Postby uc pseudonym » Sun Jul 04, 2004 7:27 pm
So many critics have so much to say about the movie. Most of them say it was as good as the first or better. I would fall in with the latter crowd. Outside of what they have said, I do not have very much more to say, so I will not sing the movie's praises. Instead, I would discuss a few issues.
A brief warning. If you have not seen the movie this spoiler will ruin a great many things for you:
[spoiler=Spider Man 2]One of my few complaints was the partial loss of his powers. There's such a thing as suspension of disbelief, but this seemed far too dodgy for me. On the other hand, it did a relatively good job of making the point.
The following line was classic: "Hey! Spiderman stole that guy's pizza!"
One of the better moments (humor-wise) of the movie was the scene in the elevator. The uncomfortable silence and the element of both of them not looking at each other made it very enjoyable. [Strangely, there was a person in the front of my theater who would cackle extremely loudly at moments that weren't all that funny. When Parker catches the wall that is going to fall on MJ and they greet each other. Amusing, but not that amusing.]
Once again, the character of Jonah Jameson has a brief moment of true character... cut short by blasting hatred against Spiderman. I like the actor playing him; he fits the role well. "He stole my spider suit! He's a threat to the entire city!"
Randomly, I do feel vaguely sorry for the guy that MJ stands up at his wedding. He didn't seem to have anything wrong with him (despite being rich and fameous he appeared to be nice and actually cared about her), yet he just wasn't the protagonist so it wasn't meant to be.
I found the ending unsatisfying for a single movie, though it was acceptable for the second movie of a trilogy. But the final shot of MJ's face put all of it in a very different light, and tainted the waiting for the next movie darkly.
However, I've saved my favorite element of this movie for last: the villain. This aspect was what I felt made the second movie superior to the first. In my opinion, Doc Ock was many times the antagonist that the Green Goblin was. In either of the comic series I never considered Otto to be that great of a villain, but the movie version made him great.
For one, he was decently developed as a good person prior to being controlled by the claws. Speaking of those, the CGI work for them was extremely well done, and they worked quite well. Also, Doc Ock was an intelligent villain (a trait I like well). He made no arrogant speeches, took no stupid risks and always seemed quite aware of Spiderman before he could attack.
Furthermore, I loved his ending, all in all. Whereas the Green Goblin killed himself, Doc Ock was redeemed. It was nice to see him understand immediately ("Peter Parker... brilliant but lazy?") and I appreciated the force of character shown in making the claws submit to him. Though I severely doubt such a thing, it would be nice to see him survive as a hero.[/spoiler]
Also, I must wonder about the third contracted movie. There is a set up for the Hobgoblin, but I would be very disappointed if the third movie did not contain a better villain. Now Venom and the Hobgoblin would be cool.