Basically the perfect superhero movie.

Rating: 9/10 (21 June 2008)

Comic book movies don't get much better than this. Sam Raimi once again proves what a great director he is with this sequel to the fantastic Spider-Man movie of 2002. And as good as the first movie was, this one improves on it in many ways. It's a fantastic continuation from the first one, fitting right into the storyline. I honestly don't think anyone could hope for a sequel better than this. Set two years after the first movie, Peter is struggling to find balance between his two identities. His life is falling apart. His loved ones are still suffering from various events from the first movie. And now a new enemy has appeared. What can become of all this?
The storyline of the movie is really great. It sort of makes you ask yourself questions. Like how long can a person really put other people before themselves before it all just becomes too much? Can a person really handle that much responsibility? The movie definitely gets the human side of the story right, and has a strong sense of emotion about it. It doesn't just go through the motions and have Peter as a hero who never gives a second thought. He is portrayed as a normal person who got these powers that he never asked for. After watching the movie you might re-think "How awesome it would be to have superpowers." And the villainous Doctor Octopus has been given a drastically different origin in the movie to the one he had in the comics, which was a risky move to make, but it really worked.
The acting is great, once again. Tobey Macguire still does a great job as Peter Parker and Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst is a good Mary Jane Wattson and James Franco plays Harry Osborne well. As with the first movie all the supporting actors in the movie are great, like JK Simmons and Rosemary Harris. A lot of the chemistry the characters had with each other in the first movie is back, although considerably different in contrast to the differences that the events of the first movie have caused in their relationships with each other. The actors pull off the changes well. Alfred Molina was the perfect casting choice as the villainous Doc Ock, and played the part fantastically. Couldn't have asked for a better actor for the job.
The visual effects in the movie are amazing. The effects in the first movie were decent, but these are a vast improvement. The action scenes were just amazing and really got my blood pumping. All of it just came together better than someone could hope for. Once again the costume designs were fantastic, with huge props for the way Dock Ock is done. His artificial arms are awesome and the character could not look more perfect. So all in all, the whole movie was fantastic, and It makes me sad that I missed the chance to see it at the cinema. I've watched it several times, and it really holds up.