Superior superhero

Rating: Null/10 (20 August 2004)

As a kid, your traditional DC/Marvel comic book heroes didn't really do it for me (I tended to plump for the biting historical satire of Asterix and Obelix or the complex, highbrow morality of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe). I think my credulity was stretched too far by the sheer lack of imagination in the whole dual-personality idea: Now, let's see How do we differentiate between Superman and Clark Kent? I know, we'll stick a pair of spectacles on him and instruct him to act goofy. Surely everyone who watched Christopher Reeve or Dean Cain lumbering around the newsroom at the Daily Planet lantern-jawed and biceps busting out of their suits must have joined me in screaming insults at Lois Lane's short-sightedness: 'My God, are you BLIND? It's the same man that pulled you out of that burning building, you myopic harpy!'
Batman isn't much more convincing. He has at least got that ridiculous pointy-eared visor to disguise him, but even that becomes superfluous when you have a dimple like George Clooney's on your chin. The Dark Knight might as well have a sign above his head saying, 'Just call me Bruce.'
Kudos, then, to Spider-man for being just a touch more believable with the secret identity thing. That said I was quite disappointed with Sam Raimi's first stab at transferring our web-spinning hero to the big screen. It was a curiously disjointed film preferring to fall back on slick CGI and a ludicrously artificial villain (Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin) rather than intelligent story development. The sequel is an altogether more polished affair and Raimi has evidently warmed to his task. The action sequences are kept to a minimum (which actually gives them greater impact) and the emphasis is more on more weighty matters.
Still struggling to come to terms with his arachnid super-powers, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is working as a pizza delivery boy to fund the college course he is flunking. He also earns the odd buck providing cantankerous tabloid hack J Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) with candid photographs of the elusive Spider-man (though quite how he manages to take the pictures of himself is anybody's guess  maybe he has a timer and a tripod, or collars a tramp to take the snaps for him in return for a nickel and a can of Kestrel  who knows?). Not only is he stressing over his crime-fighting responsibilities, but his nascent romance with childhood chum M-J (Kirsten Dunst) has hit the rocks and his other best pal Harry (James Franco) holds him responsible for his father's death.
Understandably miserable, Peter starts to doubt that swinging between sky-scrapers and chasing police cars is any great shakes after all and decides to can the Spidey suit and knuckle down to studying. But isn't it always the way that the moment you start to settle down enjoy the simple life, some selfish megalomaniac comes along and ruins it. In this case it is genius scientist Otto Octavious (Alfred Molina) who has morphed into a crazed, tentacled psycho after a botched experiment. Purpose re-installed, Peter sets about saving the day.
All fairly standard super-hero fare, so why does Spider-man 2 seem just a little bit classier than the usual wham-bam effects-laden romp? Well, for starters, the casting is nigh-on flawless. Raimi is greatly assisted here by his hero's all-over mask of anonymity. Other directors have been hindered by having to squeeze muscle-bound hunks into nerdy alter egos: Witness Reeve and Cain as the bumbling Clark Kent  are we really meant to feel sorry for these handsome devils? Raimi has carte blanche and can make Peter Parker as pasty as he likes without having to turn him into a convincing world-saving dreamboat. In Tobey Maguire he has struck gold  the kid is a walking Clearasil commercial. This is a proper loser - one the audience can really empathise with - and the central emotional conflict works fantastically well as a result.
Raimi has also reined in any temptation to ram the special effects down our throats. He cleverly lets the thrills creep up on you rather than orchestrating a telegraphed car chase or fight sequence. There is one great scene when a tender will-they-won't-they moment between Peter and M-J is rudely interrupted by a car flying through the window of a restaurant in super slo-mo. It is just a pity that the promoters decided to ruin the shock impact by showing it in all the trailers.
Molina's Dr Octopus is about as preposterous as the Green Goblin, but somehow he manages to make him entertaining if not entirely convincing. Maguire is a talented actor, switching from comic to dramatic mode seamlessly. The Bert Bacharach 'Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head' musical interlude is as charming a scene as you will see all summer. His chemistry with Dunst is also spot-on  she has carved out a niche as a refreshing alternative to the bland new Hollywood brat-pack  and by the end you are really rooting for the pair of them.
I hear there is a third installment in the pipeline which will inevitably drag the franchise back down into the realms of the mediocre. It is my humble opinion that they should just leave it be at two, but I suppose the lure of the dollar will prove too tempting to refuse. This is a shame, because Spider-man 2 really is a cracking film and it deserves to be recognised in its own right.
9/10