Officially the greatest movie I have ever seen (spoilers included)

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2005)

6/20/2005
Warning! This review contains major spoilers! If you haven't seen the film yet, then please don't read the review!
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Still with me? Good.
After seeing "Spider-Man" in 2002, I honestly thought I'd never see a better movie. It had action and adventure, yes, but "Spider-Man" also had a clever story, good humor, wonderful performances and, above all, heart. I thought the sequel wouldn't match the first.
I was wrong - "Spider-Man 2" does what I never thought it would: surpass the original.
"Spider-Man 2" is one of the few movies I can watch over and over and never get tired of seeing. That, my friends, is a rare honor for any movie. Each time I watch it, it's still as fun and action-packed, and the humor still makes me laugh out loud each time. It also bases itself close to the comics, by expanding the story into a new, more realistic direction than the first film.
You see, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire, perfectly portraying the dual roles of Parker and his wall-crawling alter-ego) has problems since becoming Spider-Man just a little over two years ago. Peter gave up his true love, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst, in a somewhat smaller role than in the first film, but gives a wonderful performance) to spare her of the dangers of dating a superhero, only to have her become engaged to astronaut John Jameson (Daniel Gillies). His Aunt May (Rosemary Harris, who is wonderful in her bigger role) has financial problems with her home. Peter has financial problems by leaving his apartment he shared with his friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco, who starts to slip to the dark side), and now lives in a small apartment.
Harry, who now lives in his late father's home and runs his company of OsCorp, has Peter meet his idol - Doctor Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina, who perfectly plays the role as Spidey's best foe yet - and one of the best movie villains ever!) - and the two later watch Octavius give a demonstration on fusion with his four, artificial-intelligence programmed tentacles. The experiment goes awry, bonding the tentacles to Octavius' body permanently and becomes known as Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock.
Peter, meanwhile, is so bummed out over losing Mary Jane that his powers start to fade and act psychologically - when he's happy, he swings fine, but if he's down, his web-shooters clog up. Unaware it's an identity crisis, Peter even dumps his costume and gives up life as Spider-Man. But when Octavius kidnaps Mary Jane and almost destroys New York when his new, enlarged fusion machine is built, you know Peter's retirement won't last.
The only flaw of the movie, though, is the number of people who find Spider-Man without his mask off (I don't wanna spoil it, but thankfully at the end, Spidey's identity is in safe hands - with the exception for one person). But so what? The movie works perfectly, you can ignore and/or forgive the flaws!
Peter and Mary Jane's relationship is even better the second time around, Doc Ock is a much better and complex villain than Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (who cameos in the film - but how you'll have to see), and the fight scenes will leave you breathless. The train sequence alone is a major highlight of the film, from the Doc Ock/Spider-Man fight to Spidey saving the passengers (and later thanked by them). Everything about this film works wonderfully, from the cinematography and acting to action and music. The music by Danny Elfman is even better this time around, especially the entire train sequence and Spidey's talk to Mary Jane in a web near the end. The acting mixed with the music by Elfman will bring you close to tears.
The humor also works well, particularly by J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), Spidey's boss and John's father.
Returning director Sam Raimi and writer Alvin Sargent outdo themselves with a smarter, more exciting, more moving sequel. And the ending screams "Sequel!" in exciting, better new ways than the first film.
As the headline of the Daily Bugle reads about Spider-Man at one point, "He's back!" And audiences I'm sure are glad to see Spidey's return in this incredible sequel.