Spider-Man 2 (2004)

 

Genre: Action/ Sci-fi

Time: 2h 7mins

Director: Sam Raimi

Quick Summary: Peter Parker is beset with troubles in his failing personal life as he battles a former brilliant scientist named Otto Octavius.

This would have been perfect if it wasn't for Mary Jane.

As a fan of Sam Rami's Evil Dead films, he really put his mark on this. There are a lot of his traits used throughout that as a fan just makes me so happy to see. Swooping shots; sped-up erratic camera movements that zoom up to things; a chainsaw; Bruce Campbell; Whip pans; a weird mix of violence and humour. He was perfect for this version of Spiderman. I love the scene just after they try to cut Doc Oc's mechanical tentacles off because it's just like watching an Evil Dead film indulged in all his trademarks, it's pretty funny.

Out of the three the Tobey Maguire films, this is the most serious and emotional. There's a lot to it. Spiderman is trying to balance his life in two ways, be the superhero who saves people on a daily basis, or be the normal Peter Parker and be with the love of his life. It exhausts him and we see the actual strain it can take on someone trying to live a double life like this. Sacrifice is seen in many different ways, Peter initially gives up his dream of mattering and saving people, then the love of his life, then his friendship and honestly it's really emotional. Not a lot of superhero films do this anymore, they normally just give you cheesy action. 

All of these Spiderman films have weight to them in one way or another, and some do it better than others. But this one has the most. Peter goes through it so many times and you can't help but watch and support him as he keeps getting up, again and again and again to save someone, no matter how much it's going to hurt him. He will do anything. I'm sure most people know the scene with the train and man is it emotional, I actually teared up a little bit because of it. People need Spiderman and appreciate him, even so much to hide his identity when he accidentally became unmasked.

Doc Oc is a villain who represents this perfectly, not quite evil from his own hatred or greed, but through manipulation of his own creation and then revenge. I can't imagine what it's like to hear that many voices all at once during a moment of grief, I'm sure it could send anyone to being Evil. The way he ended shows that too, not everyone is straight-up bad. I loved all the fight scenes with him as it was like watching two spiders run around each other, but I am also a sucker for mechanical things honestly the CGI on those things were not bad at all. 

Now for the love interest. I understand she is the driving force for Peter wanting to be normal, the person he's loved since he was a kid, but man she is boring as hell. Also, she is so unreasonable with Peter. Like you get mad at the guy for not showing up, even though he tried to explain he did but was stopped (Which I will point out I understand he has been late to a lot of things beforehand), but also just after you told him you're getting married and basically sick of his shit. Then she only wants to be with him because he's Spiderman. The poor guy gets strung along so much of the time, and he has to watch as she goes through multiple guys. She is a terrible person and stops this film from being perfect. 

Another thing is, that I personally felt like Aunt May's reaction to Peter telling her what happened to her husband was a bit of an overreaction. Of course, she is going to be upset, but it wasn't Peter's fault really. He added to it unknowingly, he wasn't the one to actually kill him and it baffles me because she treats him like he did for a little while. 

There are so many things to love about this film aside from that, and as frustrating as Mary Jane is, I understand why she is there. Classic Spiderman with a lot of weight and emotion to it. I barely even noticed the runtime by the time it ended I was that much engaged in it. Almost perfectly blended with various genres, I don't think I'll ever forget this one.

9/10

"Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body. What are the odds?"

" I will not die a monster."