Cautiously optimistic. That’s the frame of mind that I went into Spider-Man 2 with. I LIKED the first Spider-Man, but I didn’t LOVE it. The advanced reviews of Spider-Man 2 sounded really good‚Ķ but those can sometimes be deceiving. The trailers looked great, but even the trailer for Battlefield Earth looked good. So I entered the theatre, went to the concession stand to grab my Coke and went in to find my seat. 2 hours later I emerged from the Cineplex a VERY happy and satisfied camper‚Ķ
Basically speaking, everything that Spider-Man 1 did right, Spider-Man 2 also did right. And everything that Spider-Man 1 did wrong, Spider-Man 2 corrected and also did right. It’s just that simple. My friend and I emerged from the theatre discussing it and realized that neither of us could think of a weakness to the film. Don‚Äôt get me wrong, it’s not a perfect movie, but as far as glaring weaknesses (and even the best of movies have a couple) go, Spider-Man 2 appeared to be impenetrable.
The film had an interesting story, fantastic action, much better acting than the first one, and most importantly a great pace to it. Unlike the first film, I found myself actually starting to care about the characters, to associate with them a little and found myself a touch emotionally invested in their lives. The visual effects were solid. Doc Ock’s arms were magnificently done, but like the first movie Spider-Man himself still looks a little fake when he’s CG (computer generated). A slightly fake looking CG Spider-Man is the biggest knock I can give this movie‚Ķ and that’s saying something.
As a side note for Day-Vuh (who HATES opening credits to movies‚Ķ so do I come to think of it), this flick had the best opening credits I’ve ever seen in a movie. It’s nothing spectacular or mind blowing‚Ķ it’s essentially pretty simple really‚Ķ but it’s creative and serves a purpose (something most opening credits do not do). See the film, you see what I mean.
All the characters are back from the first film (and yes… I do mean ALL of them). Sam Raimi does a wonderful job of making each character play an integral part of the story. None of them felt like they were on screen just for the sake of being there.
Spider-Man 2 is an exciting, well told story backed up with solid visuals and white knuckle action sequences (The fight on the train may be the best I’ve ever seen in a Super-Hero movie). There are a couple of scenes that may be a touch frightening for younger kids‚Ķ come to think of it, there is a scene in the hospital that was almost too frightening for me! I’d tell you to go see it‚Ķ but I know most of you were planning on it already. Have fun. I give Spider-Man 2 an 8.5/10
