Easily Marvel Comics’ most recognisable and popular superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was first bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the true meaning of power and responsibility in Amazing Fantasy #15, August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in numerous cartoons, live-action movies, videogames, action figures, and countless comic book titles and, in celebration of his debut and his very own day of celebration, I’ve been dedicating every Saturday of August to talk about everyone’s favourite web-head!

Released: 17 April 2007
Originally Released: 30 June 2004
Director: Sam Raimi
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing
Budget: $200 million
Stars: Tobey Maguire, Alfred Molina, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, J. K. Simmons, and Rosemary Harris

The Plot:
Although he has saved countless lives as Spider-Man, Peter Parker’s (Maguire) personal life is falling apart due to his double life. Lovesick for Mary Jane Watson (Dunst) and tormented with guilt, Peter’s powers begin to fail him just as he faces his greatest challenge yet when renowned scientist Doctor Otto Octavius (Molina) becomes a four-limbed madman following a freak accident. When “Doctor Octopus” endangers lives, Peter is forced to reconcile his two lives in order to save the city, and the woman he loves, once again.

The Background:
Fittingly, given that his debut issue became one of Marvel’s best selling titles at the time, Spider-Man became so popular that he was ideally placed as Marvel Comics’ flagship character; the wall-crawler starred in numerous team-up titles, videogames, cartoons, and even a live-action series in the seventies, but his cinematic debut was constantly delayed by script and legal issues. Thankfully, director Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures Entertainment finally brought the character to life in Spider-Man (Raimi, 2002), which was an incredible critical and commercial success, but, while a big-budget sequel was almost immediately greenlit by the studio, Spider-Man 2 nearly underwent a major recast after star Tobey Maguire suffered a back injury. Although Jake Gyllenhaal was pegged to replace Maguire in the title role, Tobey recovered and returned to the franchise, which saw him go up against Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. A big fan of the comic books, Molina was excited to win the role and threw himself into it, relishing the chance to play a sympathetic villain with a sardonic sense of humour and even naming and playing pranks with his four prosthetic limbs on set.

Doc Ock’s arms were created by Edge FX and were a mixture of practical puppetry and visual effects. To improve upon the first film’s web-slinging antics, a specially-constructed “Spydercam” was employed to zip through the city and more accurately create the illusion of speed and excitement throughout the entire film, rather than just the final swing sequence. Following a number of script ideas, Raimi worked closely with the screenwriters to alter Doc Ock into a more sympathetic figure and to incorporate elements from the classic “Spider-Man No More!” (Lee, et al, 1967) story. Considering that Spider-Man 2 is often regarded as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made, and far exceeded its predecessor in terms of storytelling and visual effects, the film actually made less than the first at the box office (though a $789 million worldwide gross is anything but a failure!) Critics heaped praise upon the film; Molina, especially, was highlighted for his magnetic performance and the engaging plot regarding Peter’s personal drama was praised as much as the visual effects. Still consistently cited as one of the best sequels and superhero films ever, Spider-Man 2 was followed not just by a videogame adaptation and a third instalment, but was also re-released on home media (with twenty minutes of additional footage and some alternate cuts incorporated into the film) close to the Spider-Man 3’s (Raimi, 2008) release and Molina would later reprise his iconic role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Review:
While I remember there being a great deal of hype surrounding Spider-Man, I actually don’t remember the same being true for the sequel; this isn’t to say that it wasn’t massively anticipated by many, myself included, I just can’t really remember it as much as I was a little older and distracted by other concerns at the time. I know the initial trailer hit pretty hard, and it was exciting to see Doc Ock being brought to life, especially as he’s always been my favourite classic Spider-Man foe. Growing up reading the limited comics I had access to and watching the Spider-Man cartoon (1994 to 1998), I’d actually had little exposure to Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, and it wasn’t until Raimi’s first movie that I fully understood how big an impact Osborn had had on Spidey’s life. Consequently, though, I had always seen the calculating, ruthless Doc Ock as Spidey’s greatest villain; he handed the wall-crawler his first defeat, brought together the Sinister Six, and always seemed to crop up in the comics and videogames I was exposed to (potentially because Osborn was dead at that point). Still, back then, superhero movies were really starting to break through to the mainstream, and Spider-Man 2 was an exciting prospect given how well the first one had gone down, and the film immediately recaptures the feel and atmosphere of the last movie by once again utilising the great Danny Elfman for the opening title sequence (and even catching viewers up to speed using paintings by the amazing Alex Ross to recap key moments of the last movie).

As in the first movie, Spider-Man 2 opens with a bit of narration from Peter Parker, who’s in a pretty bad place here; having chosen to walk away from M. J. and live a life of responsibility, forsaking his own selfish needs in order to honour the memory of his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), Peter is tormented by M. J.’s vacant, staring visage from atop a giant billboard and pines for her every day, martyring himself for the choice he was forced to make. No longer living in his childhood home in Queens with his doting Aunt May (Harris), Peter lives in a crummy little apartment in the middle of the city that is cramped, dirty, falling apart, and right next to the train line. The door sticks, there’s a communal bathroom, and he’s constantly hounded by his landlord, Mr. Ditkovitch (Elya Baskin) for rent, which he can barely afford to pay as he has recently lost his job as a pizza delivery boy and is constantly being shafted on payment for his photos of Spider-Man (and other notable events in the city) by Daily Bugle editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson (Simmons). While Peter was often angst-ridden and burdened by bad luck (“Parker Luck”, as he called it) in the comics, the whole world is out to get him here; he can’t keep up with his college assignments, people are constantly barging into him, he’s cockblocked by an obnoxious usher (Bruce Campbell), and he can’t even walk out of a supply cupboard without stuff falling on him. The amount of hardship he faces in this one movie is almost absurd, and is equalled only by his desperate pining for M. J.; he desperately wants to tell her the truth but can’t risk endangering her life, and is equally unable to quell Harry Osborn’s (Franco) hatred of Spider-Man to preserve Norman’s memory. Peter’s also still carrying the guilt of having indirectly caused Uncle Ben’s death, and it’s only after sharing this with Aunt May that his outlook begins to change. And just in time, too, as all this stress is not only causing a rift between him and the few friends he has but also cancelling out his spider-powers. Since Tobey has organic webbing, this is an interesting way to do the old “run out of web fluid in mid-air/mid-fight” trope, but the depiction is quite inconsistent; potentially an allegory for sexual inadequacy and clearly a manifestation of his troubles, Peter’s powers only short out when the script says so, meaning he’s denied even the freedom offered from retreating to web-slinging.

Just as Peter pines after M. J. on a daily basis, almost to an uncomfortable degree, so too is M. J. constantly distracted by him; Harry claims that she is “waiting for [him]”, but, regardless of his love for her, Peter continues to keep her at arm’s length and to avoid discussing his feelings for her. Although she’s clearly still in love with him, M. J. is doing a far better job of moving on (or, at least, hiding) from those feelings; she not only has a billboard but has landed her dream job with a part in The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People (Wilde, 1895) and even gotten herself a ruggedly handsome astronaut (of all things), Colonel John Jameson (Daniel Gillies). John is barely a character at all and simply there to deliver another gut punch to Peter; M. J. clearly isn’t that into him, despite accepting his proposal, as she’s constantly yearning for Peter and waiting for him to admit his feelings for her. However, she’s also increasingly frustrated by Peter; despite him claiming to be her greatest friend and confidante, he’s been absent and unreliable, and she’s driven to the edge when he breaks his promise to see her play. Otto offers Peter some advice in trying to explain things to M. J., which leads to him awkwardly blurting out random poetry excerpts to her, and he inadvertently ends up alienating her so much that she’s fully prepared to settle for John, even briefly entertaining the idea that she was wrong about Peter and that John is Spider-Man. All of M. J.’s frustrations and concerns are completely swept away once she sees the truth she’s known all along and Peter clearly explains that he can’t risk being with her because of his responsibilities, but she ultimately chooses to face those dangers with him so that they don’t have to deny themselves. M. J. is a bit underwhelming here, to be honest; I’ve never really been a big fan of Dunst in the role and, while she has a feisty side, the script doesn’t really do her character any favours. It gets a bit worse in hindsight as she blows up at Peter in the next film for kissing a girl but she’s here making out with (and presumably having sex with) her hunky boyfriend, while trying to coax the truth out of Peter instead of just demanding that he be honest with her. She also ends up as a screaming hostage once more, and it’s telling that even Aunt May has more fight in her when captured by Doc Ock than the object of Peter’s affections.

Peter’s life is further complicated by his strained relationship with Harry; despite struggling through school in the first film, Harry has done pretty well for himself in the intervening time, becoming head of special projects as OsCorp and funding Otto’s fusion research in a bid to live up to (and surpass) his father’s lofty ambitions. However, having seen Spider-Man with his father’s body at the conclusion of the first film, Harry assumes that Spidey killed his dad and has been harbouring a deep-seated vendetta against the wall-crawler ever since. Even when Spider-Man saves his life, Harry isn’t swayed in his opinion, and his lust for revenge even drives him to turn against Peter in a bitter, drunken rage in one of the film’s most dramatic and upsetting moments. An extended scene included in this version sheds a little more light on Harry’s mindset, as he believes that Peter either knows who Spider-Man is or is protecting him from reprisals since he earns money from the masked vigilante, and he compares his desire to see Spider-Man dead to the bloodlust Peter must feel towards the man who killed Uncle Ben, thus painting Harry as a dark mirror of the titular hero. Frustration and grief get the better of Harry after Otto’s experiment is a disaster, and he unleashes a vicious, heart-breaking tirade against his best friend for choosing his livelihood over his best friend. Harry’s obsession only grows when Spider-Man is believed to have quit after his discarded costume is discovered, and he’s so consumed by vengeance that he partners with Doc Ock to draw Spider-Man out by having him target Peter in exchange for supplying the mad scientist with the Tridium he needs to complete his fusion experiment. With Spider-Man helpless before him, Harry prepares to deliver the killing blow and is stunned into a near maddening disbelief to find his best friend behind the mask, shattering his perception of reality and the people around him and leaving him susceptible to the manipulative influence of his father’s vengeful spirit.

Of course, Spidey’s most tangible threat in the film is Doc Ock himself; beginning as a kindly mentor and hero of Peter’s, Otto is a far cry from the malicious, power-hungry mad scientist from the comic books. Although initially reluctant to interrupt his work by entertaining Peter’s questions, especially given he’s aware of Peter’s assumed laziness, Otto quickly finds a kinship with Peter based on their mutual appreciation for science. A likable, fatherly figure, Otto is absolutely besotted with his beloved wife, Rosie (Donna Murphy), and emphasises to Peter the importance of using his great potential and intelligence for the good of mankind. Despite his unparalleled scientific mind, Otto is also a romantic at heart and encourages Peter not to bottle up his love and emotions lest they make him sick, though both he and Rosie stress that love requires a lot of hard work from both parties. Otto’s life work is to provide the world with clean, renewable energy using a Tridium-based fusion reaction; Otto is so convinced of the safety and importance of his experiment that he generates an artificial sun in the middle of New York City, confidant that his four mechanical limbs will allow him to stabilise the resultant reaction and give him his moment of glory. Of course, everything goes hideously wrong when his machinery malfunctions, which not only results in Rosie being killed but Otto’s mechanical appendages being fused to his spinal column. Awakening in a confused state, Otto finds himself susceptible to the arms’ artificial intelligence after his inhibitor chip is destroyed; as they’re programmed to create and stabilise the experiment, the arms influence him towards robbing banks and committing crimes to rebuild the reactor at an abandoned pier rather than drown himself in the river in his grief. Christened Doctor Octopus (“Doc Ock”) by Jameson, Otto becomes a twisted, power-hungry maniac who completely abandons all of his former principals and puts innocent lives in danger thanks to the influence of his arms. He not only tries to kill a train-load of New Yorkers but even takes Aunt May and M. J. as hostages and battles Spider-Man with a devious glee, constantly frustrated by the web-slinger’s interference and determined to kill him so he can be left in peace. Doc Ock’s story is functionally similar to that of Norman’s in the first film (both were mentor and father figures turned to evil by science), but the execution is unique enough to stand out from his predecessor; he stomps around in broad daylight, his identity is never in question, and his ultimate goal isn’t to prove his physical superiority, but to prove his intellectual superiority and complete his life’s work by any means necessary.

As haunted by M. J. and his many doubts and problems Peter is, his guilt over indirectly causing Uncle Ben’s death basically dictates his entire life. The only reason he’s denying his true feelings is because his interpretation of Ben’s final teaching was that he had an obligation to put his powers to good use, a life lesson that is reinforced by Otto and his position of scientific acumen. However, all of the stress caused by his conflicting duality sends Peter’s power son the fritz; his webs stop firing, he can’t always stay stuck to walls, and he begins wearing his glasses again as his eyesight fails. Concerned for his physical welfare, he consults a doctor, who offers the prognosis that the issue is psychological rather than physical, and, with the weight of the world pressing down upon him thanks to Jameson’s smear campaign, Peter rejects his responsibilities in a dream-like conversation with his uncle’s spirit. Upon being brought Spider-Man’s discarded suit, Jameson is overjoyed that his efforts to besmirch and belittle the wall-crawler have met with success, but he’s forced to admit that Spider-Man was a hero when Doc Ock kidnaps M. J., thus leaving John distraught, though Peter delights in upstaging the cantankerous editor once he gets his shit together. He’s helped in this regard by an honest exchange with Aunt May; given that the film takes place on the two year anniversary of Ben’s death, May is in a fragile place, which is only exacerbated by her inability to keep up the payments on their family home. Burdened by his guilt, Peter shares a version of the truth of that fateful day to her; though initially horrified, she forgives him and stresses the importance of doing the right thing. It’s heavily implied in this exchange that May is aware of Peter’s dual nature and, though neither explicitly admit it, he’s relieved that her encounter with Doc Ock and subsequent rescue from Spider-Man has turned her opinions on the web-spinner around. After giving up his suit, Peter applies himself fully to his social life and academic work, finally earning him the praise of his teacher, Doctor Curt Connors (Dylan Baker), and he later finds some support in Ursula (Mageina Tovah), the daughter of his landlord, who clearly has a crush on him and brings him a moment of quiet reprieve in a moment of absolute despair. This extended cut adds a few additional scenes, most of which are alternate takes and longer sequences that don’t really add too much to the existing story, though one of the most notable additions is a hilarious scene where Jameson hops around his office garbed in Spider-Man’s discarded suit and a discussion between M. J. and her friend where it’s revealed she accepts John’s proposal primarily because of her father’s abusive nature.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Given that it’s a Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man 2 is primarily focused on exploring themes of guilt and the weight of responsibility; Peter drives himself into the ground trying to save everyone he can and live up to his uncle’s expectations, to the point where he neglects his life outside of the costume. Not only is he failing at school and to make money, he’s letting everyone around him down, which only adds to his feelings of despair; his friends are starting to resent and distrust him because of his absent nature and, while he’s desperate to do more and to apply himself better, he can’t shake the call to action. Even something as simple as delivering pizzas or getting to the play is interrupted by a disturbance of some kind, whether it’s kids playing in the street or a high-speed car chase, and Peter doesn’t even let himself relax when he’s in his crummy apartment as he sits there tuning into the police radio band to find ways for him to help. This ever-mounting struggle to find the right balance between his wants and his responsibilities is the primary cause for his failing powers; losing his webs, wall-crawling, spider-sense, and strength only adds to Peter’s confusion and frustration as the freedom afforded to him by being Spider-Man also becomes a closed door. Once he decides to quit, that weight is immediately lifted but his brief moment of happiness is shattered when he’s unable to save a life from a house fire, thus hammering home that he is capable of great things and thus must exercise great responsibility.

Surprisingly, Tobey’s spider-suit is basically the same design as before; normally, superhero sequels go out of their way to change the character’s costume to make more toys but, aside from popping a little more and a few tweaks to the mask, muscle suit, and other minor details, it remains consistent with the first film. Thanks to the movie not having to spend an hour or so setting up Peter’s origin, we get much more Spider-Man action here and the aforementioned Spydercam really delivers some dynamic web-slinging shots. As ever, Peter has an annoying tendency to lose or remove his mask so that we don’t miss out on the emotional impact scenes and events have on him; this is, as always, hit or miss as Tobey favours a vacant, doe-eyed stare throughout most of the film and the regularity that he is unmasked gets ridiculous at times, regardless of how dramatic or thematically relevant these scenes are. While audiences will forever decry the Green Goblin’s outfit in the last film, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone complain about Doc Ock’s depiction here; garbed in a trench coat, hat, and glasses, Doc Ock cuts a simple but intimidating figure and it really is impressive how Molina projects the weight and movement of his mechanical limbs. The arms are extremely versatile, able to stretch out and grab things in their claws, light Ock’s cigar, and even sporting a nasty looking spear-like appendage. While Otto can control and influence the arms, the destruction of the inhibitor chip allows them to act independently of him, but their goal is not only to create and sustain a fusion reaction but also to protect Ock at all costs. Swinging and whipping everywhere, the tentacles cause Spider-Man a great deal of difficulty in getting to Doc Ock and make him a constant threat as they can perform multiple tasks and endanger many lives all at once. One of their most memorable sequences is when they lash out while Otto is unconscious, slaughtering the doctors that try to remove them in scenes that harken back to Raimi’s time as a horror filmmaker as we see fingernails being ripped off and screaming bodies being tossed all over the place. Indeed, Rosie’s horrific death (though not seen onscreen it’s pretty clear she was practically decapitated) and many shots of the arms are created using practical effects, puppetry, and first-person perspectives just like those seen in his Evil Dead films (Raimi, 1981 to 1992) and their threat is matched by Otto’s obsession with holding “the power of the sun in the palm of [his] hand”.

The versatility of Doc Ock’s arms really do make for some of the best fight sequences in any Spider-Man film; despite the armaments and manoeuvrability of the Green Goblin’s glider, Spider-Man’s fights never really kicked into that higher gear as the filmmakers were still working out how to create the special effects necessary to shoot these sequences (something that the third film greatly improved upon), but Spider-Man 2 more than makes up for this with scenes depicting Spider-Man and Doc Ock battling up the sides of buildings and on top of a speeding train. While it’s true that any one of Spidey’s repeated blows to the non-superpowered Doc Ock should have immediately ended the multi-limbed menace, I can forgive this as it’s really exciting to see Spidey have to dodge and flip around the tentacles and fight through them while on the side of a building or whipping around a bank. I can also forgive the convenience of Doc Ock robbing the same bank that Peter and May happen to be at because it leads to him clambering up the sides of buildings with May and his bags of loot, tossing better (and more sadistic) quips than Spider-Man himself, and showing just how dangerous and adaptable his mechanical limbs are as they can hoist him up, absorb impact damage, and deflect Spidey’s blows at every turn. Obviously, the most thrilling action scene is the train sequence, which sees Spider-Man first using his webs to save the civilians Doc Ock causally tosses away, battling him on the exterior of the speeding train carriages, and then using all of his fantastic strength to literally force the out of control train to a stop. Full disclosure, though…I’ve always found this sequence to be a little over the top; the physics and logistics of it seem a little outside of Spider-Man’s range and more like something Clark Kent/Superman would do, but it undeniably makes for a brilliantly dramatic sequence as it shows that Peter will literally push himself to exhaustion and beyond his limits to save lives. The passengers are so grateful to him that they promise not to share that they’ve seen his face, moved by how young and brave he is, and Spidey only adds to his heroic card by basically trading his life for theirs when Doc Ock returns for him.

After having a taste of happiness, Peter begins to believe that he can finally offer M. J. his true feelings but, after realising that he can’t deny the great responsibility bestowed upon him, he’s forced to walk this suggestion back and once again pretend that he’s not in love with her. However, his spider powers truly return in full force after Doc Ock inexplicably kidnaps M. J. to force Peter to lure Spider-Man out for a final confrontation. As many have mentioned, it’s damn lucky that Peter is Spider-Man and that his spider-sense kicked in at that exact moment or else Doc Ock’s errant taxicab would have squashed them both and Harry would’ve indirectly killed his two best friends. When he discovers that Peter and Spider-Man are one and the same, Harry is stunned, to say the least, and heartbroken by the belief that his best friend apparently killed his father. However, Peter manages to convince Harry to reveal Doc Ock’s location in order to rescue M. J. by stressing that there’s more at stake than their personal problems (though a quick “No, he was a madman who tried to kill me” might’ve gone a long way…) Thus, once again, Spider-Man has to save M. J. from a supervillain, though she’s much sassier here than last time, where she was little more than a screaming wreck. Enraged at Doc Ock’s actions, which not only threaten the entire city but have put first Aunt May and then M. J. in the line of fire, Spidey delivers a massive beatdown, once again taxing himself to the limits to shield M. J. from a falling girder and finally revealed the truth to her after removing his mask again. To be fair, this time Peter voluntarily unmasks in a desperate attempt to appeal to Otto’s humanity; thoroughly beaten, Otto snaps out of his insanity upon seeing the face of his protégé and surrogate son and realises that his arms have perverted everything he once stood for. With the fusion reaction threatening to suck the city into it like an artificial black hole, Otto exerts all of his willpower and humanity in a tragic sacrificial effort to drown the artificial sun and redeem himself, once again delivering a startling message of the dangers of scientific exploration and arrogance to Peter. Despite coming to terms with the fact that he can never be with M. J. as he’ll always be Spider-Man, Peter is delighted when she ditches John at the altar to be with him and triumphantly swings off to attend to an emergency with M. J.’s blessing. However, unbeknownst to either of them, Harry is tormented by a vision of his dead father and stunned to stumble upon a hidden laboratory containing a cache of Norman’s Green Goblin apparel, and potentially the means to exact his revenge against his former friend…

The Summary:
Even today, after all the Spider-Man films we’ve had over the years, Spider-Man 2 remains a highly praised entry in the franchise and has long been the gold standard that all other Spider-Man films are measured by. It’s really not too hard to see why; like all great sequels, Spider-Man 2 takes everything that worked in the first film and provides not only more of the best aspects but improves upon them at every turn. The interpersonal drama is heightened, the action and fight sequences are much more exciting and visually impressive, and Spider-Man’s web-slinging is a sight to behold thanks to the innovative camera techniques pioneered in this film. While some of the performances still leave a lot to be desired, the visual spectacle more than makes up for it and Alfred Molina’s brilliantly nuanced portrayal of Doctor Octopus carries the acting quality to a new level, allowing Tobey Maguire to focus on embodying Peter’s utter despair and anguish. Most importantly, Spider-Man 2 does a wonderful job of balancing all of its narrative elements; Peter’s struggles with his dual life and his failing powers are perfectly juxtaposed with Doc Ock’s menace, and it never feels like there’s too much going on. I’d argue that the only main character to suffer is Mary Jane, simply because I would prefer to see more agency from her, but I loved seeing Harry’s obsession send him into a downward spiral of revenge that parallels Otto’s degradation from kindly father figure to sadistic, megalomaniacal villain. If you’re going to watch Spider-Man 2, be sure to pop in this extended version as the few extra minutes add a little more spice to the sauce, so to speak, and the film remains as entertaining as ever, even in the face of the more visually impressive and narratively faithful Marvel Studios movies. My only regret is that some of the lingering plot points were poorly addressed in the third film, but that definitely doesn’t diminish Spider-Man 2’s appeal and it remains in the top tier of the web-slinger’s live-action films to this day.  

My Rating:

Fantastic

Are you a fan of Spider-Man 2? Where does it rank for you against the many other Spider-Man movies? Did you enjoy the extended sequences offered in this version of the movie? What did you think to Peter’s many struggles in the film and which of the fight sequences was your favourite? Were you a fan of Alfred Molina’s portrayal of Doc Ock and were you excited to see him return to the role? What did you think to Harry’s character development and were you excited at the prospect of him taking up his father’s legacy in the third film? Do you think the film still holds up or do you prefer other filmic interpretations of the character? Whatever your opinion on Spider-Man 2, sign leave a comment or drop me a line on my social media and thanks for joining me for Spider-Man Month!