One of the greats

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2006)

I always loved the first half of Spider-Man. I thought it was perfect. Right up there with Superman's origin in Donner's original. Tobey was perfect as Peter. Even Kirsten Dunst who is not one of my favorites radiated with a genuine girl next door quality. It had just the right sense of humor and it was wonderful to look at.
Then the Green Goblin showed up.
The movie nose dived pretty hard for me after that. It still had some good moments but it never stood as firm as it did in the first act.
The sequel doesn't have that problem. This is a solid piece of work from start to glorious finish. This is not just a definitive Spider-Man movie. This is one of the best comic book films PERIOD. Maybe only second to the original Superman. It sure as hell beats all the Batman films (Bats is my fav and I can still admit that) and I think it's even better than X2.
Everything works. Every character. Every action sequence. Every subplot. They packed so much into this that it's ready to burst at the seams. What other action films should pay attention to is what Sam Raimi has mastered with this series: it's character driven, not plot driven. Each major character has a strong and identifiable arc. John McLane is the same at the end of every Die Hard movie as he is at the beginning. Blade has had three movies and we don't anything more about him now than we did when the first one began.
It's one of the first lessons of screen writing: create characters that the audience cares about and invests in. Because then when they're in those life or death situations it literally becomes an edge of your seat experience. For my money, there might not be a better scene in any superhero film than the train sequence in this one. It left me breathless.
The biggest thing this has going for it is heart. Peter Parker has to be one of the most sympathetic heroes ever committed to film. You feel for this kid. You want him to get the girl. You want him to reconcile with his best friend. You feel his anguish when he has to admit to his role in his uncle's death.
This is everything the first film got right with everything that didn't trimmed off.
I cannot give any higher recommendation. I loved this movie.