SPIDER-MAN 2
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2004 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
Poor Peter Parker.
Fired from his day job as a pizza delivery boy and in danger of
losing
his staff photographer gig at the "Daily Bugle" (for snapping touchy-feely
vs.
hard hitting front page photos), Peter could sure use a break. But he's
also
getting failing grades ("brilliant but lazy" claim his Manhattan college
professors)
and his Aunt May just got served a foreclosure notice.
All that, and his Spider-Man suit runs in the wash.
These are just a few of the personal problems besetting the
indomitable
Spider-Man at the outset of "Spider-Man 2," the highly-anticipated sequel
to
the summer smash of 2002 that saw director Sam Raimi ("The Gift," "A
Simple
Plan") stringing together a surprisingly competent--and hugely
entertaining-
blockbuster about a web-spinning superhero from the pages of the Marvel™
comic
book.
Two years later Spidey is back, a little darker, maybe, a little more
conflicted,
definitely, still hopelessly in love with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten
Dunst),
still abhorred by Harry Osborn (James Franco), the son of Norman Osborn
(aka
the Green Goblin, absent herewith God rest his maniacal soul). And not,
it
would seem, altogether sure of his future as a legendary urban crime
fighter,
as his silver bungi-web spinning abilities fail him over and over again,
oftentimes
at seriously inconvenient moments.
Fortunately for Spidey (and the audience) there's a new malevolence
in
town, a well-meaning nuclear physicist (Dr. Otto Octavius, played to the
hilt
by the wildly under-appreciated Alfred Molina) whose Oscorp-sponsored
fusion
experiment goes seriously awry (don't they all?), unwittingly unleashing
"Dr.
Octopus," a hell-bent, building-scaling super fiend sporting huge and
fearsome
mechanical limbs with hell-bent destructive minds of their own.
Like its popular predecessor, "Spider-Man 2" works because it spends
as
much time on its characters as it does its special effects. Tobey
Maguire,
back in the title role, is appropriately confused and vulnerable; Molina,
never
one to settle for just an adequate performance, is great; and Rosemary
Harris
(who plays Aunt May) is nothing less than Oscar®-worthy. Even Dunst's
M.J.,
the weakest link in the original, has a little more depth this time around
and
J.K. Simmons (as newspaper magnate J. Jonah Jameson) is back with a lot
more
scenery--and cigar--chewing screen time.
When it comes to mixing his moods, the director does a wonderful job.
There are white-knuckle scares (courtesy a runaway elevated train ride)
and
cartoon violence (especially during Doc Ock's incendiary transformation,
although
that particular sequence borders on the inappropriately violent) offset by
some
cheeky humor (the riotous elevator sequence, for example). The film is
exciting
one minute, touching the next. Raimi has, essentially, covered all of his
bases.
The upshot is that "Spider-Man 2" is that uncommon sequel that's
almost
as good as the original (and there are many who will call it even better
than
the first!). With a screenplay by the 73-year-old Alvin Sargent (the
Oscar-winning
screenwriter of "Julia" and "Ordinary People" of all people), "Spider-Man
2"
is that rare oxymoron: a surprisingly smart summer spectacular.
Sit back, relax, and hang on to your popcorn!
--
David N. Butterworth
dnb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
beef? Visit "La Movie Boeuf"
online at http://members.dca.net/dnb
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X-RAMR-ID: 38244
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1297180
X-RT-TitleID: 1133520
X-RT-SourceID: 878
X-RT-AuthorID: 1393
X-RT-RatingText: 3/4
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