Marvelous Superhero Film with Real Human Beings and Heart

Rating: 9/10 (27 February 2006)

This is an outstanding film. The story is good for the superhero-action part of the film. The villain is well acted by A. Molina. The real greatness of this film is how it incorporates a very human story involving the boy who plays spiderman and his own inner conflicts about being a superhero. The human story also involves his love for Mary Jane and her love for him. The human side plays a significant role in the film and makes it not just a great action film. Toby M. and Kirsten Dunst act brilliantly. If this were not an action film and were more politically correct, Mr. McGuire and Miss Dunst might have had a chance for an academy award nomination, which they both richly deserve. It is rather sad that great performances and great plots or sub-plots in action films are wholly and routinely ignored by critics when it comes to making their top ten lists and by awards voters--e.g. Golden Globes, Oscars, Bafta etc. Still, what matters is the quality of the film and Spiderman 2 is very high-quality from first scene to last.