If you Don't like this, you Don't like movies.

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2004)

I was thinking... how can I top what Roger Ebert and just about every other critic has said about this film... and then it struck me. "If you don't like this, you don't like movies" or more accurately, "if you don't like Spiderman 2, what is it you seek from movies?" Seriously. Every frame packs emotional resonance of some kind. Whether it be dramatic, comedic or just the kind that gets your heart pumping. The film values its character's so much, that it never betrays them. There are no shortcuts. And despite what a lot of the (internet) critics of the film are touting, it's not really overly talky or preachy, and it's never boring. Raimi and Co. have masterfully let what's up on the screen do most of the talking, through images, looks, sounds. It's been said that to critique a film you must make a better one, I think that applies here. Spiderman 2 makes Spiderman look somewhat rudderless. The action this time packs more of a punch, the villain is creepier, the romance hits higher highs and lower lows, the pace is smoother, the comedy is funnier, and all the characters get just about the right ammount of screen time. In the first Spiderman we had a lot of odd fills (Aunt May at the Hospital), and scenes too misplaced to have meaning, (Gobby and Spidey meet on the building). Raimi looks to have come to terms with the source material's medium this time out, and he and his crew don't waste even a minute of screen time.

Who here didn't just love that scene in the elevator with Spiderman and Hal Sparks? That sense of fun combined with the drama, and some fantastic performances by Tobey, James, Kirsten, Molina, JK and uh.. the woman who played Aunt May (sorry ma'am), made this a can't miss film.