Better than the first (includes Spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2004)

First of all... it was very good. Thumbs up. It was visually stunning. The fight sequences are much more detailed and the web swinging is top notch, well above the first film. Plus, there's a lot MORE webswinging and fight scenes that just blow your mind. It's a roller-coaster. J. Jonah Jameson steals the film with his one liners. They even worked in a woman singing the old Spiderman theme song. They set up Spiderman 3 BIG TIME.
However, there are holes and gaffes in the story. Here are my problems with the film. By the end of the film the following people KNOW PETER PARKER IS SPIDERMAN: 1. Doc Oc 2. Harry Osborne(Green Goblin's son, who vowed to kill Spidey last film and is Peter's best friend) 3. Mary Jane Watson 4. Half of NYC. WHA?!?! I knew from the promos that his identity would be revealed, but I figured it would be to a villain... or to Mary Jane... not to EVERYONE! What's the point of the costume, now?
One of the central themes/problems of the film is Peter's spidey powers... he loses them. Totally. Can't get them to work. It's like the spider bite has worn off. He has to give up the suit and everything, not that he didn't want to anyway. Then miraculously without any explanation... they show up again, just when he needs them. WHA? I think they were trying to say that he didn't want to be Spidey anymore so his powers vanished, but that makes little sense since he nearly gets killed several times because the webs and other powers just fail on him at the worst possible times. Obviously he wanted them at that time! Then it's like he decides he wants them after all, and they return 1-2-3.
Then the gaffe that kept bugging me. I think it happened 3 times... Spidey's mask is burned/torn up/ripped off/taken off in any number of fights... and yet he seems to miraculously still have it. It gets half torn up in one place, only for someone to say they found it (IMPOSSIBLE) and give it back to him fully intact. Then it gets ripped off by a villain... and 2 minutes later, Peter pulls it on as if it was just in his pocket or on his back like a hoodie. HUH?
There were also several goofy scenes that drew giggles from the midnight audience - like when NYC lifts the nearly dead Spidey up and sorta body surfs him across a crowd. Then there's a totally goof scene with the song "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head". I like that Spidey2 had a sense of humor about itself, but sometimes it went a little over the top. But I do recommend the film highly. Very enjoyable, I just wished they'd explain the spidey-powers and the disappearing/reappearing mask. (Editors, start your engines!)