Screenplay by Alvin Sargent
Screen Story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Michael Chabon
Directed by Sam Raimi
“I can’t live your dreams anymore. I want a life of my own!”
Oh dear…
SPIDERMAN 2 is an extremely stylish, well put-together movie. The visuals are as stunning as they were in the first movie. Tobey Maguire and Kirstin Dunst acquit themselves admirably, and Rosemarry Harris is the only one I can think of to play Aunt May.
That said, there are numerous problems that irritated the hell out of me throughout the movie:
1—Alfred Molina is incredibly bland as Doctor Octopus. His mechanical arms, glorious feats of CGI, have more character than he does. Aside from attacking Spiderman time and time again, and building his machine, there’s no depth to the man. His characterization could fit on the back of a napkin, and aside from some interesting acting with his eyes, Molina doesn’t seem to have any soul in the role. Very disappointing.
2—There is absolutely, positively, WAY too much angst in this movie. There’s nothing wrong with angst — both X Men 2 and Hulk had angst, but they were handled smoothly and with dispatch in X2, and with artistic, philosophical flair in Hulk. Spiderman 2 just hammers it home with a giant mechanical piledriver, and it really drags the movie’s second act to a snail’s pace. The only good moment from all this “I don’t want to be a super-hero” hand-wringing is the glorious Burt Bacharach-accompanied scenes-from-Peter’s-new-life. That’s the good core, but it’s surrounded by numbing layers.
3—The entire movie is a giant set up for movie 3, which looks to be a re-hash of movie 1! Harry is given very little development aside from standard descent-into-obsession, which doesn’t seem to be James Franco’s forte. And then what happens??? Daddy left him an entire arsenal so he could pick up where movie 1 left off. SIGH… X2 showed how to set up a third movie gloriously, offering a high-octane story where the elements of the next movie build to a heart-pounding climax and an eye-popping final scene. Spiderman 2 just DRAGS it across the screen from frame one to the conclusion.
4—Just how many times does Peter have to remove his mask in this story? If it’s supposed to be a manifestation of his psychological turmoil, well…no offence, stupid, but COME ON! It just reaches unbelieveable proportions by the end. It’s as if he wants to show EVERYONE who he is!
5—There’s still no hummable theme tune! I never thought I’d EVER say Danny Elfman could compose a bland score…but if anything, it’s even more bland than movie number one. Let’s just say this is pathetic compared to Elfman’s stunning Batman scores, or John Williams’ soaring Superman themes.
Finally, Spiderman ONCE AGAIN fails the “it sent my heart soaring” test. There was no moment in this movie that set my heart thumping with awe and excitement. No moment equatable to Superman’s first transformation, and catching Lois and the helicopter. No moment as sudden and exciting as Batman crashing through the skylight, saving Vicki Vale, and chasing through the streets in the magnificently revealed Batmobile. No shot as stunning and as awesome as the phoenix slowly rising from the water at the end of X2, sending everyone in the know into spasms of elation about the next movie.
I adored you as a child, Spidey. But now you’ve disappointed me TWICE as an adult. And that’s sad. 
5
