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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
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