The Spectacular Spider-Man

Rating: 10/10 (30 June 2004)

I biked to the theatre in the baking heat to get two tickets because I feared it would be sold out by the time it was actually time to go see the movie. My father had taken the van I drive because he needed the space. Later, my friend's job meant that he couldn't go with me, but I got a refund on his ticket. Then I arrived and there was only a couple of people there, so my long bike ride was for nothing. I got rained on as I left the theatre, and I hadn't brought a coat. Then when I got home after the movie, I saw that my dog Marco Polo had vented the contents of his bowels while I was away (mostly on the tiled floor, luckily enough).
In between the hardships was an excellent movie. Doctor Octopus was an excellent villain. Those mechanical arms were scary to watch. They jump out from all over the place, like snakes. The idea that the arms are sentient seemed new to me, though. Was that in the comics? The world of Spider-Man is quite in tact. Acting is uniformly great. The fight scenes (and by extension, the CGI) was much improved, although I never had as much a problem with Film 1's effects as so many others seemed to. My favourite fight scene is the one at the bank; Aunt May is a tough old lady. J.K. Simmons is still right on as Jameson, although I didn't find him as funny this time around. The "New Yorkers stick up for Spider Man" scene was much more believable this time around. And more moving. A major problem I had with the resolution to the Peter/MJ situation was how MJ dealt with John. I really couldn't cheer when Peter and MJ kissed because I kept thinking about John, left alone at the altar, in front of all those people. John seemed to be a totally nice guy, and the way MJ handled the breakup was really off-putting. I kept thinking "What a bitch!" instead of "Yes! She loves Peter!". My favourite moment in Spider-Man 2 doesn't involve any of the principle actors. When the garbage man brings Spidey's costume to Jameson, Bill Nunn as Robbie Robertson steals the movie. The look on his face and the way he held the mask was heartbreaking. That Raimi so effectively translated that bit player from the comics to the screen is greatly to his credit. Also, Dylan Baker, Donna Murphy, Mageina Tovah (Glynis on Joan of Arcadia), Bruce Campbell, and Daniel Dae Kim (I get the impression there was more to his part) all put in brief appearances. Did anyone else, while watching the awesome opening credits, think "Previously, on Spider-Man."? There were a lot of parallelisms with the first film; the roof jumping sequence, Harry's talk with Dad in the mirror, rescuing the person from the fiery building, etc. All in all, 10/10.