Comic book movies usually suck.

Rating: Null/10 (4 July 2004)

Don't try to deny it, they do. The "Batman" movies were so dark, you couldn't see them, "X-Men" was overblown and confused, "Hulk" was a waste of CGI and the less said about the upcoming "Catwoman" the better (maybe it's wrong to condemn a movie I haven't seen just because it's an abomination of the comic book character, but I'm actually fine with that). The original "Superman" was good, though the subsequent sequels were a little upsetting.
Which brings us to the original "Spider-Man" which, we can all agree, was phenomenal. A perfect mix of flying action sequences and character introspection (a step so often ignored in movies, but so necessary for the appreciation of a character), topped off with great performances by Maguire, Franco and Defoe. (Yeah, I guess Kirsten Dunst was okay, not that Mary-Jane had much to do in Part One) Hard to top? Certainly. But Sam Raimi has done it again with this sequel that not only expands on, but surpasses the original.
I won't go into plot summary since most of you probably haven't seen it yet. I will simply rundown the highlights. James Franco proves he is every bit the actor as he struggles with his obsession with Spider-Man. Dunst proves that she can do more than kiss in the rain (without wearing a bra in the entire first movie, I couldn't help but notice) with her heart-wrenching decision about Peter. Tobey Maguire IS Peter Parker, I can think of no better way to say it. The special effects are not distracting from the plot, the "evil plot" is one of the most plausible in film history (check out the latest "Entertainment Weekly") and Stan Lee saves another person from falling debris.
Game ball goes to Alfred Molina for his touching and terrifying portrayal of Otto "Doc Ock" Octavius. Go see it as soon as possible. You won't be sorry, True Believer.