A superb film. A must see.

Rating: 10/10 (1 July 2004)

I saw this film at the first midnight showing on opening day to a packed house, and was completely thrilled by the entire movie. Every part of this movie was seamlessly put together.
If you thought the first movie was good, then you will be doubly pleased by this one.
Long-time fans of the Spidey comics will be thrilled. Sam Raimi does for Spiderman what Peter Jackson does for Lord Of The Rings -- he's a 'fanboy' doing justice to the source material by staying true to the core spirit of the story.
This is the best comic book movie ever made. It is one of the best action movies ever made.
In fact, it reaches the level of being one the best movies in the past ten years or more. I hope it gets serious consideration for multiple Oscars. I'd give this movie Best Picture, Best Director, and whatever else they give out for special effects.
It should *definitely* win for Best Screenplay. The screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, and the quality shows. There are multiple types of high in this film -- the action sequences take you on a thrill ride of their own, but there are many smaller, subtle character-based scenes that really say a lot about the type of person Peter Parker is. And since you care about the characters, the action is that much better.
I can't gush about this movie enough. Some parts are laugh out loud funny, some parts are so emotionally riveting its like a punch in the gut, and the action is pulse-pounding.
In the first movie, I had some reservations about Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. Those reservations have been put to rest by this latest release -- Tobey Maguire IS Peter Parker.
Spiderman 2 is so much more than the typical, traditional, brain-dead summer action-flick fare. (Can you say Van Helsing?) This movie has an actual story, with actual characters you care about, and a good underlying message about choosing to do the right thing even though it might not be the easy thing to do. This movie is more about Peter Parker being Spiderman, and why he is Spiderman, than it is about "Our Hero" beating up "The Bad Guy Of The Day".
The action is eye-popping when it's on screen, but unlike The Day After Tomorrow, the movie does not exist as a flimsy excuse to bombard the viewer with its special effects.
I won't bother to give complete synopsis of the whole story -- you've surely seen the commercials and the trailers. But a major part of the movie is about Peter Parker quitting the Spiderman racket to concentrate on his school, his job, and his love life. Many things happen that lead him from being the care-free Peter Parker back to being ("With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility") Spiderman again, and it is a great experience to take that journey with him.
My only (minor) nitpicks are:

I wish they had someone else as Mary Jane. Kirsten Dunst is miscast. Unlike Maquire as Parker, Dunst still did not convince me that she is Mary Jane.

The "pseudo-science" gobbledygook about the project Otto Octavius was working on before he became Doctor Octopus kind of stretched the limits of my suspension of disbelief. But what the heck, it's a comic book movie. It's not overly obtrusively if you just go with it.

However, these are only minor, trifling issues.
Spiderman 2 is a great action-packed, emotionally involving and thoroughly satisfying summer movie. It will be hard to top this movie. Do not miss it.