Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Continuing my Spider-Man movie marathon, today we're going to take a look at Spider-Man 2 (2004)!  Some small spoilers for Spider-Man (2002) ahead, so be aware!

SYNOPSIS:
Two years after the death of Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), his son Harry Osborn (James Franco) still blames Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire).  He has taken over his father's business and invests heavily in a local scientist named Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), who is on the brink of developing fusion power.  In order to control the dangerous power source, Dr. Octavius designs four robotic arms, attached to his spine, which grant him mental control over them.  But when his public test goes dangerously wrong, the doctor decides he will go to any length to complete his life's work.  Even if it means teaming up with Harry to eliminate the meddling Spider-Man!

REVIEW:
This is probably my favorite of the Sam Raimi trilogy. The opening credits are accompanied with scenes of the first film flashed through a spider web, wordlessly telling the story of the previous film.  A very nice way to catch up audiences who hadn't seen the first film in a while.

Throughout this film, Peter Parker struggles to deal with his double life as Spider-Man.  He's constantly late to everything (if he even shows up), he loses his job, he loses his friendship with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), he's at odds with Harry Osborn, who suspects he's buddies with Spider-Man and protecting him from Harry, and of course, he's poor and struggling just to pay rent in his new tiny apartment.  Everything is falling apart in Peter's life, and the stress and anxiety causes him to start losing his powers.  He spends a good chunk of the film powerless, even giving up the Spider-Man suit in a tribute to the famous comic storyline "Spider-Man No More" from The Amazing Spider-Man #50.  Like in the comic, someone finds the suit and brings it to J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons), who declares victory over ending Spider-Man's "reign of terror" on the city.  But when Dr. Octavius sets his sights on those important to Peter, Pete decides he needs to summon the strength to continue as Spider-Man and stop the insane doctor.

Alfred Molina does a great job being a sympathetic villain as "Doc Ock."  Rather than being a narcissistic genius villain like in the comics, he's given a decent background story.  The failure of his work, losing his wife, and being "saved" and also "ruined" by Spider-Man is enough to drive a villain, but they added an additional detail as well: his robot arms are run by an AI, which he has mental control over.  That is, until the microchip keeping them in line is broken.  Suddenly, the robot arms are mentally communicating with him and driving him to extremes in order to complete the work they were designed for.  I like how we don't hear the conversation between him and his robot arms.  I think it would've been weird if we heard something like whispered suggestions in the background.  It would have definitely distracted from the villain.

A wonderful scene with Doc Ock is shortly after his fateful accident.  He's in a hospital, about to have his robotic limbs cut off, when the limbs come alive and massacre the hospital staff in a gruesome but PG-13 manner.  It was brilliant how Sam Raimi managed to slip in a horror scene in a family action film.  He did start his directing career making horror films (the Evil Dead trilogy), so it was incredible getting a taste of the horror genre in a place we never expected to find it.  If you want to see a fascinating but in-depth analysis, check out the Nerdwriter's YouTube video on this one particular scene.  At just under 7 minutes, it's brief, but gets to the point and walks you through the terrifying action.

A hidden comic book villain in this film is Dr. Curt Connors; a.k.a. The Lizard.  He was mentioned by name in Spider-Man (2002), but we actually get to meet him here. He's Peter Parker's physics professor, and true to the comic book character, Dr. Connors only has one arm.  In the comics, he experimented with lizard DNA in hopes of growing his missing limb back, but his experiments had a nasty side-effect: turning him into an aggressive anthropomorphic lizard.  Sadly, as much as Sam Raimi wanted The Lizard in his films, he couldn't convince Sony to include the villain ("Not an interesting enough character to market toys," they said), so small scenes with Dr. Connors are all we'll get in this trilogy.

Speaking of cameos, Stan Lee returns for a brief cameo again.  In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene, we see him pulling a woman to safety before debris comes crashing to the ground.  Also, Sam Raimi's buddy, Bruce Campbell, makes another cameo.  This time, he's the doorman at the theater Mary Jane is performing at - the guy who denies Peter Parker entrance because the show already started.

Tobey Maguire continues his awkward portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in this film.  Early on, he gets a tip from Dr. Octavius that you can win a woman's heart through poetry.  So he finds a bunch of books on poetry and makes a very cringey attempt to recite some to Mary Jane, at the worst time, which she rightly shuts down.  The relationship between the two is back and forth throughout this film, with Mary Jane pursuing Peter, and when Peter decides he's going to show his affection, suddenly she's no longer interested and dating someone else.

Mary Jane actually dates an astronaut in this film, who happens to be J. Jonah Jameson's son, John Jameson.  He's a character from the original comics, who eventually becomes the villain Man-Wolf, although nothing of his comic-book character is referenced in this film, besides his name and astronaut title.  My wife and I were saying that Mary Jane should've just stuck with the astronaut.  The back-and-forth drama with Peter Parker was just so toxic and cringey, and she'd have a pretty good life as the wife of an Air Force Captain and astronaut.  But Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker were apparently destined for each other, so the audience has to sit through manufactured teen drama instead of adult conversations and real relationship struggles. Maybe we'll see better Spider-Man relationships in future films...

Twice in this film, we get to hear a street performer playing the original Spider-Man theme song, which was a more direct tribute to the old 1967 cartoon than we got in the first film.  Even if it's just a woman singing off-key while plucking a violin string.  Danny Elfman returned to perform the film's score.  In the previous film, I mentioned that the main theme song almost sounded like his original Batman theme music from the old 1989 film, before transitioning into a more unique melody.  Danny Elfman went a lot more heavy on the Spider-Man theme this time around, making it much more recognizable and impactful.

RECOMMENDATION:
If you're going to watch any part of the original Spider-Man trilogy, Spider-Man 2 (2004) is probably the best one.  You get a visual recap at the start to catch you up, you get enjoyable characters and story, and plenty of Spider-Man action with a more satisfying ending than the previous film.  As we'll see in the next film, there's far more interpersonal drama going on than actual Spider-Man action.  Stay tuned for the next review in my Spider-Man marathon!