This film is damn good!

Wow, what an improvement. Spider-Man 2 is simply one of the best super-hero films ever made, and while I don’t think its as good as The Dark Knight… It’s probably only just behind that film for me, coming in as my second favorite Super Hero film.
This takes all the issues with the first Spider-Man film and fixes them all up to make a much tighter and focused story this time, as opposed to the meandering screenplay that was the first film.
The thing that makes this movie special and impressive is that it takes what could almost be seen as a lame issue to talk about and makes it understandable and relatable to watch. Remember that soft soft tackling of the issue of Peter wanting love and respect for being Spider-Man in the first film but how the issue is just merely there and not really used for anything, well it seems they saved that issue to be placed and used in this film here and it works to tremendous effect.
What Peter is going through in this movie is very relatable and engaging, and its something as simple as, being Spider-Man makes him miserable. He can’t hold together a job, he keeps missing his classes at his university, and worst of all he isn’t able to be there even as a friend to support the women he loves. This could of all come off as whiny and annoying, and I don’t know how they did it, but they made it so when we get to the point in the film where Peter just gives up on being Spider-Man, we support that decision, and we want him to be happy. One of the neat things they did I think to help this is that Peters powers keep lagging on him during his fights and webswinging on buildings, showing that there will be physical draw backs due to his heart not being with Spider-Man. SPOILERS! As sad and understandable as Gwen Stacys death in the newest Spider-Man film was, it really isn’t that hard to write a story about a guy that got depressed because he blames himself for the death of his girlfriend. What makes Spider-Man 2 special is that they made a movie where the Super-Hero is so naturally and relatably flawed. Peter Parker is a human being, and helps make this one of the most simple, yet emotional stories I’ve seen comic book movie tackle. And after Peter stops being Spider-Man, his life does start to improve, he’s getting to class on time, he makes it to Marry Janes Shows, and even has time for Chow Maine. This could of so easily gone the route of his life getting worse to simplistically show the detriments of dropping responsibility, but they let Peter taste that forbidden fruit for a good while. However, the taste does begin to sour as he witnesses things like a guy getting mugged in an ally and due to his loss of powers, doesn’t help the guy out. But when a building is burning with a child inside, he can’t hold back anymore, and rushes into save the child, powers or no powers. He of course saves the kids with a lot more lung pain that he’d have with his powers, and hears that there was another person trapped in the building who didn’t make it out, making him realize that maybe he would be better off as a full fledged Spider-Man again. After a few attempts to force his powers back into him, like a leap of faith across a building that’s supposed to mirror his leaps in the first film, Marry Jane gets kidnapped and his heart and body are both ready to be Spider-Man again, and take the on the responsibility he knows is right.
Now that’s the stuff that tugs at the my heart strings, and makes me want to add this to my favorite movies list, but other than that, this is still a pretty great movie, not upper case “Great”, but still very solid. The action set pieces were all very strong, and were very well paced and placed, unlike the first film where some of them felt a little over long and put in there for the sake of them. And unlike the first movie which suffered from a little to much floating looking CGI, this film really helps you feel the weight behind more of the moves Spider-Man uses in combat, and I really like the physics of how he operated in this one.
The rest of the cast is also much stronger this time, both with the returning cast and newcomers. People always harp on Marry Jane in these movies, and while she’s not as good as Gwen Stacy in the new films, I still see why Peter is so crazy about her. And just like with Peters conflict, they make her understandably impatient with Peter. Harry Osborn is even more engaging to watch in this one, and you can really see the friendship this kid wants to have with Peter, but the ways he’s been hurt in the past are always challenging on that, and while I think his discovery of his best friends alter ego was a little understated in the film, (which may of been the point given Peters line of “There are bigger things happening than you and me right now.”) you can still feel how uncertain he is about how to feel about this discovery. Otto Octavius does a great job as our films villain fixing all the issues I had with the Goblin in the last film of actually giving him comprehensive motivation other than just, “He’s crazy so we can write him to do whatever we want.” that I felt was being used in the last film, the 90’s Batman movies, and countless other super-hero movies. The only complaint about the acting I have, is a lot of the extras are a little dead eyed and monotone in there delivery, or there bizarrely over the top like the stupid scene where the office women screams into the camera, it is a little distracting and weird, but it doesn’t matter a whole lot.Spider-Man 2 is a great movie, and far above and away in its quality than any of the other Spider-Man films in the entire series, Amazing or Raimi flavored. Had the film only had the great action and characters, this could of just been another yet better Spider-Man film for me, but because of its understanding of the basic human need for satisfaction, this really is a gem to me. 9/10