All the Extra Weight Almost Made the Web Give Way.

Rating: Null/10 (8 July 2004)

Good but over-rated sequel to the blockbuster of 2002 has the titled character (Tobey Maguire) being torn between his personal life and the life of his alter ego. Of course he is in love with childhood friend Kirsten Dunst (who has had her dreams of becoming an actress become reality in this installment), he worries constantly about his elderly aunt (Rosemary Harris) and the fact that she is about to be evicted from her home and he continues to have a strained friendship with James Franco (who is obsessed with getting revenge on Spider-Man after his father was killed at the conclusion of the original). Also Maguire struggles with fatigue, an inability to pay apartment rent, mediocre college grades and a lack of steady work. Soon he questions if giving up the things in life that are most important to him is worth being a famed crime-fighter. And of course as all this transpires a brilliant scientist (Alfred Molina) is transformed into a crazed monster that is half man and half mechanical octopus after a freak science accident (which happened to be funded by Franco and his dad's old company). Dunst's engagement to newspaper editor J.K. Simmons' astronaut son and Molina's siege upon the city further escalate Maguire's mental and emotional dilemmas. "Spider-Man 2" is a highly ambitious production (as was its predecessor), but really there may be a little too much substance here. The shared wish of a love affair between Maguire and Dunst borders on being annoying as the series threatens to become a soap opera rather an action saga. Really the screenplay (by Alvin Sargent who is best known for "Ordinary People" of all things) tries to do way too much. I thought the various aspects of the original's screenplay were more than sufficient to the overall effectiveness of the finished product. Director Sam Raimi (who can definitely direct films of this type with triumphs "Darkman" and "Spider-Man") goes wild with special effects and crazed explosions that try to hide the pretentious script. This is successful for the most part, but honestly there were few new things to make this one stand any higher than any other production of the genre. Maguire and Dunst seem to be two performers who are stuck at 16. They just do not work great as adult performers. Maguire is best when he is Spider-Man and not Peter Parker. Dunst's routine borders on being a spoiled whiner. Molina is solid and he does as Dafoe did originally: he gives substance and believability to an unbelievable character. The rest of the players are all hit and miss caricatures. Distracting cameos by Dafoe and Cliff Robertson are silly gimmicks that were not needed and the film has a real problem with pacing as it runs a bit too long. There are tons of shortcomings with "Spider-Man 2", but I expected them all along. The movie does live up to its ability to entertain and interest. In a film of this type that is enough to give a positive rating. Not quite as good as the original, but still a worthy addition to the series. 4 stars out of 5.