A special effects extravaganza

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2005)

It should tell you almost all you need to know that all the publicity stills from this film were CGI shots.
If you're a fan of CGI, Spider-Man 2 is a real treat - an Internet Movie Database Top 250 of a film. But in other respects it is lacking, and more so than its prequel.
Although Tobey Maguire is billed as the lead, he is on the screen for a relatively short amount of time because, for the most part, his character is played by 69 members of the effects crew. And talented though Maguire is, his appearances have the feel of being a filler while we wait for the next action sequence.
It doesn't help that Peter Parker's superhero affliction has gone from being poor and naive to being the world's most unfairly treated individual. He is dumped by his girlfriend for turning up late to the theatre and shunned by his aunt for confessing that he played an indirect, and entirely unforeseeable, part in his uncle's death.
Still, Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus is a very fine baddie and the plot ticks along nicely, if predictably, for the full two hours. My main issue is that despite its high rating among IMDb's voters, it is not as good as Spider-Man. The hero never appears vulnerable enough to give the scenes any tension and the film begins to look like an action flick by numbers.
That said, as CGI-reliant films go it is certainly better than anything by George Lucas. Let's hope that the third instalment is up to the standard set by Batman Begins.