Film Review: Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Sequels as a rule tend to be inferior to the original film and that is the challenge that had to be tackled by creators of ambitious big budget superhero film franchises at the start of 21st Century. One of two franchises that established superhero films as bona fide concept for summer blockbusters have been started with Sam Raimi’s 2002 adaptation of Spider-Man comic books. It success led Spider-Man 2, 2004 sequel also directed by Sam Raimi.
The plot starts roughly two years since the end of the previous film. Tobey Maguire returns in the role of Peter Parker, young man who must somehow find balance behind his “regular” life as Columbia University physics student who supports himself as freelance photographer for Daily Bugle newspaper, and his alternative identity as “Spider-Man”, masked vigilante who uses his superhuman spider-like abilities to fight crime and help people in distress in New York City. Lately his woes became greater because Mary Jane Watson (played by Kirsten Dunst), his childhood love and aspiring actress, became engaged to John Jameson (played by Daniel Gillies), astronaut and son of Peter’s boss J. Jonah Jameson (played by J. K. Simmons). At the same time, his beloved Aunt May (played by Rosemary Harris) is faced with financial problems and threat of eviction. All this make Peter contemplate abandoning his crime-fighting career and continuing to live his life as strictly regular person. At the same time, Peter is befriended and mentored by Dr. Otto Octavius (played by Alfred Molina), scientist who works in Oscorp on a fusion power project. An experiment, during which Dr. Octavius used harness of mechanical tentacles, goes terribly wrong leaving the scientist insane and desperate to repeat it, even if it means committing crimes. Peter will be forced to wear spandex again and fight another supervillain, nicknamed “Doctor Octopus” because of his monstrous tentacles.
If there was something guiding Sam Raimi while creating sequel, it was the principle of “if it works, don’t fix it”. Spider-Man 2 gives impression that the producers tried to make it look as identical to Spider-Man as possible. Thanks to huge commercial success of 2002 film, the next one had even bigger budget and Raimi used it to make some improvements in terms of special effects and visuals, while the action scenes are even more spectacular than in Spider-Man. On the other hand, the plot bears a little bit too much resemblance to what the audience saw two years earlier – the protagonist again must balance his personal life with superhero duties, while experiencing self-doubt, while the villain again starts as a good man who would turn into powerful mad monster. There is also a little bit too “soapish” material that involves Peter’s romantic woes related to Mary Jane Watson, his best friend Harry Osborn (played by James Franco) being led astray by desire to avenge his father. Those plot elements add more texture to the film, but at times overshadow the basic plot and make the film slightly overlong.
Raimi, who had been a big fan of original Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, took inspiration on Superman II, and many fans of both franchises would point towards certain similarities in plot, namely the motive of the superhero protagonist becoming increasingly reluctant to continue with his double life. One of the elements in which Spider-Man 2 is clearly superior to the original is the villain, and, more notably, Alfred Molina who plays Doctor Octopus, adding a lot of gravitas, warmth and tragic dimension to the character who starts with most noble intentions only to switch to the dark side due to an accident. Molina’s great performance is well-matched by Tobey Maguire, who plays his character with great ease and confidence. Same can be said of Kirsten Dunst, who maintains chemistry with Maguire despite their widely-publicised real life romance having ended before the production.
In the end, Spider-Man 2 is a competent sequel, visually stunning and packed with action, that, despite lacking the novelty of its predecessors, could be recommended even to the viewers who aren’t the nostalgic comic book fans or superhero film aficionados.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo
InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo
Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fRc42c1b417
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax y
Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
Posted using CineTV