Spider-Man 2 (2004): Favourite Films Series

Spider-Man 2 (2004): Favourite Films Series

Superhero movies aren’t special anymore. I’m not saying I no longer enjoy them, or have loads of fun with them, but the “event” feeling when going to see them at the theater is starting to die off. 

It was a different story back in the summer of 2004. I was nine, for one thing, so I was less jaded, having seen way fewer live-action superhero films. When my mom rented Spider-Man for us to watch from the video store, I was enthralled by it, to say the least. Then, when I heard there was going to be a second one, I got even more excited. I don’t know if I had been a little too young to see Spider-Man in the theater when it came out, or if I just missed it because I was unaware of it, but in any case, I got the chance to see Spider-Man 2 in the theater (I haven’t missed a Spider-Man movie at the theater since), marking my first superhero theater-going experience. What I saw radically affected my childhood. 

Spider-Man is still my favourite superhero of all-time, and that is largely thanks to Spider-Man 2. To me, it still holds up as well today as it did when it came out (for the most part, more on that shortly), and it remains amid the pinnacle of greatest superhero movies. Just like with Batman, fans will likely view certain actors as “their” Spider-Man (though I wonder if many will remember Andrew Garfield in the years to come). For me, it’s Tobey Maguire. I think he did a great job as both Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter-ego, but everything and everyone else surrounding the title character is every bit as great.    

Despite taking place two years after Spider-Man, it picks up pretty much right where things left off, first giving us a comic-book-style opening credit sequence set to Danny Elfman’s incredible score. Peter and M.J.’s relationship is still complicated, Harry Osbourne has taken over his father’s business and still wants Spider-Man to pay for what he (thinks) he did to his father, and Peter is still trying to balance college and work and personal stuff and being New York’s famous superhero. 

Woven brilliantly into the Harry plot thread is the origins of newcomer Dr. Otto Octavius, who gets his fusion project funded by Oscorp, and then things go wrong, turning him into a new supervillain: Doctor Octopus (Doc Ock). The scene where Octavius explains how his A.I-controlled robotic arms work and uses them to create a perpetuating tritium ball is one of my favourite scenes in the movie. The sound design is awesome. That noise when he powers up the fusion cradle still gives me chills. 

The later scene when the doctors try to remove the limbs after his failed experiment and the limbs go haywire, killing everyone, is a prime example of why director Sam Raimi was a perfect choice for directing the first three live-action Spider-Man films—even though a quick glance at his resume might not make it appear that way. Raimi was a horror director, most-famous for his Evil Dead films. At first that sounds counterintuitive to bringing a hero to the big screen, but a superhero is only as interesting as his or her supervillain, and Doc Ock is an unforgettable example. 

When you look at his comic book origins and appearance, Doc Ock comes off as a bit goofy, but there’s nothing goofy about Alfred Molina’s take on the character. He’s sympathetic at first, and you understand his reasoning for becoming evil, but he’s still intimidating—even without the homicidal robot arms. I never used to appreciate how skillfully he handles talking to the A.I. that’s controlling his arms. He’s essentially talking to himself, and it could’ve come off as silly, but it’s easy to buy into, and that’s also thanks to the cgi effects. 

Admittedly, not every visual effect shot in the film holds up, but it seems even the latest superhero movies still have cgi effects that simply don’t look believable (even by today’s standards). Mostly, Spider-Man 2 looks real, whether it’s Spidey swinging through the city or fighting Doc Ock, but Ock is the one who really stands out, mainly visually, and he’s an example of something that would not work without cgi. Even though I prefer practical effects, this is one instance where it would’ve been bulky and awkward without the use of cgi (though there are still practical effects incorporated, and that blending of cgi and practical is spot-on) and had they tried to accomplish this effect a decade earlier, it likely wouldn’t have worked and/or held up very well. 

An obvious but important aspect to address is that Spider-Man 2 is a sequel. It’s important because it’s one of the best sequels of all-time. I love Spider-Man (the first one), but it was hampered somewhat by the origin story trappings, which took up most of acts one and two. It’s not that his origins aren’t interesting or that they were mishandled—on the contrary, I thought it was extremely well-done—but it didn’t allow for much freedom, story wise, to take the characters in any other directions. As for Spider-Man 2, done are we with Peter Parker’s/Spider-Man’s origins. Now it’s time to explore the characters more fully, as any good sequel should do. Peter and M.J. and Harry are well out of high school now, and it’s not only easier to accept them as the characters given the age of the actors, but more interesting because there’s even more drama. 

Sometimes a studio will try hard to double down on what everyone loved about the first movie when it comes to making a sequel, but in this case, more of what people loved before is doled out in the perfect amounts. There are more hilarious and memorable scenes with J.K Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle, another great cameo from Sam Raimi’s old buddy Bruce Campbell (it’s more conspicuous compared to his first cameo, but it’s even better, I think), and the action is amped up of course. But, previous flaws are also corrected. 

Not everyone loved the depiction of Green Goblin, played by Willem Dafoe (but I think most would agree he was excellent as his alter ego Norman Osbourne, so it was cool to see him come back for a cameo at the end of 2), and because Spidey was so new at the whole hero thing, their fights scenes weren’t particularly spectacular. The fight scene between Doc Ock and Spider-Man on the train is an incredibly well-directed and well-choreographed fight. The camera movements are innovative (a Raimi trademark) and you can easily follow what’s happening. All of the action scenes, really, are improvements compared to before.

Improvement is the keyword here. Spider-Man was a solid origin film. Spider-Man 2 is an improvement in practically every way. Tobey Maguire owns his role as Peter Parker, James Franco gives what I would call one of his best performances of his career, and Alfred Molina is Otto Octavius. Everyone else, too—Kirsten Dunst, Rosemary Harris (Aunt May), even the smaller roles like the pizza shop owner and Emily Deschanel as the unimpressed receptionist—deliver memorable performances. There are fewer silly moments throughout than the first film; it’s much more exciting and focused, which brings me to something unfortunate I have to address: Spider-Man 3.  

As bad as emo Peter Parker was, and the miscast Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom, and the overabundance of mishandled villains, the worst parts of Spider-Man 3 were, for me, the lack of follow-up from Spider-Man 2. The ways things leave off is both totally satisfying and as ideal setup for the next movie. M.J. and Peter are together, he is Spider-Man once again, but meanwhile, the angry and vengeful Harry has not only discovered Peter is Spider-Man, he has also found his father’s goblin tech, meaning Harry and Peter will inevitably be in conflict soon. 

Buried in the mess that is Spider-Man 3 are some of the Peter/Harry plot threads that, had they been expanded on and followed up more strongly, could’ve made for an exceedingly better third movie. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I don’t know what happened to James Franco’s performance, but he just completely lost it. He’s always leering and making weird faces and being a goof. On top of that, his suit as “new Goblin” is a horrendously-designed outfit, and he gets amnesia, which basically ruins him for the rest of the second act, and then of course they have him come back as a good guy at the end and try for the feels by killing him off, which was not-at-all-satisfying. I won’t get into all the Spider-Man 3 issues (there are too many to cover), this is supposed to be focused on Spider-Man 2, but regrettably, knowing what really follows up the second film versus what could have followed it up robs Spider-Man 2’s ending of some of its power.

Luckily, though, Spider-Man 2 is a strong enough film to stand on its own. It’s still great even if you haven’t seen the first one, but is definitely better if you have. The attraction is obviously seeing Spider-Man fight Doc Ock and do whatever a spider can, but the true strength lies in the compelling characters and their dynamics. This version of Spider-Man successfully delivers the satisfying action while never forgetting the hero’s (and villain’s) humanity, and that is why it will remain one of the best superhero films for years to come.