Movie Review:

Spider-Man 2

by Lynn B.

Last time we left Peter Parker he was mourning the fact that he couldn’t hook up with the love of his life Mary Jane Watson cuz it would put her in danger if anyone ever found out he was Spider-Man. Now, in Spider-Man 2, it’s a few years later and Mary Jane is a bigtime model and fledging actress in New York and Peter is still a freelance photographer, college student and…pizza delivery guy? This superhero stuff evidently doesn’t pay very well!

Okay, so Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is a model and stage actress in New York but she still yearns for her hometown love Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire). Of course the torch Peter is carrying for her makes that one on the statue of Liberty look like a matchstick! Peter’s best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) is still the head of his dead father's company and is funding Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina)’s wild experiment in controlling a fusion reaction as a power source. Peter meets and likes Doc Ock a lot…maybe seeing him as a father figure.

When Peter still can’t openly return Mary Jane’s affections, she turns to a hot astronaut to whom she gets engaged. Peter is so unhappy that he decides to stop being Spider-Man and actually starts losing his powers (it’s a psychological thing). But, he needs to don the tight red and blue suit again when Dr. Octavius’s experiment goes terribly wrong and he becomes a monster with powerful mechanical arms attached permanently to his bod. Doc goes wacko and eventually grabs Mary Jane. Peter has to “Spidey-up” fast. Will he rescue Mary Jane? Will these two star-crossed hotties finally hook up? Will Peter’s identity be revealed?

This movie rocks in every way possible! It has something for everybody. It’s THE mega-date movie of the summer! Plenty of romance and emotion for M.J. and her superhero, lots of improved action sequences, a terrific villain who is both sympathetic (he was a really nice dude before turning into a supervillain) and horrible in appearance and deeds. Acting is great! Tobey and Kirsten emote longing and bottled up love like crazy. Cutie James Franco is still seething with anger over his lost dad and Alfred Molina is fabulous as the wanna-do-good-for-the-world doctor who turns into a monster against his will.

Whether it’s Spidey swinging across New York or stopping a runaway train or tender scenes of emotional angst between Peter Parker and his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris..in another great performance) or Peter/Mary Jane love fests, Spidey 2 is THE movie not to miss this summer. Director Sam Raimi has gotten the action movie formula right! At the core of every good film are the characters and their emotional trials. Tack on good actors to make the characters live, add some colorful and well-executed action sequences and you’ve got a big winner! Don’t miss it.

This movie is rated PG-13

The official movie web site - http://spiderman.sonypictures.com/

pictures courtesty and copyright Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures