Spider-Man 2: Movie Spoiler Summary (after capsule review). A solid companion piece to the initial installment (though, if I was forced to Sophie’s Choice it, I would choose the 2002 movie), Spider-Man 2 almost matched its reviews and box-office receipts. Many said it was the better film, perhaps The Best Superhero Film Ever Made (which would be retracted by most everyone after the The Dark Knight). Opinions have cooled since then, but, for a sequel, Alvin Sargent's (who would write the next one, as well as the latest) screenplay continues in the spirit of the original and expands the ideas it first presented. The villain Doc Ock (the superbly cast Alfred Molina) here isn't such a bad guy, only destroyed by personal loss and the desire to create something the world has never seen before. The fear here is technology taking over humanity through people’s own unexamined volitions, where one's self-determination is handed over to a force of its own creation. Doc Ock's intentions are good and true, but they cloud his judgment and provide Peter Parker's (Tobey Maguire) main obstacle, as he wrestles with the challenge of trying to have a normal life, while trying to serve a city who needs him. The editing is efficient and the tone never goes for an awkward bravado, though Ock could have stood to have a few of his own memorable lines. Spidey is a lit bit more cartoonish this time (which is strange, because if memory serves, I thought the opposite, having only originally seen the trailers years ago), but its effect is kind of negligible at this point (maybe I don't care anymore).
[Image vis Cloud Architecture Design]
[Image vis Cloud Architecture Design]
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| Maguire Illustrated |
The opening credits are a smart homage to the original, incorporating the web motif in a different manner with illustrated stills from memorable moments from the first film. It sometimes evokes a neoplasticism. My only gripe is that it didn’t include the scene of Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and Peter (Tobey Maguire) in his car, as that is where the famous line, "With great power comes great responsibility,"(though the film proper eventually revisits that scene) is first delivered. Like the first film, Peter starts the movie narrating while the camera backs away from a billboard of MJ (Kirsten Dunst) who works as a model and actress. Parker is employed as a pizza delivery person and has an impossibly short period of time for his next job. He changes into his Spider-Man costume, but fails to make his destination on time. Emily Deschanel plays the receptionist who tells him that she’s not going to pay him, as he's late; she would go on shortly to star in the TV show Bones. The pizza restaurant fires him.
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| Raimi is kind enough to give us a brief, gratuitous glimpse at Maguire |
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| Queer As Folk's Hal Sparks |
Peter decides to take a break from Spider-Man to watch MJ perform in The Importance of Being Earnest. However, he gets caught in a high-speed chase and decides the streets of New York need him more than MJ does. Peter arrives late to the theatre and the usher won't seat him. While waiting outside after the play, he witnesses her meeting John Jameson (Daniel Gillies), current boyfriend. While slinging webs, Parker loses some of his abiltities. In an elevator, he runs into Hal Sparks. Peter tries to explain his absence to MJ over the phone.
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| One of the better super villains |
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| Vintage Raimi |
At the party, Peter takes pictures while Harry drinks himself silly. Christine Estabrook (the Broadway actress memorably played Martha Huber from Desperate Housewives, as well as Joan's mother on Mad Men; as well, she attended the Yale School of Drama with classmates such as Meryl Streep, Christopher Durang, and Wendy Wasserstein, among others) does a pleasant drop playing Jameson’s wife. Peter tries to win MJ over with poetry, as she is there with John, but fails, as he has already asked for her hand in marriage. Then, Harry lays into Peter about his loyalty to Spider-Man. While slinging around as the masked crusader, Peter loses his abilities again. And the press still paints him out to be a bad guy. Doc Ock continues to tool away on his master plan. Peter shares his emotional dilemma with his doctor and then dreams about Uncle Ben. He decides to throw away his superhero costume and put Spider-Man behind him. He returns back to a normal life as Peter, in a montage set to BJ Thomas’ “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” Peter hopes to win MJ back, but she tells him it’s too late. Spider-Man’s costume is delivered to the Daily Bugle, much to the pleasure of Jameson. Peter witnesses a mugging, but is powerless. He visits Uncle Ben’s grave with Aunt May. At home, Peter admits to her what happened the night Uncle Ben died. She doesn’t take the news very well.
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| Peter can't escape MJ |
Doc Ock repairs the fusion reactor and then pays Harry a visit in search of more Tridium to fuel it. The only way Harry will agree to giving him some is if Doc Ock brings him Spider-Man. Crime and mayhem continue to go up. Michael Edward Thomas (who was also in the first film) shows he knows how to scream and gets Peter’s attention, who rescues a kid from a burning building. Mr. Ditkovich’s daughter Ursula (Mageina Tovah) pays Peter a visit, who gives him a note from Aunt May. She’s moving out of the house and tells Peter that she loves him and thanks him for telling her the truth. In not so many words, Aunt May encourages Peter to return to being Spider-Man. At their apartment, MJ tries to recreate “that kiss” with John. It looks hot, but something’s not right for MJ. She sits down with Peter to talk about being together, but, his priorities have changed yet again, and they can’t have a meeting of the minds. She asks him to kiss her when they’re interrupted by a chaotic visit from Doc Ock starting with a car smashing through a window almost killing them. He tells Peter to have Spider-Man meet him and grabs MJ as collateral.
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| Sometimes a hero needs a lift |
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| Unconscious moshing |
When he learns that Spider-Man is back in action, Jameson is none too pleased. The web-slinger and Doc Ock engage in an alteration which takes place mostly on a moving train (is it not called a subway when it’s moving out in the open? … do you stop calling something a bird when it lands on the ground?). Peter stops the train from careening off an unfinished upper portion of the tracks. After he passes out, he wakes up to realize that everyone on the train has learned his identity. A boy hands him his mask promising him his secret is safe in a teary moment that is in stark contrast to today’s need to know everything about everybody. Doc Ock overpowers Spider-Man and returns to Harry with his body, taking off with the Tridium. Peter’s best friend pulls out a dagger and rips Spider-Man’s mask off, waking him up inquiring about MJ’s whereabouts. While Harry is wrapped up in his father's death (get over it already!), Peter informs him, “There are bigger things happening here than me and you.”
Spider-Man shows up at Doc Ock’s and begins to pummel him. He takes his mask off in order to convince him to shut down the reactor. “Sometimes, to do what’s right, we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most, even our dreams.” Doc Ock takes his words to heart and overpowers the grip the tentacles have on him to drown the reactor in the river, committing suicide in the process. MJ sees Peter as Spider-Man for the first time and he confesses his love for her. Doc Ock goes down with the reactor reminiscent of Alien3.
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| The angle on Franco's torso is just perfect here |
After saving her life, Peter informs MJ that they can never be together. Back at the Osborn penthouse, harry gets a visit from his dead father Norman (William Dafoe) as his reflection in the tall mirror from the first installment. When Norman demands he avenge his death, Harry throws the dagger into the mirror, sending shards of glass everywhere. Behind the broken mirror, he inadvertently discovers the secret lab of his father which housed everything Green Goblin. At the church, MJ stands up John at the altar and shows up at Peter’s. “Isn’t it about time, somebody saved your life?” she asks. It’s implied that the two will be together and Spidey goes slinging through the city amongst various helicopters on his way to stop more crime.
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| My favorite shot in the film |
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