Spider-Man 2

[boombanglarrabee]

This movie SUCKED!  I LOVED the first one, but this was awful.  First off, why did Peter have a talk with his dead uncle?  How corny and wacked was that?  And then, what's up with Doc Oc changing his mind about being a villain???? Totally unbelievable.  What a disappointment.

[Pozer]

no way man. stuff like that is what gave it that great "comic book" feel.

[modage]

even with its problems, i'm pretty sure i still think the first one is better, although i really want to see this one again before i am sure.  i will say that SPOILERS MAJOR everyone in the fucking film finding out spider-mans identity was the king of all lame.  doc oc, mary jane, harry osbourne, a whole trainful of people, SHIT!  is there anyone who DOESNT know who he is at this point?!?  as i feared months ago from the trailer, they would fall into that trap thinking the only way to create any drama is to have people find out who he is. (wrong).  END SPOILERS  also, the main conflict of the film seemed to be peter and mary jane, not doc oc.  there was a section towards the middle of the film when you kind of forget he's in it, so he's hardly the driving force in the movie like you might think, which is weird, but okay.  also SPOILERS now that they're together, they have now forfeited hte whole driving force behind the last two films, which is the romantic tension of WANTING but being unable to be together.  its like kevin and winnie, ross and rachel, etc. etc.  you WANT to see them together, but when they get together the writers have nothing else to do but break them up or put her in danger (again). END SPOILERS

I don't see how SPOILER all the people on the train finding out who he is is so problematic for a lot of you. No one knew who Peter Parker was -- all any of them could have said  to the press was "it's just some kid." That he didn't have the mask on during that scene made it so much more powerful and emotional, simply because you could see his face. And when everyone carried him back onto the train and are surprised at how young he is...that was a great moment. When they all face off against Doc Ock when he pops up again, it's very of reminiscent of that cheesy "you mess with him, you mess with us" bit in the first Spider-Man, bur Raimi flips it by having Doc Ock plow through them all without a thought.

As for MJ and Harry learning his identity as well -- Harry's creates GOOD drama, I think, whereas Mary Jane's discovery may take something away from the future films but it sure gave this one an amazing ending. When she first realizes who he was, while he's holding up that wall, that was such a triumphant scene...I had tears in my eyes. I guess I'm a sucker.   END SPOILER

alright, i saw it again.  i REALLY wanted to like it better, but i really didnt.  if the first film was a near perfect comic film for me, with only a few flaws that appeared upon repeat viewings this was a sort of messed up one with good moments, but nowhere near as great (or disastrous) as it could have been.  

i'd say for me, the first Spider-Man (judging by its own merits) was a 4/5.  the major flaws being the power rangers awkwardness of the staging of a few scenes, any goofy modern rock inserted into the film, kirsten dunsts awful hair, the new yorker pride scene, and green goblins awful costume.  other than those, i had a great time and was really blown away when i first saw it.  with the budget and creative control opened up by the huge success of the first, it should've been easy for Raimi and Co. to make the 5/5 Spider-Man film. from everything i had been hearing about the film, it seemed it was heading in that direction.  

but something went wrong along the way and it seemed to miss the mark for me.  the comic opening pizza delivery, although amusing i thought was wrong for a film that otherwise seemed so drama heavy.  the PP/MJ stuff, as hard as they tried to make it the focus of the film, really just didnt work for me this time.  it wasnt as believable and i just didnt feel it.  the aunt may doc oc scene was just too friggin comic-booky.  the first movie a wall blows up behind her and she's in the hospital on teh brink of death and in this one she's thrown up and down a building and she doesnt snap in half?  SHE doesnt have superpowers, they needed to reign it back down to earth there.  

to GB, i think the Passion of the Parker scene would've worked for me had the new yorkers silently blocked oc's path and not said the oh so cheesy 'you'll have to get through us first' type of line.  a defiant stance would've worked better ( i think instead).  and i'm sure SPOILERS the reveal of hte identity was probably neccesary to SOMEONE in the film.  you have to admit the writers are really really lazy if thats the ONLY thing they think they can up the drama with.  seriously, FOUR times in one film is way way overdone.  if they HAD to tell harry, fine.  or if they HAD to tell mary jane, fine.  but they really needed to pick and choose whose storyline needed it more, because everyone finding out is weak as hell.  and they're shooting themselves in teh foot for future movies.  also, if mary jane is the only person who can get kidnapped by teh villian, its already too old, NOW what?!? END SPOILERS  

anyways, i thought the first one really did a much better job telling its story.  it hit the right notes most of the time and this one was much more of a mess.  this one spent most of the movie dwelling on character, that really didnt work, and the action was few and far between.  (plus will never be as thrilling as the FIRST time you're swinging through the city with him).  there were some great parts (like the hospital scene), but they were too few to string together something really special.  i'm really surprised so many people liked this one better than the first film.  if i had to grade i'd say Spider-Man 4/5.  and Spider-Man 2 3/5.  oh well, time to change the av.

[life_boy]

To be honest, I strongly disliked Spider-Man and so my expectations for Spider-Man 2 were not too much higher.  I never understood what everyone seemed to like so much about the first one, maybe they liked what I hated (the cheesy dialogue, the big effects sequences, the Green Goblin's constume -- well, maybe not the Green Goblin's costume).  Either way, I found myself really enjoying Spider-Man 2 and here's why....

I found the story and the character interactions to be much stronger in 2.  Instead of stringing together a bunch of action sequences on tiny threads of plausability and believability, much of the action was grounded in the characters.  That didn't make the action scenes any more "plausible," but it made me more willing to watch and enjoy those sequences because I actually gave a damn about those involved.  Although some have displayed a disinterest in the Parker/MJ love story, I found their struggles with emotion, responsibility, perception and doubt to also help give the story some credibility.  Those struggles are much like struggles anyone involved in a relationship deals with, regardless of hiding a GIANT secret.  Although Dunst isn't the best, I never felt she completely "blew it."

AHOY, SPOILERS AHEAD!
All the business of Spider-Man's identity being seen by so many people I did think was maybe a bit much, but, it was definately not the easy way to go regarding the next films.  It will be interesting to see what the writers do with Parker's identity and those who know about it in 3.  I liked Molina's Otto Octavius and liked the inner-struggle he was having.  I think it would have helped punctuate the finale of the film if we had seen more of this struggle toward the middle of the film.  Why does Doc Ock care about seeing Peter Parker at the end yet not earlier when he throws him against the wall?  But, it is things like this I was ultimately able to look over because I cared about the characters and enjoyed seeing the story play out.  The film still has its problems, but I felt it was a far more worthy vehicle than the first Spider-Man.
IT'S SAFE TO COME OUT NOW.

[MacGuffin]

*MINOR SPOILERS*

I'm kinda with my other half on this one (mod-age), but not to his extreme and the identity revealing didn't bother me as much. After seeing it, I didn't get all the hype over this film like it's the best thing since slided bread.

In fact, it's so character-based that the conflict with Doc Ock sort of gets left by the wayside, making him the least satisfactory part of the movie.

And that's my main complaint. While I'm all for characters being first and foremost, the film is so drama-based, there really isn't much action (which wasn't all that memorable anyway) for an action movie and the villain is really set aside for the "soap opera" story.

There has been debate over Dunst and her acting (who I felt did a better job this time around), but I think the focus should be put of Franco and his awful 'anger through clinched teeth' acting.

But I did have fun time with it. Yes, Raimi did put a lot more of his techniques in use here (the operation scene, but also the snap zooms after Doc. Ock throws the car through the cafe window are remnicient of the hand making scenes in "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness"), but I still think Raimi hasn't come close to the brilliance of his work on "Darkman" with these Spider-Man films.

And, although I objected to the over-development of characters, I did like how this film continued to make them 'human'. Many humorous moments (the laundry and elevator scenes and the "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" montage), making Spidey 'impotent', comments like "He's just a kid, no older than my son," but what I thought was the best scene (yes, even better than the operating scene) was when Peter confesses to Aunt May about the night Uncle Ben died. That was powerful.

But I'm just thankful Macy Gray had no part in this film.

[Gloria]

*Itsy, bitsy spoilers*

First off, I thought the acting was overall pretty good. I thought Franco did a good job, I mean, he was obnoxiously charismatic when he had to be (like when he was running his father's business), but since he has the angry 'green goblin' in him, he is an angry character.  He was really good at the 'tormented' look (which really worked for him in the James Dean biopic as well). I just have a problem with Dunst being Mary Jane in the first place.  Nothing against her acting (it was okay), but more of how she doesn't really embody the character as well as I had hoped. I think Alfred Molina was wonderful and I really liked how the bad guy was so intriguing. Tobey MacGuire completely disappears into character, which is great, especially in a superhero movie.  You don't want the lead talent to stand out from the character (*cough*George Clooney as Batman*cough*).  Overall, I thought this movie was a good addition to the first.  I loved the opening credits with the wonderful comic book drawings of scenes from the first movie.  Yes, the operating room sequence was disturbing and great.  My favorite scene was when Doc Ock and his wife (Donna Murphy, who was radiant in her small role) are discribing how they met.  It just made *MAJOR SPOILER* her death even more heartbreaking.**end SPOILER*  Overall, I enjoyed it.

[Vile5]

and i saw it
and i liked it

i really thought that it will be worst than the first one but i'm glad i was wrong...

liked:
-Tobey Maguire (again, a very good Peter Parker)
-J.K. Simmons (loved every scene he appeared, so funny!)
-"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" scene (loved it!)
-Rosemary Harris (specially in the Peter's confession scene, in fact that scene is pretty good)
-Elevator scene (i laughed a lot!)
-Alfred Molina (i liked more than Dafoe, and i like Dafoe but Spider Man is not one of his best works)
-The villain (shows, in a better way than with Green Goblin, how power can turn a nice person into a villain)
-Operation Room scene (pretty goooooooood)

disliked:
-Franco (i didn't like him in the first one but in this one is worst)
-The scene when people in the train hold up Maguire like a rock'n roll star (ridiculous)
-"You're different" dialogue (?)
-Some special effects
-Cafe scene

But generally i liked Spiderman 2 much more than the first one, a good job of Raimi

[abuck1220]

so.....all they had to do was put that thing that was as strong as the sun in the river? just throw a cup of water on that fucker and that'll take care of it! that was really stupid.

[RegularKarate]

Um... you do realize that you were watching SPIDERMAN right?

a guy that shoots fully formed webs and fights a guy with robo-arms that have AI and control his mind.

[MacGuffin]

*SPOILERS*




From Entertainment Weekly:

Is Ock's device a scientific possibility or comic-book fantasy?

Actually, Ock's experiment is "Not too far from being reality," says the American Physical Society's James Riordon. Fusion - when nuclei combine in a power-generating reaction (like the sun) - is "one of the most promising areas of energy research."

Ock's fusion has a gravitational pull powerful enough to rip the jewelry off bystanders. Ever lose a watch in the lab?

"They are among the most powerful magnetic fields generated in a laboratory setting," Riordon says, "but they don't affect anything outside [the reaction]."

And Spidey's idea to defuse the device by dumping it into the river?

Overkill. "It takes a lot of effort to make this thing run at all," Riordon says. "You could stop it just by bumping it a little."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And was it me or was the exterior of the hospital the same one used in "Royal Tenenbaums?"

[Finn]

I thought this sequel was terrific. Better than the first one with smarter dialogue, better action and character development.

[DigitalFriend]

Agreed.  I was shocked to find out it was the same writer who wrote "Ordinary People".

In my opinion this was the best superhero movie I ever saw.

Raimi's so cool.

[DigitalFriend]

*ADMIN EDIT - SPOILERS*




PS> Can anyone get a still of William Defoe's appearance in tha tmovie where he's standing in the door way with his hands out and he says, "Im here".

Me and my friend constantly joke about that line.

[El Duderino]

did anybody else think that, at first, when the end credits began to roll that it was "Yellow" by Coldplay? Dashboard Confessional totally stole that riff.

[oakmanc234]

Enjoyed the hell out of it. Thought it was waaay better than the first. I reckon Raimi really nailed this one. The action was bigger and more intense & Maguire was excellent. Loved how it all ended despite what many say. If more blockbusters were of this caliber they wouldn't be as looked-down-upon.