Spider-Man 2




Peter may be taking the whole "catches thieves just like flies" thing a little too far.

Spider-Man 2 has been released, and chances are you've already heard all about it. I enjoyed Spider-Man (2002), and I'm glad that for the sequel director Sam Raimi was smart enough to keep the things that worked so well in the original movie, like the general tone and the cast, and improved the things that needed improving, like the special effects and script. The movie is really structured like a chick flick, with the real story not being Spider-Man's battles with Doctor Octopus, but the love story between Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). Where in a more conventional version of the story the two lovers would be kept apart by some kind of crisis that appeals to women, like they're engaged to other people or one of them has a prehensile tail or something, the crisis here is Peter's double life. It's amazing how well this works.


"No Peter, I still can't afford a bra."

On Spider-Man it felt like Raimi was holding back, like he was unsure if he'd work again if he made a real Sam Raimi film. On Spider-Man 2 he swings into full gear:

Sam Raimi Checklist

The Classic? Check. Maybe Aunt May would have been able to pay her mortgage if she hadn't spent so much restoring the totaled car to pristine condition.

Bruce Campbell? Check. Cast in role that was apparently designed to be the complete opposite of the wrestling announcer. Incidently, the VH1 Goes Inside on this movie gives Bruce a lot of face time considering his role.

Person trying to cut off hand with chain saw? Check. A surgical chain saw no less. That, and the line about shop, reminded me of my favorite bad dialogue from Kiss the Girls (1997) where a cop says that some limbs have been "surgically band sawed off."

Demon-Cam? Check. Though I'm a little fuzzy on why the tentacles were inherently malevolent. Maybe Ock forgot to flip the switch from "evil" to "good" that morning?


Panhandlers of... THE FUTURE!

Perhaps the biggest problem with Spider-Man 2 is that it's nearly impossible to conceive how Raimi and company could one-up this one. The bar for comic book movies, and summer blockbusters, has just been raised.

Posted: Wed - June 30, 2004 at      

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