," he says on hearing Peter's tale of woe), who wisely has more screen time... but not enough for him to swipe the movie. Apart from Rosemary Harris's Aunt May, the biggest beneficiary of this emphasis on people is Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane, who is inevitably in peril in the climax but gets much more to do beforehand this time around; you wonder if the producers swore that come the sequel they'd do something about the first movie's flaws (speaking of which, the effects from John Dykstra and Sony Pictures Imageworks et al are considerably improved).
Even the movie's villain isn't truly a black hat; as written and played by Alfred Molina, Dr. Octavius is more of an ambitious thinker trapped by his own devices than an all-out baddie - the way he becomes Doc Ock is more of an accident than anything, though I can understand why this pretty thoughtful approach would put some off - it takes a while before the action really starts (though when it comes, it's worth it), and the emotional moments aren't for the Michael Bay crowd. But if they weren't there, the action scenes wouldn't have any impact. Think about it.
Leavened throughout with humour that works for the movie instead of against it (although having a street musician play the theme from the "Spider-Man" cartoon is a bit much - the Michael Buble big band version at the end of the end credits is enough), sporting a score by Danny Elfman (with a little help from John Debney and Christopher Young) that shows Klaus Badelt and Graeme Revell how this kind of thing should be done, and with a perfect set-up for "Spider-Man 3" thrown in - all this and Bruce Campbell - this shows again why few if anybody is plumping for Nicholas Hammond over Tobey Maguire. He IS Spider-Man, and this set of movies is the definitive portrayal of Marvel's most famous creation; wealth and fame he's ignored, but merited.
Incidentally, those viewers who complained about the last image of the previous movie will have less to moan about here. Particularly the boys.