Like many, many, many other people I’m sure, I spent part of my holiday weekend off seeing Spider-Man 2. I was pleasantly surprised by the experience, not because it was a good movie (the reviews had led me to expect that), but rather because of how good a movie it was. Not only was this a better movie in every conceivable aspect than its predecessor, but I would even go so far as to say it’s quite possibly the best comic book movie ever made. And I don’t say that lightly — I’ve seen ‘em all, from Batman 1 to X-Men 2 and everything in between (including duds like Howard the Duck and the reprehensible League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Read on for more.
Spider-Man 2 is first and foremost a sequel, but it’s far more than a mere follow-up to the first movie. Characters have aged believably — Peter is tortured by his dual-lifestyle, Mary Jane has reluctantly moved on, and Harry Osborne’s obsession with Spider-Man has grown exponentially. The movie takes its time dealing with these characters, and it’s refreshing to see that. It brings back memories of the first Superman, the last comic book movie that really took its time developing characters.
The introduction of Doctor Octopus is handled expertly. In recreating his origin, the filmmakers wisely tied his fate to that of two other characters, and in the process made their intertwining storylines work better across the entire film. I won’t spoil anything here by the way…you’ll have to see the movie to have a clue what I’m talking about. Dock Ock is a far more interesting nemesis for Spider-Man than the Green Goblin was. Not only because Alfred Molina gets to actually act instead of being trapped behind a featureless mask, but also because here they’ve given him a great deal of emotional depth.
But regardless of its choice of villain, the entire movie from top to bottom is just plain better than the first movie. The special effects are far better, the actors are more comfortable in their roles, and the movie feels like more of a Sam Raimi production than the original. Raimi fans will catch lots of his stock shots, and the action sequences benefit greatly from his particular brand of mania.
As I said at the beginning of this semi-review, I think this is quite possibly the best comic book movie ever made. Why do I say that? For several reasons. One, it’s extremely reverent of its source material, and that’s always nice to see. Alt.nerd.obsessive participants will catch a handful of visual references to the comics, and the movie even lays the groundwork for not one, but possibly two sequels by starting the genesis for two more members of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery.
But that’s really only the tiniest reason why this is such a great comic adaptation. More importantly, this is an exciting and satisfying meditation on the superhero lifestyle. Everything you could ask for is here and throughout it all, the emotions feel real. Again, I’m trying not to give away any of the plot, but suffice it to say the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane is dealt better with here than any Superman or Batman movie.
Speaking of Mary Jane, as I felt with the first movie, Kirsten Dunst is the weak link here. While I’m sure she has her fans, I’m not one of them. Personally I think Raimi & co. made a terrible mistake when they chose Dunst over Alicia Witt, and maybe I’m just bitter about that, but Dunst just strikes me as forced casting. Having said that, she’s much better here than she was the first time around. The one time in the movie I wished she would just go away was when she’s supposed to be acting in Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest…sorry, but she just doesn’t have the range necessary to pull off an English accent, let alone do justice to that play.
But aside from Dunst, everyone else does a great job. Molina is pitch-perfect, Tobey Maguire remains the perfect Peter Parker (oh how relieved I was when those rumors about Jake Gyllenhaal fizzled out), and James Franco proves here that he really was capable of growing into the role of Harry Osborne. The supporting players are just as good: Rosemary Harris is even better this time around as Aunt May and J.K. Simmons was born to play J. Jonah Jameson. Plus there’s another cameo from Bruce Campbell that’s just as good as the last one.
It’s funny, but the one thing I couldn’t stop thinking as I watched Spider-Man 2 is why can’t the new Superman movie be this good? This movie is so good it hurts. Marvel fans have been treated to so much love in the past few years: Blade II, X-Men II (both far better than their sequels) and now this…what do DC loyalists get? Catwoman. Ugh.
Chances are you don’t need me to tell you to go see this movie. But I will anyway. This is no mere sequel, it’s simply spectacular. It’s almost a shame they changed its original title, because this really is the Amazing Spider-Man. Go see it. You’ll be glad you did.