"Spider-man 2" dwells on an identity crisis that young Peter Parker must contend with

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2007)

The best parts of the latest "Spider-man" movie "Spider-man 2" (*** out of ****) have nothing to do with either state-of-the-art computer generated special effects or dazzling high-octane action sequences. Instead, "Spider-man 2" director Sam Raimi allows his comic book characters to sit down and discuss their human foibles and frailties with friends. Sometimes, these characters hear things that don't make them happy. In fact, "Spider-man 2" dwells on an identity crisis that young Peter Parker must contend with if he is to maintain his future as an anonymous crime fighter. Imagine Hamlet in a web. The lesser parts of "Spider-man 2" focus on Spidey's latest adversary: Dr. Otto Octavius, an exceptionally gifted scientist who accidentally transforms himself into a multi-tentacled terror. Unfortunately, the super heroic sequences appear less than super heroic, and you almost want the Green Goblin from the clearly superior "Spider-man" (2002) to return for an encore. Actually, Willem Dafoe does have a cameo in "Spider-man 2," but he spends no more than a few minutes on screen as Norman Osborn rather than the villainous Green Goblin. Aside from Dr. Otto Octavius, everybody who showed up for the first "Spider-man" epic came back for the sequel, including Tobey Maguire as the web-slinging protagonist, Kirsten Durst as Spiderman's romantic interest, James Franco as Peter Parker's best friend, Rosemary Harris as Peter's Aunt May, and J.K. Simmons as irascible newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson.
"Spider-man 2" picks up the plot no more than a couple of years after its blockbuster predecessor with Peter Parker struggling to make ends meet in both his personal and professional life. Never has an alter-ego super heroic character suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as Spider-man. Peter loses a pizza delivery job, because he kept taking time off to play masked crusader. On the way to deliver pizzas, Peter spots two kids on a collision course with a truck and saves them. Nevertheless, he misses his delivery deadline, and his heartless boss cuts him loose. When Peter comes home from the university he attends in New York City, he tries to elude his rent-harassing landlord. Russian actor Elya Baskin of "Air Force One" has a field day as Peter's obnoxious landlord. Director Sam Raimi and writer Alvin Sargent overplay Peter Parker's nerdy image, taking it to seeming Woody Allen lengths. Furthermore, Peter desperately wants to hook up with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst of "Mona Lisa Smiles"), but every time he tries to see her, he finds himself diverted to thwart criminal acts. Inevitably, Peter struggles with serious doubts about whether he should be "Spider-man." When he encounters trouble slinging webs, he worries about his ability to battle crime. Eventually, Peter trashes his "Spider-man" suit and behaves like an average ordinary college kid, ignoring the sight of thugs mugging a helpless victim in a back ally. Of course, Peter shrugs off these doubts when it becomes obvious he must foil Dr. Octavius' homicidal plans.
Essentially, scripter Alvin Sargent of "Ordinary People" & "Unfaithful" juggles three story lines in a 127 minute melodrama that runs about twenty minutes too long. Not surprisingly, since there are three plots in motion: the Peter Parker/Spider-man identity crisis; Peter's romantic pursuit of Mary Jane Watson; and Spider-man's battle against Dr. Octavius, you can expect just as many endings. Suffice to say that Spidey's face-off with Dr. Ock is hopelessly predictable. First, Spider-man cannot die. Second, their confrontation lacks magnitude. While Alfred Molina is a good actor, he looks miscast as web-crawler's arch-foe. Molina's Dr. Ock seems more flabby than frightening, and his character drags "Spider-man 2" down to the level of a formulaic "Superman"/"Batman" cliff-hanger. The quiet, simple moments when Peter Parker reveals the truth about events from the first "Spider-man" or about his feelings for Mary Jane emerge as the most dramatically satisfying in this curiously introspective, morality-driven, summer action thriller. Sargent's dialogue is probably the best thing about "Spider-man 2," because it sounds believable. What director Sam Raimi did with the original "Spider-man," he does with less success in the sequel. "Spider-Man" qualified as a breath of fresh air in the largely stale super hero genre, because Raimi and company reinvented their hero and brought him down to the level of an ordinary human with extraordinary powers. Tobey Maguire hasn't forgotten that quality, because he plays Peter Parker not so much as a super hero but as a guy with other problems when he isn't climbing walls after criminals.
Long-time "Spider-man" fans will appreciate "Spider-man 2" and judge it less critically for its flat spots and its loyalty to Marvel comics. If you haven't seen the first "Spider-man," you may find yourself in the dark about parts of the plot. Virtually all the characters from the first "Spider-man" appear on screen, bringing plot threads from the original with them. Raimi manages to counterbalance the comedy and drama, but he over-emphasizes Peter Parker's nerdy nature. Altogether, while it doesn't surpass the original, "Spider-man 2" is still worth watching once.