Better than the first- Sam Raimi proves his cool knack for balancing elements of action, drama and comedy

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2004)

Spider-man 2, at least, accomplishes one thing above all else- this time, when the Spidey flings himself through the air, it doesn't look as fake as it did in the first film. If anything, this time I did feel the exhilaration that the filmmakers intended. They, being the team at Edge FX, have taken the huge lot of profit from the first film, which became the smash of smashes in the comic-book movie genre, and on that end the film is a success. But even on the human front with characterization the film is a bit of an improvement, which is always tricky for a sequel to do. Two major action sequences involving Spider-man (Tobey Maguire) and his nemesis, Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina, in a compelling turn), are shot and edited to a wonderful, creative impact. And, in an interesting bit when Doc Ock escapes a hospital, echoes of Raimi's Evil Dead comes through with subtle, if grin-inducing touches. The work done on the villain as well as the hero shows, and it helps that Ock is a sleeker, more threatening presence with his mechanical arms than the weird madman in Willem Dafoe's performance.
There are also other factors that give Spider-Man 2 it's worth of entertainment, even as if follows story turns that we as the audience have seen in plenty of other movies (comic-book or otherwise) from Hollywood. There's a nice dosage of humor to tip the scale on the romantic/non-romantic drama, courtesy of J.K. Simmons' added time as the over the top newspaper editor, and as well to a few bits of business in dealing with the problems of being a guy in a costume (plus, there are a couple of fun cameos from some Raimi regulars). The performances aren't bad by the leads, but they haven't improved too well, and with the script that they're given some of the lines don't work as well as they should. Some are appropriate in their corny quality, some aren't. One of the key performances that comes through is Rosemary Harris' Aunt May, who's the most effective of the dramatic parts to the story.
So, is Spider-man 2 as great as everyone's saying, that it's one of the great sequels and comic-book films of all time? To me, almost- it actually gets even more engrossing and interesting in its comic-book atmosphere on repeat viewings. It has a fresh appeal as a mainstream, thoughtful action film and, like Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy in the horror genre, it will live on when other superhero movies bite the dust in the video market. A-