Tobey Maguire
Kirsten Dunst
Alfred Molina
James Franco
Rosemary Harris
J.K. Simmons
Donna Murphy
Spider-Man 2… Where do I begin? Well, maybe with a personal fact or possible personal fact, because I could be wrong about this but I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen this movie more times than any other. I saw it in cinema back in 2004, 11 years ago, and since then I’ve seen it too many times that I couldn’t venture to count.
Do you feel that? The ice has been broken. OK so, lets actually get into the movie and leave the vague personal recollections fro another time or another blog. (Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve written one of these movie reviews).
Spider-Man 2, sequel to Spider-Man (2002), is – well one of the greatest superhero movies ever made, and a great movie in the grand scheme of things too. It is just spectacular. This should be required viewing for anyone making a superhero movie, or a sequel of any kind.
The movie raises the stakes from the first one all the while staying grounded and giving Peter Parker (Maguire) real world problems as well as superhero problems. Some of the problems include: Peter falling way behind in college due to his double life, being fired from a pizza delivery job as he can’t deliver on time because of too many hero distractions and the woman he loves is engaged to be married to someone else. The guy really can’t catch a break.
In a truly inspired move, part of this film deals with Peter losing his powers for brief periods; This comes from the stress of being a hero and his desire not to be one any more. For this reason and also for not being able to do things he wants, he hangs up the mask and Spidey costume. This is great from story telling perspective, because during the “Spider-Man no more” section of the movie, Peter really becomes becomes a true hero not as Spider-Man but as himself.
The villain of the piece is Dr. Otto Octavius AKA “Doc Ock” (Molina). He is plotting an experiment that could create a new renewable energy source, but if it fails then half of Manhattan will be demolished in its wake. Octavius has created four mechanical tentacles and fused them to his spine to help him conduct his experiment; These tentacles have A.I. and in order to keep control of his new limbs Otto has added an inhibitor chip to the metal column that runs along his spine, this prevents the tentacles from controlling him. You’ve heard of Murphy’s law, right? Well what could go wrong… did go wrong and the inhibitor chip is destroyed, allowing the tentacles to influence his decisions. Doc Ock, which he is dubbed by the media, begins a crime spree, robbing banks etc. to fund his passion project, the experiment.
Doc Ock is an effective villain, who elicits your fear because he thinks he is perfectly justified in what he is doing but all the while you are still sympathetic towards him as you know that he is being controlled and that he deep down is still a good man underneath the villainous exterior. He is a tragic figure.
James Franco is very good as Harry Osborn, Peter’s best friend, a man wracked with grief and who has an axe to grind with Spider-Man. Harry and Peter’s relationship has become strained since Harry believes that Spider-Man killed his father Norman, who unbeknownst to him was the murdering psychopath Green Goblin. Harry is also unaware that Peter is Spidey but knows that he takes pictures of him for the Daily Bugle, which is enough to put him at odds with his friend.
Kirsten Dunst is also very good as Mary-Jane Watson. MJ is the girl Peter loves but he’s not allowing himself to be around often as he does not want her harmed because of his alter ego. She is exasperated with Peter as he is never there for her anymore, so she decides to let him go. She eventually gets engaged to John Jameson and later tells Peter, “I don’t know you and I can’t keep thinking about you. It’s too painful.” We see Peter’s pain and how he is wounded that the woman he loves does not feel the same way but at the same time we also see her point of view on the situation and can understand where she is coming from.
This movie treats its characters with such respect that even with its villain it doesn’t stoop to give you a simple 2D bad guy, they give the character poignancy and pathos. There are no one-dimensional characters here, everyone has motivations and no-one is any less human than you or I.
Spider-Man 2 just has so much going for it, a great director, a great story, a fantastic score (by Danny Elfman) and awesome cinematography (by Bill Pope). This is a masterful movie.
I think the spirit of the whole film is summed up by Aunt May while she’s talking to Peter: “I believe there’s a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength… even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.”
This is a movie to watch for superhero fans and those of you who don’t seem to get why people like superhero movies, maybe if you do you’ll understand.
– Cody
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