Spider-Man 2-One Spider-Man equals two Jar-Jars
Spider-Man 2 is a great superhero film, especially if you can get past a couple of big problems. No doubt, there is more character development than in the first film as we dive into Peter Parker’s turmoil as to whether or not he can continue to be Spider-Man. In the end Parker does not have the luxury of making this decision as he must confront the brilliant scientist, Dr. Otto Octavius whose experimental mishap drives him insane and turns him into Doc Octopus. Many critics absolutely loved, loved, loved this film and I love it as well, but many of its shortcomings have really been completely or mostly ignored.
Problem Number One: This movie cost around $200 million bucks, maybe more! That is a lot of dough even by Hollywood standards. There is an impressive amount of polished special effects in the end product, but you have to step back for a second. You could almost make both Episodes II and III of Star Wars for that price! You read that correctly, I am not kidding!
Problem Number Two: I will not get into specifics here, mostly because I will confuse us all. But the science that takes Dr. Octavius to Doctor Octopus is on some pretty shaky ground. Lets just say that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Cartoon physics to be more accurate. In order for this to be one of the best, if not the best, comic book movie ever as many have claimed one must have a tighter script devoid of massive scientific and logic errors. I know dork out, but its still true.
There is, however, a lot to love. The film’s director Sam Rami coughed up simply massive amounts of awesome special effects. The script was an improvement over the first Spider-Man film, even with its scientific flaws concerning Dr. Octopus.
This much is dead-on, for sure, Spider-Man 3, will have a massive budget and will make a massive amount of money. More than any franchise in recent history, when it is all said in done this could be the most lucrative of all the properties. Why would I make such a declaration? Sony could crank these things out forever, people would continue to go, there is a large fan base and decades of stories. Star Wars is finished, Lord of the Rings is finished–or so we presume on both counts and Harry Potter will not go on forever. Spider Man 8 anyone? Just food for thought...
Story B+
Acting B+
Visuals A
Originality/Innovation B
Enjoyability Grade A
Home Theater/HD Factor A (What an abundance of eye candy. You have to watch this one in HD if you can.)
Overall Grade A-
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