A long overdue review!

According to the rules, sequels are never as good as the original. But rules were made to be broken and Spiderman 2 is certainly as good as the original if not better. Not only that, but it’s one of the best comic book movies that’s been made. Now that might put people off from the start but what I also really liked about Spiderman 2 is that, despite the action scenes, despite the special effects, despite the fact that it’s a superhero movie, this film is essentially about the characters. Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker faces up to plenty of adversaries in this film but what’s different is that they are supervillains that we have all faced; debt, relationships, finding a balance to our lives and wondering what the hell we’re meant to be doing.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some spectacular fights between Spiderman and this films foe, Dr Octopus, marvellously played by Alfred Molina. There are great action scenes but for me, the emphasis of the film wasn’t the imminent danger to the citizens of New York but the struggle that Peter Parker had in coming to terms with who he was and what he was meant to be doing. Although there are some scenes that have all the subtlety of a sledgehammer in the way they moralise (actually, only one in particular), there are others, such as Peter Parker explaining to Aunt May how he feels responsible for the death of his Uncle that I found very emotive and quite out of place in a film of this genre.

The performances are good all round. They are all suitably over the top but hell, it is Spiderman. Special mention should go to J.K.Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson, the tyrannical editor of the Daily Bugle. He has some of the best comic moments and some of the great lines in the film. But the true hero of the film is the director, Sam Raimi. Spiderman 2 is definitely a Sam Raimi film (as opposed to Spiderman which was a film directed by Sam Raimi) and he brings many of the techniques and skills that he honed on his earlier films to bear on this blockbuster piece. You’ll recognise them because they’re all the bits which seem very cheesy and over the top. Or his leading man is taking a fantastic prat fall! Normally, that would be bad thing but under Sam Raimi’s guiding vision, you can rest assured that it’s totally intentional. This is the man who gave us Evil Dead 2 for crying out loud, one of the funniest, scariest movies out there.

Spiderman 2 is a great sequel and a great comic book film. I can’t wait for Spiderman 3.