Spider-Man 2 (2004) Review

 Spider-Man 2 (2004) 9/10

Hello everyone. I’m back with another movie review. Today, I’ll be going over the critically acclaimed superhero movie Spider-Man 2. Spider-Man 2 was written and directed by Sam Raimi and was released on June 30, 2004, with this being a sequel to the first Spider-Man movie from 2002. Whenever comic book movies are brought up, this movie is usually listed as one of the best within the genre. Personally, I gotta agree with the verdict. This movie is better than the first Spider-Man movie and is leagues better than a lot of other comic book movies out there. I’m going to keep this short, so let’s just begin.

Our story takes place two years after the events of the first movie. Peter is now a college student, hopping from job to job, and is living in an apartment all by himself. MJ is now an actor and still harbors feelings towards Pete. Harry Osbourne is now the head of Oscorp, trying to lead it back to greatness ever since his father Norman was killed by Spider-Man. Peter has been everyone’s favorite web slinging superhero for two years now and is now getting the hang of it. As Pete’s life is slowly falling apart trying to juggle both sides of his life, he soon faces himself to see if he really needs to be Spider-Man. While Pete is dealing with this internal conflict, enter new character Dr Octavius. Octavius is working on a way to harness nuclear fusion energy to create everlasting energy for the world. During his showcase, it goes crazy and unstable. In the freak accident, his wife gets killed. Octavius, now feeling remorseful, contemplates on killing himself. His robotic arms get inside his head and tell him to try again, but make it better. Both Pete and Doc Ock will eventually cross paths with each other for a final confrontation. By the end of the movie, both MJ and Harry learn of Pete’s secret identity and Pete and MJ get together. 

The story for the movie is really cool. I love seeing characters go through emotional trauma, seeing their lives fall apart and whatnot and seeing the characters better themselves through those hardships. Seeing Peter have this internal conflict, give up the Spider-Man gig, and see its ramifications was great to see and I wish more stories did this. What happens when a character gives up and seeing how it affects everything. The rest of the story is good too. I do find it weird how everyone says that the reason why Doc Ock went after Spider-Man was because he blamed him for the death of his wife. Uhh no he didn’t. Octavius knew how she died and was willing to accept what had happened. The only reason why he went after Spider-Man was because he was getting in his way and then Harry told Doc Ock to go after Spider-Man. I liked how all of the characters were important to Pete’s character arc in the film. The overall story for this is phenomenal.

Every other aspect about the film is an upgrade from the first, which is how sequels should be like. Acting, cinematography, music, action scenes, visuals, graphics, etc. Spider-Man 2 is the epitome of what a sequel should strive to be. We also have a very good villain that just wanted to better society, but his own mental issues drove him mad. He was relentless in achieving his goal and honestly I got mad respect for him. I do have to point out that the fight scenes were very well done and better than the first. The fight scene at the bank, the train fight, and the final fight were all entertaining.

Also quick shout out to our main cast of actors: Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), James Franco (Harry Osbourne), and Alfred Molina (Doc Ock) were just incredible.

Overall, this is a great movie and everyone needs to watch it. I can see why people hold this movie to such a high pedestal and now I’ll be joining them. I will be going over the controversial third movie sometime in the future. Until then, stay safe.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.

This is Zorgak, signing off.