The Ultimate Superhero Movie! 10/10

Rating: Null/10 (4 July 2004)

Before the release of "Spider-Man 2", I seriously doubted that it could surpass the original, I was very wrong. This movie shows that it is possible for a sequel to surpass the original. All the characters are back and better than ever, especially Alfred Molina, who plays the infamous Doc.Ock. "Spider-Man 2" takes place 2 years after the events of the first movie.
Peter Parker is now handling two jobs, one as a pizza delivery boy and his job at the Daily Bugle, and he is going to college. Because he is Spider-Man and has to fight crime all the time, he doesn't have any time for his college work and gets fired from the pizza delivery job. Mary-Jane Watson is still pursuing her career as an actress in a play called "The Importance Of Being Earnest". For those who doesn't know, Kirsten Dunst played in the movie of the same name, back in 2002. Peter is still trying to win her heart, but still must fight the criminals of New York City. Mary-Jane gets engaged to an astronault and moves on with her life. Meanwhile, Harry Osborn, who promised to avenge his father, is now working for Oscorp Industries and hires Dr.Otto Octavius. During an experiment, Dr.Octavius transforms himself into Doc.Ock, who has four mechanical arms nailed to his back. To make matters worse, Aunt May is losing her house and gets attacked by Doc.Ock. At one point, Peter Parker decides to quit as Spider-Man. But when Harry Osborn hires Doc.Ock to capture Spider-Man by capturing Peter Parker, it is apparent that Peter must continue his journey as New York's crimefighter. What makes this movie better than the original is the script. The movie is driven by characters and not by action sequences. Although there is a lot more action scenes than in the first one, there is still a good story and good dialogues. Alfred Molina is a much better villain than Willem Dafoe was as the Green Goblin. Molina's Doc.Ock is both terrifying and mysterious. Tobby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco all give better performances than in the first one. Rosemary Harris, who plays Aunt May, is given a much bigger and better part in the sequel. As for the action scenes and special effects, there are much better and Spider-Man seems less light when he flies through New York City.
In all, "Spider-Man 2" is a much better movie than "Spider-Man" and is truly this summer's must-see movie. I give "Spider-Man 2" a 10/10.