caught in the web

Rating: 8/10 (6 September 2005)

It's been almost two years since Peter Parker (Tobey McGuire) became Spiderman and he can't seem to to hold a job, his college grades are falling, and his even him tenacious friendship with Mary Jane is eroding. What's a costumed web-slinging wall crawler to do? Why, through in the proverbial towel, of course. Peter gets fed up at the constant hassles of him life and decides Spiderman no more. But when Dr. Otto Octavius suffers a freak accident that fuses the mechanical tentacles that he invented to his body and destroyed the inhabiter chip that kept him as the one in charge, changing him into a super-villain whom the Daily Bugle deems Doctor Otopus, the only one that can stop his rampage is Spiderman, but does Parker have the hero spirit still in him? This film had me feeling divisive. On one hand, Alfred Molina's performance as Dr. Octavious and later Doc Ock is phenomenal, and I have very happy that the campy tendencies of Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin in the first one were nowhere to be found in Molina's portrayal, the action was suitably thrilling (maybe more so than the first), and Bruce Campbell's role of 'snooty usher' warmed the cockles of my heart. On the other hand, Kirsten Dunst STILL doesn't jibe for me as Mary Jane Watson, even less so in this sequel as she looks sickly hideous, AND annoying. And more people saw Spiderman unmasked than was really feasibly acceptable. But all in all, I did enjoy this film way more than I have gripes about it and I think it was infinitely better than the huge let-down of X-men 2.
My Grade: B+
2-Disc Collecter's Edition DVD Extras: Disc 1) Commentary by director Sam Raimi, producer Avi Arad, co-producer Grant Curtis and star Tobey Maguire; Second Commentary by Special FX supervisor John Dykstra and his effects team; subtitle trivia track; 4 web episodes; "Ordinary" music video by Train; Blooper reel; Theatrical trailer; Trailers for "Hitch", "Spider-man", "Christmas with the Cranks", "Spanglish", "Seinfeld on DVD", "the Forgotten", "White Chicks", and "Hellboy" Disc 2) 12-part "Making the Amazing" documentary; 3 featurettes (Hero in Crisis,Eight Arms to Hold You, and The Women of Spider-Man); multi-angle 'Pier Sequence' deconstruction; artwork gallery; "Spider-Man 2" video game preview
3 Easter Eggs: Disc 1) In the Commentaries menu, there's a hidden spider icon, find it for an introduction by Sam Raimi made for a preview audience in Japan Disc 2) go to the Making the Amazing menu and highlight one of Doc Ock's tentacles for a special guest wearing Doc Ock's suit; Go to the Gallery menu and highlight the invisible Spidey Sences over Spidey's head for Doc Ock singing 'If I were a Rich Man" from "Fiddler on the Roof"