"So Peter Parker decides to give up being
Spider-Man so he can focus on things like his
friends, his love life and his job...
Question: How's he supposed to make $ as a
photographer? J.J. upfront tells him "No
Spidey? No money!"
If there's a single moral lesson to be gained from the Spider-Man comics, television shows and films, it pretty much boils down to this sentence:
"With great power comes a train-wreck life...Excelsior!"
Two years later, he's struggling to make it to class, he can barely cough up enough money for rent, his best friend Harry (James Franco) wants his alter ego's head on a vengeance-sized plate, he's watching MJ make out with his boss' son, and to top it off, the majority of the city still thinks Spidey is a menace.
Oh, and he might be living with the Russian mob...
Setting up Spider-Man 2, Peter comes to the conclusion that he can't live a double life anymore and decides to throw out his suit. Its around the time he's contemplating this that our latest bad-guy to step out of the Supervillain Factory comes in the form of Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) who has four mechanical tentacles fused onto his back due to a lab accident. And his plans for creating a fusion reactor could turn New York City into a crater.
I don't think I've met a fan of this series who doesn't agree that Spider-Man 2 is the best installment. Naturally, that gets said about a lot of franchises, but what makes this one work is that it chooses to move away from some of its predecessor's failures...
The writing here is superb. Whoever wrote the script this time was actually paying attention to how human beings talk! Exchanges feel relatable and not like they're written on for a soap opera. One golden scene involves Peter telling some earth-shattering news to his Aunt May, and what is her response? She doesn't say what's on her mind, she doesn't break into such sorrowful song...she gets up and walks away to be alone with her thoughts.
That...is...CHARACTER!
Someone also knew exactly how to improve the action for the series' second round. Doc Ock's fight scenes with Spidey are so intense that they come off as a work of art; vicious, bone-shattering art!
There's still the odd cheesy moment, but it's nothing the audience can't sail through. Exception may be, and have been so far, the romantic lines exchanged between Peter and MJ. Good...grief. You can practically hear the girls and boys screaming in unison, "Just SHUT UP and KISS!"
Spider-Man 2 isn't just a fantastic Spider-Man movie, its a contender for one of the best superheros of the modern age. Anybody can relate to the story's well orchestrated theme of deciding between the responsible path and the easy way out. And it ain't all sunshine and rainbows by the end, either.
Swing by for the next review of Spider-Man 3. Have I got a thing or two to say about that slimy parasite. And no, I'm not talking about Venom...
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