The best superhero movie ever made. "Spider-Man 2" truly joins the ranks of "Star Wars", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Superman" as being one of the great action fant

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2004)

I haven't been enthralled by a movie this much since the original "Star Wars". "Spider-Man 2" is such an improvement over the first one, you'd be surprised to learn that it was directed by the same man. That man, Sam Raimi, helmer of the cult films "Darkman" and the "Evil Dead" trilogy, has done a tremendous job with this sequel. It's as if he looked over the first film and then said to himself, "I know I can do a much, much better job".
The first "Spider-Man" was colorful, cartoony and campy. It worked by being a fun film, but it wasn't a great movie. I gave it a B minus, I enjoyed it, but felt it could've been better. "Spider-Man 2" is the movie I wanted the original to be. It's a great picture and is up there with 1978's "Superman" as being the best comic book movie ever made. I'd go so far as to say it's an even better film. Why? Because it has a great villain and the love story isn't so romantically mushy.
When I first saw the trailer to "Spider-Man 2", I wasn't so thrilled. I figured it was going to be more of the same. After all, the original made over 400 million dollars and there was no way Raimi was going to change the formula. Boy, am I glad I was wrong. Sam the man got rid of the camp, the cartoony-looking CGI and the bad Green Goblin costume. The sequel is more serious-minded, the computer effects are convincing and the bad guy looks like he jumped out the comic book. Everything that was weak about the first movie, Raimi threw out the window and improved upon. He definitely did his homework.
I felt the first film payed too much homage to Richard Donner's tale of The Man of Steel. It even had a scene which hearkened back to Neo's last confrontation with Agent Smith at the end of the first "Matrix" picture. Tim Burton's "Batman" also sprang to mind. "Spider-Man 2" is a complete original, it's very much its own movie. I won't delve into the picture's plot, but will say the actors are pitch-perfect in their roles. The movie perfectly balances top-notch action sequences with scenes of story and heart.
So far, it's one of the year's best movies. I wouldn't be surprised if Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert voted it the best movie of 2004. I know I probably will. It joins Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" and "Vanilla Sky" as being one of my favorite movies of all time. It's a great picture, I'd give it a very big thumbs up. See it! Grade: A