Good directing, bad-guy plot isn't good enough

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2004)

Went to the Odeon cinema in Swiss Cottage, London. I thought they'd play Ladykillers but when I got there I saw they replaced it with Spiderman. I decided to give it a fair chance.
It turned out to be a hilarious evening, but not because of Spidy. Before running the film they had about 30 minutes of various promos. One of them caught me by surprise: the text flashing on the screen, the dramatic, familiar music
'This Year' starts the trailer 'An epic battle is coming' 'Between the forces of light and darkness' 'A struggle between Good and Evil' 'And only one can emerge victorious'
How come they promote Lord of the Rings again? I thought.
And then I rolled on the floor when I discovered it's the new promo for a completely different film. If you don't like spoilers then skip the next few lines.
Turned out to be the promo of the world's laziest cat.
Another LOTR gig soon followed: this time a mobile phone promotion by Orange, where Sean Austin is asked by a film board to produce the 4th part of the trilogy. The Shire is now in the distant future, and everyone is now using mobile phones. 'We'll call it  Lord of the Ringtones', says head of the board. Great ad.
Well, that was the best part of the evening. Spidy then started. I've got to say that I didn't particularly like the first installment so my expectations were set to a minimum.
I'll cut to the chase: the problem is the plot. It has two interlaced stories: Spidy having an identity crisis, and the usual Spidy-fights-the-bad-guy. The first story is very good, and I'll give it 9 out of 10. Directing is excellent, Toby and Kirsten are doing a good job.
I like Kirsten Dunst  she is an excellent actor who started so young with her amazing role in Interview with a Vampire. Then she did some teen movies like Jumanji and Toy Soldiers  and now she is really blooming. Reminds me of Jennifer Connelly's career: quite a long way since young Sarah in Labyrinth.
Anyway, going back to the movie: the second part of the plot is simply stupid. The villain is a bare chest mad scientist with flailing mechanical arms. Hardly a match for a New York cop with a cheap revolver, let alone the mighty Spiderman. And the science BS about fusion, especially in the last scene where taxies are being pulled off the streets by the fusion reaction but don't worry, drop the fusion ball to the Hudson and all of the sudden the world is safe. Come on, guys, you'll have to do better in Spiderman 3. A more bullet-proof villain and a bit stronger science would have made the trick. I'll give this part 5 out of 10.
To summarize: good directing, fair acting, but the bad-guy plot is not good enough to support the film. 7 out of 10.