Spider-Man 2

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2007)

Spider-Man has big troubles in this film. His major power has, like his uncle had predicted, led to ever greater responsibility for mankind. But as Spider-Man is not only Spider-Man but also the student Peter Parker, he has to study, he has to work to pay his long-overdue rent and he is troubled by the guilt for his dead uncle and by the secret love to Mary Jane. This emphasis on the personal troubles of Peter Parker getting along with being Spider-Man is one part of the secret why also the second film in the "Spider-Man" series works very well again. The second part is Alfred Molina's villain, and for that matter also the partly really astonishing action scenes. The train fight of Doc Ock and Spidey is one of the great action scenes in the last years. And, surprisingly, also the overly soapy dramatization of Peter and Mary Jane's romance does no harm and comes over as being pretty charming.