Spiderman 2

A-

I just saw it last night. I thought it was well done but can also agree with some of those who weren't wild about it. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst have much better material to show their acting credentials this time and they are up to the task. But I think they spent an awful lot of time with the plotline of Spiderman giving up the uniform (this is in the previews so I don't think I'm spoiling anything) when you know he has to come back. Likewise with the romantic side story, how many times is Mary Jane going to get engaged to other people while she is supposedly in love with Peter Parker? Why the hurry? Then you've got Aunt May blathering about all kinds of things and what's that all about? Eventually you work your way back to the story where Spiderman is fighting Doc Ock but all of that doesn't take much time.

J. Jonah Jameson is somehow a little easier to take this time around and I actually enjoyed him though if Spiderman is really that popular how could an editor continue to bash him like that and sell papers? But Peter's friend at Oscorp? His dad was a certifiable psychotic mass murderer. Why can't he figure that out? He keeps assaulting Peter about his relationship with Spiderman but still calls him his best friend? That struck me as wrong.

The writing doesn't always miss. I think they needed to flesh out some of the conflict about a superhero who can't keep a job or girlfriend and they did a good job with that. Also there is some great humor here that I don't remember in the first one.

The special effects were better this time and it seemed a little more like Spiderman was actually moving through the city rather than a green screen. As in the last movie I'd like to see the brilliant Peter Parker figuring out more things that will help him out as Spiderman, but we don't ever see anything like that.

I'll give this one an A-. It's a good movie but it's a little overly conflicted for its own good.

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