Spider-Man 2 (2004) Review

SPOILERS

“I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.”

    Spider-Man 2 is the perfect superhero film and probably the best Marvel film period. To be honest I didn’t think that the sequel was going to surpass the original film. Boy was I wrong. To me this is the first film with an imperfect hero that has his problems just like everybody. He barely makes enough money to live on, he can’t be with the girl that he loves, his apartment complex is run down, his only friend despises him because of Spider-Man, and his aunt can’t live in her house any more due to financial difficulties. The only thing he has going for him is being Spider-Man and even he’s messing that up from all his exhaustion. So he decides it’s time to stop being Spider-Man and permanently be Peter Parker. There’s this touching scene when Peter tells Uncle Ben that he can no longer be Spider-Man. It’s a big deal for a superhero to put his wants and needs before the “greater good”. He no longer helps anyone like the person who was getting beat up in an alley; he simply turns the other way. Or when the cop cars fly past him with their sirens on, he simply bites into his hot dog. Simply put, Peter has become your average citizen.

    While Peter is having his crisis, we see the birth of a new villain. Doctor Octopus is one of the most complex antagonists in any Marvel film. He’s truly a sympathetic villain. Octavius had spent his entire life fantasizing about the creation of a fusion reactor, which would sustain enough energy to power entire cities just from one device. As Octavius says, “the power of the sun in the palm of my hand.” The fusion reactor malfunctions, he tries to correct the problem, but everything is going wrong and his wife ends up dying in the process. Dr. Ock’s mechanical arms start talking to him corrupting his mind. The AI that governs his mechanical arms pushes him to murder, robbery, and even kidnapping. During the final fight with Spider-Man his mechanical arms malfunction just enough for him to realize that sometimes we have to give up what we want the most. He reclaims control over his actions and sacrifices himself to save New York from his creation. Doctor Octavius demonstrated what Aunt May told Peter about there being a hero inside of everyone. Fighting Dr. Octopus reminded Peter that he couldn’t have the life he really wanted. That there will always be evil that only Spider-Man can defeat because with great power comes great responsibility.

   I remember after the first Spider-Man there were tons of rumors that there were going to be two villains in the sequel: Dr. Octopus and the Lizard. For the longest time the rumors were that Sam Neill and Bruce Campbell were in talks for the roles. Then it was announced that Dylan Baker would play the Lizard. I’m glad that only Doctor Octopus was the villain because it would have been too congested like the crapfest we call Spider-Man 3 and the Amazing Spider-Man 2. Well it was a half-truth about Dylan Baker since he did play Dr. Connors. After Spider-Man 2 the rumors were that Dr. Connors would become the Lizard and the John Jameson would become Man-Wolf. Sounds more interesting than the next installment.

   The characters are so well done and have so much depth in this film. The performances were spot on, especially on Alfred Molina’s portrayal of Dr. Octavius. Tobey Maguire has the same natural ability as he had in the first film. He really sold it as Peter having to make an enormous decision on how he wants to live his life. James Franco also gave a stellar performance as Harry, who is a young millionaire trying to cope with the death of his father. His father’s death continues to fill him with hate. He wants and needs to kill Spider-Man.

   The film blew me away when I first saw it in IMAX thirteen years ago and to this day it still blows me away. I believe it’s the first superhero film that really explored the human condition of the hero. The arc was very well done and has the best story out of the Spider-Man trilogy. Not to mention the action sequences were fantastic. The film even includes one of my favorite fights: the train fight between Doc Ock and Spider-Man. I highly recommend this film.

5 out of 5