Written by: Alvin Sargent
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, Donna Murphy
Rating: [4.5/5]
As famously said by Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility,” a line most individuals know but truly gets felt by what transpires in the epic Spider-Man 2. Not only expanding upon the journey of Peter Parker, but this feature also allows us to see the inherent struggle in trying to juggle all of these elements of his life, especially as he steps into adulthood and everything that comes with it.
Attending college courses, working two jobs, and somehow finding time to save the day on multiple occasions as Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) struggles in finding the proper way to balance everything in his life. It becomes to have a knock–on effect on every aspect of his life having him drop the ball as well as impacting his powers.
Following up one of the better superhero origin stories in Spider-Man, this sequel takes on the challenge of raising the stakes for the character in both a physical and emotional manner. Something that can easily top what occurs with Uncle Ben and crafting a more dangerous villain than the Green Goblin and we certainly receive that here. Very much continuing the theme of real-world struggles for these characters allows this feature to remain grounded even when some of the plot points begin to verge on the fantastical making for some incredibly impactful scenes.
Running throughout this entire feature is the struggle Peter has with his powers. In moments, he cannot perform under the pressure in his role, which digs into the personal dilemma Parker embattles throughout the feature of what he can emotionally commit to through all facets of his life. Not enough hours exist in his day to handle everything that he wants to accomplish making it quite difficult to succeed in all of them. This makes it difficult to hold down a job, seeing as he may need to leave at a moment’s notice to stop some crime, which impacts his ability to pay the rent for his tiny little apartment. This also has an impact on having the time to go to class and excel even if he has the knowledge to succeed and even stretching his relationships with his friends where he cannot fully engage with them.
It reminds me of the famous triangle depicting three areas of life a college student can have but can only obtain two of three. This entails of sleep, social life, and good grades. It’s impossible to have all three so one has to choose two of the three allowing the third one to fall off. Peter finds himself exactly in this situation as he must choose what he must sacrifice in order to have some semblance of balance in his life. Something many superhero films do not reckon with but only further exemplifies what makes this feature so special.
Following up on the major influence of New York in the previous film, it gets even better in this feature in the way Spider-Man remains the friendly neighborhood superhero. His impact on the community remains quite large because of stopping crime but has become a man of the people as they sing about him and praise him while also having someone like J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) constantly villainizing him for profit in the newspapers. Something so entirely feasible. Peter shares in all of their struggles in just trying to get by and the connection never becomes clearer than the subway scene where Peter tries to stop the train through any means necessary. A moment shared by Spider-Man in the community so powerful and impactful because of what it means to them that someone would go to these lengths to protect him. A moment where he finds himself at his most vulnerable but gets uplifted by the community he tries to save on multiple occasions serves as the ultimate summation of the relationship between this superhero and the community he serves.
On top of the emotional elements of that scene, it sits as one of the several fun and impactful action sequences this feature has to offer. While the visual effects on display have not aged well, there needs to be an understanding this feature saw its release nearly 20 years prior to the writing of this review, which provides the context of what could feasibly be crafted with the technology of the time through these action sequences. It’s what makes Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) such a compelling villain to watch. The addition of the four tentacles allows for a battle this Spider-Man has never encountered before making for some exhilarating sequences.
This all sits on top of what Otto Octavius represents as a character philosophically in what he attempts to achieve as well as what motivates him to complete it. Someone with a tragic story that audiences witness making for his descent to be quite sad. An individual so hopeful for what he could provide the world but failing at it. Driven by a powerful performance by Alfred Molina, who gives the necessary coloring for someone who wants to get his way and struggles with the ramifications of his own doing through the creation of these tentacles and what they make him do.
Superbly crafted in both the action and emotion of its narrative, Spider-Man 2 remains one of the crown jewels of the superhero genre. Something so aligned with the themes it wants to communicate as it puts Peter Parker in the difficult proposition of having to choose what matters most to him in life and which element of it would he sacrifice to ensure he does not drop the ball in every arena. Everything in this feature works spectacularly well and demonstrates the potential involved when telling such an engaging story on multiple levels when dealing with a man who can shoot webs from his wrists.
Films with Josh 
