Spider-Man 2
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris
Studio: Sony Pictures
The first thing I'll say about the movie is this. Stick with it. It gets MUCH better. After a disappointing ending to the first Spider-Man movie, I wasn't exactly rushing out to see the second one. Like everyone else though, I was quite curious to see the story progress, so I finally decided to watch it.
The first 45 minutes of the movie is complete torture. Basically, you end up watching Peter Parker (Maguire) get stomped on by everyone in the entire movie. He has trouble with jobs, school, his home life, and anything else he possible tries to do. It was so horrible to watch, I almost gave up there. I'm glad I didn't though.
The beginning of the movie basically follows Peter's struggle with being Spider-Man. He decides that it's wrecking his life, and decides to give it all up. He gets his life back on track, but something is missing. He just can't give up the power he has. He needs to be a hero, and of course, he decides to be Spider-Man once again.
The movie picks up when Dr. Octavius (Molina) conducts an experiment that goes horribly wrong. The Doc works for Oscorp, now headed by Pete's friend Harry. After the experiment goes wrong, Dr. Octavius gets transformed into Doc Ock, at which point the action really picks up. He needs to continue his work, but Harry will only help him if he brings back Spider-Man. (If you haven't seen the first movie, it certainly helps.) In any case, Harry still wants Spider-Man gone, and will go to any length to get rid of him.
Mary-Jane (Dunst) is in the movie again, playing the role of "distraction" for Peter. She always gets into trouble (with Doc Ock), and Spidey has to come save her. Spidey and Doc Ock have some awesome battle scenes in various areas of the city, and there are lots of great special effects involved.
Overall, the movie was great, but you have to make it through the first 45 minutes to get to the good stuff. Stick with it, and you'll have a satisfying ending to a great story, and a good build up for the third movie. Watch the first movie, and see the second the same afternoon. You'll be in for a good time.
Overall: 8.5/10
Additional Information:
Rating: PG-13
Run time: 127 minutes.
Released: 2004
DVD Special Features:
Director's Commentary
Pop-up Trivia Track
Blooper Reel
12-part Documentary "Making the Amazing"
Lots of other Behind-the-Scenes stuff on Disk 2!
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