Product: Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Rating: 4.0
Better than the first, no question
Spider-Man 2 is hands down better than the original. The reason for the improvement is clearly the villain, Doctor Ock. The villain in the first film, the Green Goblin, was horrible. Green Goblin had a terrible costume, terrible motives, and there wasn't anything resounding about him. This time around we have a villain that is compelling and tragic. His story as a driven scientist and the sudden and violent demise of his career and spouse makes this character much more human and real. The tentacle effects are great. Overall the action seems much more real as compared to the over use of the CGI Spider-man that the first film employed.What keeps me from falling truly in love with the franchise, and most comic book franchises, are the super heroes themselves, in this case Spider-Man. In most of these comic book films the heroes are real downers. They constantly whine about their powers and their responsibilities. They seem to pout a lot about not having a "normal life". That's why the X-men films are better in my opinion. I like seeing characters like Magneto who embrace their powers and use them to their full advantage with enthusiasm.I look forward to the third film of the franchise as it seems a lot of the emotional weight that Peter Parker carries in the first two films is lifted which might lead to a more enthusiastic and exciting superhero a few years from now.