Spider-Man 2 | ||||
Sam Raimi Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, Donna Murphy, Daniel Gillies, Dylan Baker, Bill Nunn 2004 |
Anchored by Tobey Maguire's layered performance as the title character, "Spider-Man 2" the second chapter in a saga by director Sam Raimi is as thrilling and satisfying a film depiction of a comic-book superhero as one could imagine. It's superior to the lugubrious "Batman" films or the sanitized "Superman" movies, and it trumps its crowd-pleasing predecessor "Spider-Man," which introduced stressed-out New York teen Peter Parker (Maguire), his web-spinning alter ego and the conflicts that plague him after he gains his amazing powers. Picking up two years later, "Spider-Man 2" reacquaints us with Peter; love-of-his-life Mary Jane Watson, played with sweetness and spunk by Kirsten Dunst; his elderly Aunt May (Rosemary Harris); his best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), whose late father was Spidey's super-villainous nemesis the Green Goblin; and J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), Spidey-hating publisher of the Daily Bugle. This installment also unleashes a more tragic, nuanced foe than the Goblin: metal-tentacled Doctor Octopus, played with relish and bravura by Alfred Molina. The vertiginous visual effects and action sequences reach new highs, and the script for "2" is richer, deeper and wittier than the previous one. But Maguire's brainy, noble, hard-luck hero is the key. He and Dunst make Peter's star-crossed romance with winsome Mary Jane a genuinely touching affair. | |||
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