It delivers, but...

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2007)

First of all, I want to say that I gave the movie an 8 and I do recommend it, but the comments here may be more about what's wrong with the movie than what's right. In the end, however, it had all the excitement and thrills that you paid for, and actually does have a message and in the end delivers that message in a satisfactory way. That's why I really recommend it, and feel I got my $10 worth.
Now, let's nitpick. I can't help but feel that the main 3 actors in the movie (MaGuire, Dunst, and Franco) pretty much mailed in their parts this time. And it really is a shame. The main theme through the movie of everyone battling the good and the evil within should have given these folks the incentive or the "meat" to really give a better effort. I really did like MaGuire in the first movie, but he's just not suited to sustain this part through these sequels. His heart isn't really in it any more. Never liked Kirsten Dunst, and she really just portrays MJ as a b*tch more than anything else. Franco played Harry too corny when he was "good Harry" and too - I don't know the word I'm looking for here, wimpy? stupid? overmatched? - as "bad Harry". I couldn't help but start thinking about who WOULD have been good in these roles, and for fun sake I would say - Ryan Reynolds as Spidey. Rose Byrne as MJ. I don't know, maybe even Tom Welling as Harry. Don't feel like writing a book, so I'm not going to go into the whys about this.
Anyway, there were certainly spots in this movie that seemed forced, they tried to get a lot of plot in a very short time, and some of the supposed to be funny scenes were just plain dumb (the "bad Peter" scenes where he's dancing were just embarrassing).
All this said, through the good work of the director, special effects, Thomas Haden Church as the Sandman and surprisingly, Topher Grace as Venom, the overall message of forgiveness and "there but for the grace of God go I" manages to come through in the end with full emotional impact, and for that I am thankful. The story and message were quite a task to fit into an action movie, and they did, in the end, pull it off. Still, it bothers me that the main actors in the movie cashed their huge checks and did not feel the onus to put forth commensurate effort. To Tobey and Kirsten (maybe Franco, I'm not really convinced that he just isn't any better, though): Yes, we all know sci-fi/action movies are beneath you, but you accepted the role, and I feel that the work of everyone else in the production deserved a better effort. There, I said it.