With the first installment of one of my favorite super-heroes, director Sam Raimi and screenwriter David Koepp showed that a great comic book pic could be created while still cateering to a mainstream audience.  With "Spider-Man 2," Raimi (now with screen scribe Alvin Sargent) shows us not only is a comic book movie pertaining to mainstream audiences possible, but so is a sequel that is actually superior to the original.

Tobey McGuire is back as Peter Parker... or more apropriately, Spider-Man.  Only this time, he is tired and beat.  Two years have passed since he defeated the Green Goblin, and now he is just sick of having to give up his life for the life of a less-than-glamorous super-hero.  With Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst) constantly sending him psuedo love signals and the Goblin's son, Harry Osbourne (James Franco) constantly hounding him about his father's "murderer," Parker is just sick of it.

That is, until a new villain shows his face... Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) a.k.a. Dr. Octapus.  He has to be stopped, and only the very confused Spider-Man can do it.  But... does he want to?

"Fasten your seatbelts!" is what Octavius says in the first twenty minutes of the film... and boy, is he right!  Faster dialogue, better (much better) special effects, and a much cooler villain adds up to one of the best (if not, the best) super-hero films of all time.  With the origin out of the way, Raimi was able to go full-on "Evil Dead" mode with some of the most frightening images I've ever witnessed in a PG-13 rated film (specifically the surgery performed on Doc Ock).

If you loved the first film, than you will love its sequel.  If you hated the original... you'll probably love the sequel.  With so much going on, I can still feel my heart racing just remembering what will surely be known as a classic battle on the roof of a speeding train.  Better yet, the part with the bank and Aunt May!  Or even the part with, like, twenty strangers finding out the identity of their beloved hero!  Or, what about...!

Not to mention the fantastic elements of real drama thrown in.  This time we really, really feel for Parker.  Everytime he looks into M.J.'s eyes, we feel the hurt.  Everytime he speaks to Aunt May about Ben Parker, we see the shame on his face.  Right after the action on the train, there is a scene where Spider-Man is forced to save the speeding locomotive as Ock bails out.  Somehow, Parker manages to lose his mask, revealing his identity to at least twenty people.  

Directly after saving the cart, he leans forward to fall over a fifty-foot drop (you'll see what I mean when you watch the film).  Before he can, we zoom in on the spider symbol on his chest as... hands of the passengers hold him up, passing his half-dead body backwards to the back of the cart, placing him on the ground as if he were Jesus Christ.  This was a very powerful moment for a comic-book film and, lo and behold, at two o'clock in the morning, I think I felt a tear roll down my cheek.

There are so many moments packed into this film, that the only complaint that I can say is that there is a bit of an overlapse between plotlines.  Besides that... all I can say is SEE THIS FILM!  I promise that this is the BEST film you will see all summer!

What I can say...?

**** out of ****

People find out who he is!?! HOW!?!

Just saw spiderman! Best spiderman movie EVER! oh yeah, theres only one other. Whatever.

How do they figure out hes spiderman? Im not gonna say, but a lot of people DO see him without his mask. Too bad for him.

And, they take a solid 10 minutes to set the friggin movie up for spiderman 3, which is gonna be awesome!

The animated series, which takes place in a slightly different universe than the movies, also ended with an awesome cliffhanger.  The Peter Parker of the animated series got so fed-up with being spiderman, that he threw the spidey suit into the river.  This fall, Spiderman's television audience will finally get to see how Peter Parker is motivated to don the suit once more.  

There's another season of it coming?! YES!

Oops. I just checked certain web-sites, and it turns out that a second season MIGHT be produced.  It definately won't be ready in time for this fall.

Which series are you talking about? The one from the early 90's or from the one that came out in 2003?

Cuase in the 90's series, Peter Parker kept being SpiderMan, and married Mary Jane Watson, and had a baby boy, that would keep the Legacy of Spider Man active.
I saw a couple episodes of the 2003 version of Spider Man, can some one expklain to me what is going on in that series so far?

And I saw Spider Man 2 like a couple minutes ago, and I was like OOH MY GOSH!!!, i loved the ending. This is a really must see.

I laughed, I cried, and I said "HOLY SHIT!"


Sorry,....

The 2003 series is done in 3D and rendered in 2D which gives it that cool moving comic book look. The characters Spide-rMan/Peter Parker, MJ, Harry are voiced by Neil Patrick Harris, Lisa Loeb, and Ian Ziering respectively.

It's done by MTV, so nearly every episode had a cool guest star. Eve, Rob Zombie, the one and only Jeffery Combs, and Stan Lee himself. It ended on a real dark note, with MJ and Harry alienated, Indy in a coma, the twins dead (watch it, you'll understand), and Parker questioning if he wants to be Spider-Man anymore. The last scene of the last episode has Parker tossing his spider suit into the river, in a briefcase, weighed down with bricks. Is this the end for Spider-Man?

This movie was truly just amazing.  The action..Sam Raimi let loose this time, and believe me, it was a thing of beauty.  Doc Ock is brutal, fast, viscious...oh man oh man.  

There's a scene in there for Evil Dead fans, believe me.  This is quality, pure, uncut Raimi.  And it is awesome.

Bruce's cameo is great..just great..just..I can't get over how great the movie was.  Writing is brilliant, cinematography is great..and the movie's hilarious when it needs to be.

Oh and Kirsten Dunst is a foxy lady.

**** out of ****

I saw it and loved it.  It was by far the best superhero film ever made.  It was fantastic.  Everyone should see it.

I watched this last night and it is by far one of the best superhero movies of all time. It's the best superhero movie sequel since Batman Returns. The best thing going for it is it has a very strong connection witht he first one unlike The batman series which has little to no connection to eachother at all.

The movie ahs tons of humorous moments in it too. The Spider-man in the elevator scene had the entire theatre cracking up. Also spotting out several references to Evil Dead and the usual Director trademarks is always fun (I.E. The Shaky Cam, Bruce Campbell). I really wanted to cheer when the doctor grabbed that chainsaw because I knew it was a reference to Ash from Evil Dead.

The supporting cast has a bigger role as well. Aunt May plays a bigger part in the sequel and Harry Osbourne has been well developed as well.

I give it a 10/10.

Well while you all clearly loved this film, I for one thought it was shallow and very basic. It was the same ol' same ol' with a new story. They even went so far as to use alot of the tricks from the 1st movie "the burning buliding" C'mon! "Mary Jane getting taken again" C'mon!

Batman returns showed that you do not need to have a motive of mayhem to back up a brilliant plot. However, that is where this and Batman part ways. Batman returns was brilliant, this was not.

I for one do not see RAIMI being this big SPIDERMAN fan. I see him as a basic run of the mill director who got lucky. He spouts off about this and that about how he loved spiderman so so much when he was a kid, yeah right! Then why can't you get a single segement of Spidermans or Parkers life right?

DR. OCTOPUS was a dissapoinment, in it he didn't look anything like DR. OCTOPUS, however... he was the biggest draw to the movie. DOC. OCT was really cool, even though he had no fundamental backing at all whatsoever. I mean, I couldn't tell you what he really planned on doing. I couldn't. He wanted to created a mini sun????? What a great plot!

Anyway, I don't think Kirsten is right for mary jane. I simply don't. She's not attractive and she's kinda sickly skinny. She needs to pack on some fat like the clearly chubbier Toby. They even added muscle to the suit this time... nah! I don't like it.

The train scene went on to long and made me really hate the movie more. Everyone finds out who spiderman is now. Only 2 into it and yet we know... i don't like it. I would have omitted that whole scene.

In the end.. DR. O was the big draw. He had a coolness about him, even though he wasn't so cool. He didin't look like DR. O and he didn't act like him, but he was so so so much better than the lame GREEN GOBLIN in the 1st movie.

I don't want to see a 3rd one. I'm actually sick of superhero movies all together, cause no one can get them right.

Good effort, but lacks in all area's.

Also how can you say aunt may was better developed likewise for HARRY?

Aunt may leaves the show halfway thru and is never seen or mentioned again for no reason at all. She had all her crap on the sidewalk and that was it. Nothing else said about her. Yeah, really well developed.

Harry spent half the movie saying incredibly stupid things like "Your friend spiderman" "Covering for your friend spiderman"

That is not buliding his character and if you are talking about the big ending where he locates his father's seceret room "which was so over the top stupid" Then it was forced. I didn't like this movie.

I felt it was to forced and to over the top. The comedy wasn't funny. The "SO CALLED" RAIMI back to his roots scenes are very tame to what you are making it out. You all act like blood and guts fly and fling. If you think that is the case, then you simply have no clue as to what RAIMI is all about.

The movie was tame and the movie was shallow and loaded with un-needed banter and set ups. I simply loath this movie. It is right in line with Xmen, daredevil, hulk, punisher and the like.