EXCELSIOR! MARVEL-LOUS!

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2004)

Okay, so I'm a Spidey fan...but I'd be the first one to tear the movie to shreds if it disappointed. Thankfully, Spiderman 2 did not disappoint. In extreme contrast, it was one of the greatest, if not, THE greatest, movie adaptation of a comic book character ever! Director SR is totally spot on when he chose to focus on the human aspect of Spidey...the heart of the superhero...the fight scene on NY's subway train and its eventual outcome epitomizes this aspect of the Big Apple's beloved wall-crawling hero. Just as HJ has made Wolverine HIS part, TM has made Peter Parker/Spiderman HIS part...I don't think I could ever picture anyone else to in those glasses or those tights.
While Spiderman 2 represented a step forward in character and story development, my grouse is with the repetition of some scenes that looked somewhat like a cloned counterpart from Spiderman 1. Specifically, while I was brought close to tears during the scene where NYers carried Spidey over their heads in the train after his fight with Doc Ock, their expressed protection over him when Doc Ock came for our hero looked almost a carbon copy of the scene in Spiderman 1 when NYers expressed their protection over the hero as Green Goblin tried to kill Spidey over the dangling cable car. Other repetitive scenes include Spidey climbing up the wall as he lost his power (similar to when he first discovered he could climb walls) and Spidey trying to jump over roof tops after he lost his power (similar to when he first discovered he could jump across roof tops). I'm not sure I'd want to see any of these again in Spiderman 3.
Still, all in all, Spiderman 2 is one for the movie hall of fame and I give it 10 out of 10 stars for what worked rather than what didn't work. Looking forward to Spiderman 3 where I hope it will not be just the Green Goblin as the villain but maybe the Lizard or the Jackal (as long as it's a NEW villain). Repetitions of any kind would have to be sufficiently justified...otherwise, don't do it...please...