One of those rare sequels...

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2004)

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Still here? OK. Here we go. Just got back from the midnight screening of the film. The verdict? Go see it. Whether you like comic movies or not this film has a little bit of something for everyone. Starting with a montage during the credits of some Spidey 1 highlights, the film opens with our hero on the verge of unemployment due to his chores as Spidey, and being forced to deliver pizzas 42 blocks in NY traffic in 8 minutes or he's fired. Murphy's Law kicks in and his scooter breaks down, so Peter runs into an alley and quick changes into Spidey (toting the pizzas) and webslings his way to the delivery as spectators accuse him of robbing the pizza boy! Classic stuff....
MJ is now a big time actress and Harry has taken over Oscorp after Norman bit the dust in part 1. The story gets set up really well, and there's ample time (I found at times TOO much ample time) to "brief" the audience on the plot line that was about to unfold. Alfred Molina is very good as Doctor Octavius but not quite as good at Doc Ock if you follow....His "supervillain" persona is not quite up to scratch and the tentacles end up doing most of the acting - props to the pupeteers and CGI on those.
When Peter decides to quit being Spidey, the film tends to drag a little bit. The loss of his powers is never fully explained - although he is told by a doctor that it's all in his head - but the time he spends NOT being Spidey border on the absurd (case in point when Peter walks by an alley and sees some poor guy getting mugged and turns his back and strolls off!?)
Some scenes of Peter testing his abilities are hilarious however, including the elevator scene ("It gives me a wedgie" is NOT what he ACTUALLY says) and some frequent misfires with his web or losing adhesion that cracked me up....
The crux of the movie is the scene they showed in the teaser trailer of Peter and MJ almost getting smoked by that car...Suddenly following that, Peter gets his powers back and suits back up to battle Ock. The clock tower and train sequences are pretty much back to back, and Spidey gets his ass kicked by Ock. He ends up stopping the train with multiple webs stuck to every building he could hit....What bothered me the most with this scene was that as he is trying to stop the train, he pulls off his mask (!?!?!) Everyone in the subway car sees him (one reaction ... "He's just a kid!") and when Ock reappears they give him back his mask and try to defend him against Ock!?
The coup de grace of the movie is Harry finding out who's behind the mask. Yes, it IS Peter in the Spidey suit....He stands up and breaks the barb wire that Ock has him in and then demands that Harry tell him where Ock took MJ....This was one of the loose threads for me in the film....No doubt they plan to expand on this in part III...
Spidey finally defeats Ock (although we're never totally told if he IS dead or not) and in the process of his showdown with Ock, Spidey yanks off his mask once more, unaware that MJ is still watching.
So let's see here. Everyone on the subway car knows who he is. Harry knows. Ock knows. MJ knows. Weird eh? Anyhow.
All in all, I really liked it. As I mentioned there are numerous loose threads which will no doubt be dealt with in the upcoming part III. One piece of confusion on my part is how they plan to incorporate TWO more villains (Dr. Connors as we know becomes Lizard, and Harry, upon finding all Norman's Goblin toys at the end of this one becomes the second Green Goblin) Do I smell four movies? Let's just hope they don't mess with the cast though. Maguire and Dunst are signed for 3, but beyond that - if they start to change things up - we'll have another Batman franchise on our hands. Enjoy this series while it's at it's peak, and Spider-Man 2 nearly reaches that peak at many points throughout the film. An enjoyment to watch, a treat for the senses, and a perfect summertime movie!