Review of Spider-Man 2 (2004) by Miroslav G — 31 May 2014

In the eyes of many, this is the best Spider-Man film and one of the best comic book films ever, however I am not one of those many. It's true that Spider-Man 2 improves on many of the big problems its predecessor had.

Whether that's a much better production value/design, tighter script, better special effects, isn't making its age relevant, and is simply just a better made film in almost every way. But despite all this, it does retain a lot of other problems from its predecessor while making new mistakes along the way.

The cast seem more comfortable in their roles, but that doesn't make them any better. Kirsten Dunst is horrible once again, simply a damsel in distress and a distraction more than anything else. Tobey Maguire still is neither Peter Parker nor Spider-Man to me, despite his many efforts and retains those unlikable over-sensitive and overly nerdy qualities that stray away from what the original character is.

And Alfred Molina as Doc Oc is a step down villain-wise in comparison to Willem Dafoe's awesome portrayal of The Green Goblin. All Doc Oc really is in this movie is some crazed lunatic scientist with a complete disregard for anything and anyone.

All he wants to do is his little scientific experiment with tritium despite knowing the dire consequences it will have; he really has no powerful motivation. Plus, he's basically nothing more than just a glorified slave to those mechanical arms on his back (so much for a great villain).

Now, let's talk plot. This film feels like nothing more than a cheesy b-grade, back and forth rom-com. The Spider-Man movie takes a back seat for some romantic and supposedly inspiring crap that we don't really need or want to see.

And the whole "Peter Parker learning how to balance being Spider-Man and going about his daily life" thing is just a rehashed plot point from the original, just to a greater extent in detail, which was unnecessary and pointless.

Never during those scenes do I truly get the feeling that Peter Parker is truly trying to overcome a real inner emotional struggle (mainly due to Tobey Maguire's incompetence in the role). And once again, the film retains its corny, cheesy, easygoing, campy nature; never exploring upon anything remotely serious or substantial, even if it wants you to believe it is.

Despite all this, this film has garnered a preposterous amount of critical attention and acclaim for some odd reason. This film is far from deserving a 94% rating (Hell, The Dark Knight has a 94% and it's a thousand times better than this).

Quite simply, this is an average superhero film that brings much of what you've come to expect from the original and has learned from the mistakes of the original but is ridiculously overrated and does not live up to the hype.