My Favorite Movies- "Spider-Man 2" (2004)

I've written before about Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film. It is one of my favorites. I acknowledge that it's very much a product of its time. It's probably the most 2002 movie that's ever existed. But if I had to describe Raimi's first Spider-Man film in the word, it would be "sincere." You can feel Sam Raimi's passion for this character shining through with every single shot. By today's standards, it is a little bit dated. The effects, even at the time, were wonky, but it's one of those movies I can watch any day of the week. I've seen the original Spider-Man more than any other Spider-Man film. With that said, the best film of the Sam Raimi universe, and the best Spider-Man movie that ever existed, is "Spider-Man 2."

The one thing that all the Sam Raimi films, especially "Spider-Man 2," got right about the character of Peter Parker is that his life sucks. Few characters in fiction get beaten up quite like Peter Parker does. No matter what, he always chooses the right path. It's why the venom symbiont storyline is so popular. It's the one instance in which Peter Parker doesn't choose good. In "Spider-Man 2," life is kicking Peter in the ass. His girlfriend is hooking up with an astronaut. His best friend hates him. His professor thinks he's lazy. Nothing is going right, and he can't just explain that it's because he's busy being Spider-Man. These films do a tremendous job of establishing the character of Peter Parker and making him sympathetic. It would've been easy to make him pathetic, but he's not. He's trying to do the right thing, and you route for him.

Alfred Molina's Doc Ock is a fantastic villain; for 2004, these effects are still stunning. The action is dipped in Sam Raimi's style, but you could tell that the VFX artists had plenty of time to finish this project. The action sequence on the train is one of the best action sequences ever put on film.

There's a good chunk of the movie in which Peter is not in the Spider-Man costume. One of the truly great things about the Raimi series is that the character of Peter is every bit as interesting as Spider-Man. The "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" montage is one of my favorites in any movie. Even though he ultimately returns to his superhero persona, for a brief time, Peter Parker is happy. Peter Parker is free.

I really like a lot of the recent versions of Spider-Man. There isn't a live-action adaptation of Spider-Man that I have enjoyed in some capacity. The Andrew Garfield films are remarkably flawed, but I have a soft spot for them. With that said, "Spider-Man 2" was the one where they got the formula perfectly right. Spider-Man is not a character that's necessarily called upon to save the world. He's just trying to do right by the people around him. The ending to this movie is so awesome. The good guy wins in the end. That's not surprising. I would argue that's par for the course for this kind of movie, but those clichés feel earned in this flick. Also, the Dashboard Confessional song at the end credits is awesome.

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I can't believe this movie is almost 20 years old. It holds up remarkably well. The one downside is that if you've always found the Sam Raimi films to be campy and tedious, you probably won't enjoy "Spider-Man 2." But to me, this is the ultimate Spider-Man story. It gets right what a Spider-Man story needs to get right. It's about a superhuman who is way more human than he is super.