Spiderman 2

Posted by Greg

November 11, 2007

Arach-tastic

**** out of *****

I remember watching an old Spiderman T.V series when I was but a wee lad of about 4 or 5 (that would make it around 1980). I don’t really remember being that impressed; indeed, about the only thing I can remember is wondering to myself how come Spiderman’s suit had wrinkles and looked like a baggy pair of pyjamas. At any rate, it must have influenced me to some degree; later that day I nearly cut my fingers off trying to climb a tree using fishing line, but I digress. Thankfully, special effects have progressed very near to the photo realism needed to erase the line between reality and CGI, and what better arena to use all this continually developing technology than the comic book movie?

The first Spiderman in 2002 broke all kinds of records and is generally upheld as an example of what to do right when adapting cartoon fantasy into celluloid reality. Great casting, superb set pieces, excellent pacing and a message that’s delivered in such a way to actually make you think about it afterward (”With great power comes great responsibility”) impressed the masses to a degree that they were happy to overlook the films’ few shortcomings. Well, I’m happy to bear news that the sequel manages the rarest of things in the film world - it improves on the original in nearly every area, although not by leaps and bounds.

Picking up a few years after the first movie finished, Spiderman 2 wastes no time in re-introducing us to our main characters. Peter Parker (Tobey MaGuire) is still struggling to maintain the balance between his life as a nerdy teenager and his alter-ego as Spiderman. He’s in love with Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst) but can’t let her know it, as he realizes the risks it would expose her to. Peter’s best friend Harry Osborne doesn’t know of Peter’s secret identity either, and good thing - Harry wants Spiderman dead for his role in his fathers death when he turned out to be the murderous Green Goblin from the first movie. ‘What a tangled web we weave…’ has never been more true.

When an experiment in a radical new energy source by Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) goes horribly wrong, he wakes up to find the four mechanical arms he used for the experiment physically and mentally bonded to his spine. Seeking to recreate his experiment, he sets out to acquire new funding by criminal means, and guess who’s the only one who can stop him? Complicating matters are the fact that Harry, as CEO of Oscorp, funded the experiment, and that Peter once looked up to Octavius as a mentor.

Director Sam Raimi’s strength as a director here is that he knows that if you don’t have believable characters, all the special effects in the world aren’t going to save you. It’s clear that heaps of time have been spent with each actor developing their traits and quirks and thinking about how they would logically have developed in the several years between films. Peter still enjoys the high he gets swinging from building to building, but is starting to show cracks from the pressure of leading a double life. Mary Jane, now a successful actress, is more confident and sure of herself and less willing to put up with Peter’s unpredictable schedule. Harry is a bit cockier and more consumed by hatred for Spiderman than ever. All three do a wonderful job, but it’s Maguire whose shoulders the film rest on, and he pulls it off nicely. Red around the eyes with a slouching gate, he plays Peter with a sense of naive honesty and is able to make us feel truly sympathetic for the troubles he’s going through. Much has also been said of Alfred Molina’s role as Doctor Octopus and rightly so. Well cast and giving the role an air of menace without the overacting that he could so easily have done, he manages to make Doc Ock a truly powerful and dangerous villain; a very worthy nemesis for Spiderman. The supporting cast deserve mention as well - J.K Simmons as Peter’s boss and Rosemary Harris as Aunt May all bring their considerable talent to round out the proceedings.

The one weakness that weaves its way through the proceedings is the occasionally sloppy script that sometimes seems to get lost in itself. There’s a lot of rhetoric about heroes and inspiring people to do what’s right, and soliloquy’s like this are needed to flesh out motivations and conflicts, but after the second or third speech, you start to wonder when the characters are going to get around to taking the advice that’s been spooned out in heaping portions.

Physical displays of the good vs. evil theme have always been a central element in the superhero genre and Raimi handles them with a steady hand. When Doc Ock and Spidey face off, it’s a true tour de force of pure comic book giddiness. The choreography is outstanding; each blow is heard as well as felt, and the CGI artists do a great job in conveying a sense of force and mass to every object that gets thrown, ripped, smashed or crumpled, humans included. The battle between Doc Ock and Spidey on the elevated train is one of the fastest, most exhilarating battles I’ve yet seen. The overall quality of effects has improved since the first Spiderman as well; a few shots here and there aside, they’re about as good as can be expected with current technology.

Raimi also manages to spatter the film with enough in-jokes, cameos and hints at future plots to keep any sharp eyed viewer happy. Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee makes two cameo appearances, nods to Raimi trademarks from his early low-budget classics are seen throughout, and fans of the comic will pick up on a future villain that could make Doc Ock look like a Daddy Long Legs if they do him right (not including the obvious set-up at the end).

A bit long in the end, but very satisfying and sure to please even the most discerning fan, Spiderman 2 can hold its head high with pride at keeping the best in comic book adaptations alive and well. I only hope that Raimi heeds the central theme of Spiderman when he’s inevitably asked to do Spiderman 3 - with great power (in Hollywood) comes great responsibility (to the fans).

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