Much better than Spidey 1

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2007)

The computer graphics were rectified in this installment of the series. There is a little bit of dynamism that is added to the motion of the character this time though in the end the cartoonish effect has not entirely disappeared.
One of the biggest strengths of this movie is the drama element. I found the sympathy factor a little bit too much in the first part and I thought I would puke if I continue seeing the same here but I did not. I, in fact realized that it was the strength of Spider-man 2. Peter Parker cannot come to terms with the selflessness a superhero with his powers is suppose to have. He wants to set his life right. The whole struggle is shown to be really great and Tobey does it really well considering that he is not the critical actor and more of an action figure not widely known until his role as Spiderman.
Doctor Ock is simply one of the most sophisticated villains and full credit to the script writers for developing him in depth. But then again, the show-down scenes, I say this, either move the character and keep the camera still, or move the camera keep the character still and yes, time and now, please show some slow motion shots of a punch or something to bring about the realism (something like Wachowskis showed the slow punch of Neo in Matrix Revolutions). Fast, fast and simply fast. It would thrill the kids but not a single shot in the movie except the one where the car crashes into the cafÃ© just before the teen scene between Mary Jane and Peter would leave a lasting impression.
Another thing I found was wrong placing of humor or should I call it humor? On the train crash scene Spidey fails in his first attempt to stop the train and we have a bugging old man who goes, "Any more bright ideas?" What is the meaning of the scene? I'd expect someone to say, "Please do something" with an expression of "staring at death". They say Sam Raimi is a talented director but I doubt if this is the opinion seasoned movie-goers would share.
There are fundamental flaws that Spidey 2 shows but still it remains a good movie for improvisation in the graphics, some really cool moves, a highly justified emotional struggle of Parker. I would rate it higher than Spidey 1 but still it left a lot of room for critical developments.