Spider-man 2 Review

 "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!"
 

When we last left Peter "Our Protagonist" Parker (Tobey Maguire) he was outright turning down the one woman he ever loved, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) due to his responsibilities as a web-slinging superhero. And folks, it's just downhill from here...

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...

Spider-man (2002) Review

"You can give a dork superpowers,
but he's still a dork. A really, 
REALLY typical dork."

Since the Marvel superhero movies has gone to such wondrous heights over the last decade, it's worth checking out where it all originated from. Blade was just Wesley Snipes fighting vampires, X-men was freakshow black-ops missions...but Spider-man was where we learned Superhero Story 101. 

17-year-old Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is that kid we all saw in high school we never really paid attention to. He took a few pictures, he stared awkwardly at the cheerleaders and was always chasing after the school bus with the hope that his pants wouldn't fall down before the first mile. But when he's bitten by a genetically engineered spider, the side effects leave him with arachnid-like superpowers that will change the direction of his life. 

But taking the words out of Peter's own mouth, "the story of my life is not for the faint of heart." He's always trying to get the girl of his dreams, the popular Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) but can never seem to get noticed by her. And it doesn't help that he's become the target for New York City's newest super-villain, the mainiac Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) who just happens to be the father of his best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco). 

Whoa. That's one crazy, hectic life you got their, Peter...

Too bad the audience can barely relate to any of it on a personal level. 

In retrospective to this recently rebooted franchise (The Amazing Spider-man) this movie does have strength to stand on its own, but it leaves a kind of cheesy impression. To his credit, director Sam Raimi, famous for his Evil Dead series, actually handles the superhero drama in a very entertaining form. Action comes well choreographed and larger than life, but that last line is absolutely what defines this series: so big you just can't connect. 

Let's address the main moral of the movie, as hammered over the head through the voice of Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). Say it with me, folks...

"With great power comes great responsibility..."

All fine when you hear it, but Peter comes off as such a responsible boy scout through the duration of the movie that such a motto comes off about as meaningful as, "Drugs are bad, mmm'kay?" He rarely shows moments of irresponsibility or abusing his powers in any form. Its not so much about Peter Parker playing Spider-Man as it is Spider-man playing Superman. 

The film's story is pretty much nothing more than a good guy vs bad guy showdown when you think about it. The first bad guy Spider-man is pitted against is your typical smack'em-around wrestler and his rogues gallery from then on have just as much personality.

Dafoe as the Goblin is basically Jack Nicholson's Joker with double the firepower, twice the crazy but only half as scary. That mask is barely hiding the fact that Dafoe spends the majority of his screen time mugging for the camera. 

What makes the movie strong however is its ability to at least find something for everyone. The chemistry between Maguire and Dunst is nothing short of sizzling. And tons of kids will walk away energized at watching their favourite childhood hero swinging across the screen. If it weren't for the cheesy feel that comes from this script, this could have been a movie to be thoroughly enjoyed by both children and adults.