One of the most iconic comic book character returns to the big screen!

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2013)

When I saw the first Spider-Man film, I thought it was decent to watch but it wasn't really the superhero movie I was hoping for. If you want to see my whole Spider-Man review, then please do because I have a strong opinion on that movie.
When I saw the trailer for this film and saw that Doctor Otto Octavius was going to be the villain, I was beyond excited.
The story line is Peter Parker is trying to adjust his normal life while still fighting crime as the hero everyone loves. (expect for J Jonah. Jameson of course) Doctor Otto Octavius demonstrates a fusion reactor, everything goes wrong of course which leaves to his wife's death and his inhibitor chip for his robotic arms being destroyed. Spider-Man stops it and Octavius wants his revenge, Harry Osborn makes a bargain to him to bring Spider-Man to him alive so that he can get what he wants to rebuild his machine. Peter struggles with his personal life and being a superhero, as a result, it becomes too strong for him and he has made a choice to give up being Spider-Man. While adjusting to what he wants, Doc Ock comes in and kidnaps Mary Jane (just like Goblin did last time) which leads to Peter returning as Spider-Man.
Despite my problems I had with the first film, the storyline is fantastic like I said before. Most of the actors from the first film continue to shine here.
Alfred Molina is fantastic casting as Doctor Otto Octavius and looks like the character in the comics, he is a character that you actually feel sympathy for after the accident.
James Franco was also good as Harry Osborn, you can definitely see the torment that Harry feels over his father's death and his desire to kill Spider-Man.
J.K Simmons steals the show here as J. Jonah Jameson and he such a delight to watch. Like I said in my Spider-Man review, he captures the essence of J. Jonah Jameson from The Amazing Spider-Man comic book series and brings the comic book character to life in a superhero movie. I can't imagine someone else playing this character, how you can make a character so full of himself and so likable at the same time is just great acting. When they're going to reboot the Spider-Man franchise and cast someone as J. Jonah Jameson, they better get J.K Simmons to play him.
As far as accuracy to The Amazing Spider-Man comic book series, the story was mostly influenced by Amazing Spider-Man #50 also known as "Spider-Man No More!" where Peter gives up being Spider-Man, but finds himself unable to let it go. The differences between this movie and the comic book is Mary Jane is the love interest of Peter instead of Gwen Stacy and Dr. Otto Octavius is the main villain in this movie as Kingpin was the main villain in the comic book but I honestly don't care, it still translates the story from that comic book really well and that's all that really matters, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate to that particular comic book.
But it's not a Sam Raimi film without it's silly and dumb moments. For example, the extras they put in this movie. Some I didn't care for but some of them are pretty funny.
I do have a few problems with the movie though. First, I'll start with The astronaut. (also known as John Jameson) He is the son of Peter's boss J. Jonah Jameson. I thought he would play a bigger role in the film and make a huge impact on everyone; we don't see him do anything space- related, what was the purpose of the character besides his brief relationship with Mary Jane?
Tobey Maguire to be honest isn't any better as Peter Parker in this movie. His comic book counterpart's charisma and sense of humor isn't done right. The same thing applies to Kristen Dunst as Mary Jane, she portrays her very melodramatically, and at times it's just hard to watch.
What about Doctor Otto Octavius robotic arms? After the inhibitor chip gets destroyed, they actually talk to him! I'm pretty sure his robotic arms didn't do that in The Amazing Spider-Man #3, if it did then...that issue had some flaws. They want him to finish what he started by robbing banks and kidnapping innocent people. That was pretty odd if you ask me.
Not that this is too important but have you ever notice how scary the scene where Doc Ock starts killing the doctors when they were trying to remove the mechanical arms was? I think Sam Raimi was trying to imply from what did in the Evil Dead trilogy (I think that's where it came from?) but it feels so out of place in a Spider-Man movie. For a PG film (in my case anyway) this scene is really terrifying! The convincing screams of terror from the doctors and no soundtrack playing in the background gives us a more creepy tone!
But aside from the flaws I mentioned, this film was great to watch! This was the best out of Sam Raimi's trilogy and was even better than the previous installment! It managed to show a great example of a superhero film by having some intense action sequences, improved special effects, some good acting by the whole cast (especially J.K Simmons), good emotional weight, the camera-work is astonishingly well shot, the story translates "Spider-Man No More!" very well and the villain is really memorable. This movie is definitely worth purchasing if you're a Spider-Man or a comic book fan. In fact, even if you're not a comic book fan, you will still enjoy the other elements put into this movie.
Final verdict for this film: 8/10