I prefer Spider-Man 1

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2004)

Good action movie, but I much prefer the first installment. 2 has arguably the greatest comic book villain of all times, Doctor Octopus, which kind of makes the movie a disappointment since, after him, it's rather forgettable. It really should have been better with such a cool bad guy. Unfortunately, it really drags during the dramatic segments. The film makes no points that weren't made in the first one: can Peter Parker exist without becoming Spider-Man? Will his being Spider-Man always put his loved ones in danger? We've been over all this before, so, at its worst, 2 seems like a simple retread of the first, which I actually found fairly poignant at times. Besides the action sequences involving Doc Ock, there aren't any images as memorable as those of the first, which we are reminded of by a nice opening credits sequence where those famous images are presented as drawings. There are some pretty great comic sequences, fitting well into Raimi's varied career. Bruce Campbell has a hilarious cameo, and, once again, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson gives the best performance in the movie. 7/10.