Review: Spiderman 2
Well it took seeing the movie three time for me to actual do it, but here it is. My review of
Spiderman 2
In 2002’s Spiderman we were introduced to one of the best and most complex superhero’s that has yet to be presented on the big screen. The story of Peter Parker, a nerdy kid endowed with superhuman powers, was a story that had great resonance. But Spiderman was a flawd film. Half of it’s screen time had to be dedicated to the origins of Spiderman’s powers and it felt more like two different movies stitched together. The second installment however makes good on the potential of this story and it quite possibly the best movie ever to come out of this genre.
One thing that the first Spiderman did have going for it was one of the best ending of any major Hollywood film in recent memory. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) was forced to make a decision between being with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), the woman he loves, or accepting the responsibility that his new powers have given him. Instead of the usual stock “everybody’s happy” ending, we were given a less pretty but truer ending. Like Boogie in Casablanca our hero gives up the thing that he wants to most for the greater good.
Spiderman 2 takes up where we left of and things aren’t going to well for Parker. As it turns out, being a thankless superhero is, well, thankless. Not only that but it’s so time consuming that everything else in his life is falling apart. He can’t keep a job, his grades are slipping and he’s forced to live in a dingy one-room apartment where he can barely keep up rent. But worst of all, his distraction has pushed Mary Jane away. She still loves him but is growing tired of his apparent lack of interest and has started seeing someone else, an astronaut no less. This is all perfectly summed up in a scene where Parker is doing his laundry and his Spidey costume, which has to be washed like everything else, turns all his clothes red and blue. All of these things are causing Peter to wonder if he’ll ever be happy as Spiderman and in the end, is it worth it.
At the same time, one of Peter’s heroes, Dr. Otto Octavius is on the verge of a breakthrough. He has developed a way to create a limitless supply of energy with the help of four mechanical arms that attach to his body. When the experiment goes wrong Octavius’ wife is killed and the arms, which have their own artificial intelligence, take control and turn him into homicidal super villain.
All of this may seem like business as usual for a superhero movie, but this one pulls it off with a confidence and depth of emotion that you don’t usual find in the summer. A lot of that greatness is due to the script. Michael Chabon, the Pulitzer prize winning novelist behind Wonderboys and the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay wrote the story while veteran screenwriter Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People) adapted that story into a screenplay. These two great writers bring a real understanding of human emotion and they know who to write characters that we can relate to.
Another key player here is director Sam Raimi. With the first installment, Raimi proved that he could create a superhero movie that not only has engaging characters and story, but can make truck loads of money to boot. It’s with this sense of confidence that Raimi approaches Spiderman 2 and it makes all the difference. The film doesn’t just follow the tired formula of most summer blockbusters of action sequence-dialogue-action sequence-etc. Raimi gives us moments of genuine emotion, comedy and horror. There is a scene in which Doc Ocks tentacles wipe out an entire room of doctors and it reminds us that Raimi got his start in cult horror movie like Evil Dead. This is Raimi’s second time around with this cast and you can see that he trusts his actors enough to just let to camera linger, not relying on action or dialogue to tell you what to think.
Speaking of the actors, all the major players have returned and are in fine form. Maguire has once again mastered the tortured hero and even Dunst, who I didn’t really believe in the first installment, gives a great performance. James Franco as Harry and Rosemary Harris as Aunt May are given much more screen time and the movie is better for it. The only weak link in this chain is Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock. In the first movie, a lot of attention was paid to the Wilem Defoe’s Green Goblin character and since most of this movie is about Parker and his struggles, Doc Ock isn’t quite as developed. Molina is fine actor who adds a lot of weight to this role but he just doesn’t get enough time.
Despite it’s one flaw, Spiderman 2 is a fantastic film that not only has emotional complexity but gives us enough action to keep any summer movie-goer satisfied. The special effects have seen a marked improvement from the first film. The fight scenes between Spidey and Doc Ock are remarkable and have weight that makes you forget they were done almost completely on a computer.
At the end of the day, this film not only gives us the gratification of a big-budget summer blockbuster, but makes us really thing about thing like sacrifice, and what really makes someone a hero. It’s a film that I would be comfortable recommending to the most jaded cine-file and those just looking for a fun movie.
Spiderman 2
In 2002’s Spiderman we were introduced to one of the best and most complex superhero’s that has yet to be presented on the big screen. The story of Peter Parker, a nerdy kid endowed with superhuman powers, was a story that had great resonance. But Spiderman was a flawd film. Half of it’s screen time had to be dedicated to the origins of Spiderman’s powers and it felt more like two different movies stitched together. The second installment however makes good on the potential of this story and it quite possibly the best movie ever to come out of this genre.
One thing that the first Spiderman did have going for it was one of the best ending of any major Hollywood film in recent memory. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) was forced to make a decision between being with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), the woman he loves, or accepting the responsibility that his new powers have given him. Instead of the usual stock “everybody’s happy” ending, we were given a less pretty but truer ending. Like Boogie in Casablanca our hero gives up the thing that he wants to most for the greater good.
Spiderman 2 takes up where we left of and things aren’t going to well for Parker. As it turns out, being a thankless superhero is, well, thankless. Not only that but it’s so time consuming that everything else in his life is falling apart. He can’t keep a job, his grades are slipping and he’s forced to live in a dingy one-room apartment where he can barely keep up rent. But worst of all, his distraction has pushed Mary Jane away. She still loves him but is growing tired of his apparent lack of interest and has started seeing someone else, an astronaut no less. This is all perfectly summed up in a scene where Parker is doing his laundry and his Spidey costume, which has to be washed like everything else, turns all his clothes red and blue. All of these things are causing Peter to wonder if he’ll ever be happy as Spiderman and in the end, is it worth it.
At the same time, one of Peter’s heroes, Dr. Otto Octavius is on the verge of a breakthrough. He has developed a way to create a limitless supply of energy with the help of four mechanical arms that attach to his body. When the experiment goes wrong Octavius’ wife is killed and the arms, which have their own artificial intelligence, take control and turn him into homicidal super villain.
All of this may seem like business as usual for a superhero movie, but this one pulls it off with a confidence and depth of emotion that you don’t usual find in the summer. A lot of that greatness is due to the script. Michael Chabon, the Pulitzer prize winning novelist behind Wonderboys and the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay wrote the story while veteran screenwriter Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People) adapted that story into a screenplay. These two great writers bring a real understanding of human emotion and they know who to write characters that we can relate to.
Another key player here is director Sam Raimi. With the first installment, Raimi proved that he could create a superhero movie that not only has engaging characters and story, but can make truck loads of money to boot. It’s with this sense of confidence that Raimi approaches Spiderman 2 and it makes all the difference. The film doesn’t just follow the tired formula of most summer blockbusters of action sequence-dialogue-action sequence-etc. Raimi gives us moments of genuine emotion, comedy and horror. There is a scene in which Doc Ocks tentacles wipe out an entire room of doctors and it reminds us that Raimi got his start in cult horror movie like Evil Dead. This is Raimi’s second time around with this cast and you can see that he trusts his actors enough to just let to camera linger, not relying on action or dialogue to tell you what to think.
Speaking of the actors, all the major players have returned and are in fine form. Maguire has once again mastered the tortured hero and even Dunst, who I didn’t really believe in the first installment, gives a great performance. James Franco as Harry and Rosemary Harris as Aunt May are given much more screen time and the movie is better for it. The only weak link in this chain is Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock. In the first movie, a lot of attention was paid to the Wilem Defoe’s Green Goblin character and since most of this movie is about Parker and his struggles, Doc Ock isn’t quite as developed. Molina is fine actor who adds a lot of weight to this role but he just doesn’t get enough time.
Despite it’s one flaw, Spiderman 2 is a fantastic film that not only has emotional complexity but gives us enough action to keep any summer movie-goer satisfied. The special effects have seen a marked improvement from the first film. The fight scenes between Spidey and Doc Ock are remarkable and have weight that makes you forget they were done almost completely on a computer.
At the end of the day, this film not only gives us the gratification of a big-budget summer blockbuster, but makes us really thing about thing like sacrifice, and what really makes someone a hero. It’s a film that I would be comfortable recommending to the most jaded cine-file and those just looking for a fun movie.