Andy’s Rating: Loved It (13/13)*
As you may or may not know, the original Spider-Man is one of the few movies in recent memory to garner my coveted 13 out of 13 rating. With that level of anticipation, it seemed impossible that Spider-Man 2 could live up to the nearly impossible standard set by the first movie. But somehow, it manages to at least equal the first movie, and in many ways, it surpasses it. The best analogy I can make is comparing Star Wars to The Empire Strikes Back: Both are brilliant movies in their own right, but Empire manages more action, more depth of character, more twists, and is generally regarded as a superior movie to the first. I am confident that the same will be said of Spider-Man 2 years from now (if it isn’t already).
Comparing Spider-Man 2 to The Empire Strikes Back may seem like unwarranted praise, so let me bring it down a notch or ten by comparing it to another famous sequel: Superman II. Believe it or not, Spider-Man 2 actually shares many plot elements with the disappointing Superman sequel, with the crucial difference that Spider-Man 2 actually does everything right. Without giving away too much about Spider-Man 2, let me explain some of the reasons why Superman II is so bad, and by extension, you can conclude why Spider-Man 2 is so good.
For example, the secret identity: In Superman, a sort of love triangle was established between Superman, Lois Lane, and Clark Kent. Clark loves Lois, Lois loves Superman, and…well, Superman is Clark. But when Superman gives up his powers to be with Lois, he also gives up what makes him Superman, and the result is a bland, uninteresting character who doesn’t wear glasses, doesn’t hunch as often as Clark, wears more sweaters, but still gets beat down by any passing redneck who wants to take a shot. Yet somehow, Kal-El appears confused by this turn of events, thinking that maybe he could give up being Superman without, you know, actually having to give up the powers and stuff. And Lois spends a lot of time with the “I still love you” schtick, even though she knows (and the audience knows) that it just ain’t true.
Now, compare this to Spider-Man: Sure, the relationships start off the same in the first movie, but by the end, you actually have Mary-Jane falling in love with Peter instead of Spider-Man. But now, his sense of responsibility keeps him from being able to tell her of his love. So already, the relationship is much more complex than anything that Superman II can dream of. I won’t give anything away about how things develop in the second movie, but let me give you something to think about: Most superheroes have a secret identity, granted. But which identity is the real person? With Superman, Clark Kent is the façade, not the man. Superman is Superman (or Kal-El, if you prefer). Batman may pose as billionaire Bruce Wayne, but we all know that he is more Bat than man. But with Spidey, Peter Parker is the real person; Spider-Man is just an alter-ego. When you realize that key difference that separates Spider-Man from most other superheroes, you can begin to see what makes Spider-Man 2 so different from other superhero movies.
There are other elements from superhero sequels that you will see in this movie, but they are consistently well done, and the filmmakers never cop out and cheat you out of an ending. (If you’ve seen Superman 2, you know what I’m talking about.) Suffice it to say that the end of Spider-Man 2 sends the story spinning off into interesting new directions, and I am fascinated to see what they do with the next film. So set your calendars for Friday, May 4, 2007, which is the release date for Spider-Man 3.
So, what else can I say about the movie that hasn’t been given away by the trailers? Call me sentimental, but there was actually a moment in the movie when I started to tear up, and it wasn’t something that you would expect to be so moved by. The characters in the movie are uniformly fascinating, the humor is somewhat stronger than the first movie, the action sequences are even more elaborate (although they do seem to be less frequent than in the first film), but most importantly, the emotion and drama are brilliant, and elevate this movie to its high point atop my movie ratings scale. I would recommend this film both for superhero fans and non–superhero fans. It really is that good.
* a more thorough explanation of my movie rating system will be provided at a later date
