Review - Spiderman 2

Spiderman 2 may well be for comic book adaptations what Jerry Maguire has been to sports movies.  This is less a movie about superheroes battling villains, business as usual, as about the fact that momentous events happen right in the middle of people trying to have normal, complicated lives.  Relationships, work, college, they all continue as normal even as Doc Ock attacks Manhattan.



The central theme of this movie is the development of the relationships between the three leads – Peter (Tobey Maguire), MJ (Kirsten Dunst) and Harry (James Franco).  In addition to the continuing and complicated relationships between the leads, this movie is painted in love, in its many and varied forms.



Obviously, the seemingly hopeless love Peter has for MJ – to the extent that he doesn’t notice other women at all, even when they show interest – but also the love for a dead father shown by Harry, the love of a dead partner shown by Aunt May, the hero worship the city has for Spiderman (brilliantly shown through the deputy editor of the Bugle), and the almost wordless love between Doctor Octavius and his wife.  When they do speak, about their very different college degrees, it shows a love not diminished from when they first met.



Set aside all this emotion, the action scenes seem almost cartoonish.  Surprisingly, the violence factor is quite high – there may be no blood, but all that is needed is a little imagination to make certain scenes gruesome, especially Octavius at the surgery.  Although, putting the two elements together to make cartoon violence, this could be a nod to the director’s ‘Evil Dead’ series.



Maguire, although it hurts to say it, has a range in this movie from happy goofy to puzzled goofy as Peter Parker, and, as with the first movie, he seems to emote better with the spandex on.  Dunst shines, as usual, but the best performance of the leads goes to Franco, tortured by the death of his father, driven by a hatred of Spiderman, while still trying to fulfill the alpha male role expected of him.



In the bit parts, Bruce Campbell as a snooty usher, and Dylan Baker, as a campus professor, deliver the goods as only they can.  Bill Nunn, as deputy editor of the Bugle, also impresses out of any proportion to his screen time.



‘Superman’ was all about truth, justice and the American way.  ‘Batman’ (the early movies at least) was very good to excellent but almost solely about Bruce Wayne, not including anyone else.  ‘X-Men’ has been all about the team, with a flirt now and then not hurting either way.



Spiderman 2 has real life and real emotion, almost pushing the action to the background, and thus is a good movie on its own two feet, not solely to be seen through the expectations of the comic book or action genres.



Bring on Spidey 3!