Marvel May - Spider-Man 2 (2004)

          Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I'd say that it's time to talk about the movie that, even to this day, is one of the most beloved Spider-Man movies ever made. So, for Marvel May, let's take a look at 2004's Spider-Man 2 once again starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Rosemary Harris, James Franco, J.K. Simmons, and Elizabeth Banks, and joining them this time are Alfred Molina, Donna Murphy, Daniel Gillies, and Dylan Baker, with a minor appearance of Aziz Ansari, and the film was directed once again by Sam Raimi. 

          So, it's been a couple of years since Peter Parker first got his superpowers and became Spider-Man, but unfortunately, he's struggling to maintain a dual life as both himself and as a superhero. After a late delivery of pizzas, he ultimately loses his job as a pizza delivery guy, and nearly loses his gig at the Daily Bugle, but relents by handing Jameson a new picture of Spider-Man. Meanwhile, he's also struggling in college as a student of Dr. Curt Connors, who notes how often Peter is either late or sleeping in class. 

        That night, Peter heads to his Aunt May's house, where May, Mary Jane, and Harry are waiting for him, as they're celebrating Peter's birthday. It's here that Harry surprises Peter by offering to set up a meeting with Peter's idol, Dr. Otto Octavius. Harry, unfortunately, is still hellbent on learning who Spider-Man really is, and hopes that Peter can help in that regard. After getting some cash from Aunt May, Peter returns to his apartment building, only to be confronted by his landlord, Mr. Ditkovich, who takes the money as the start of Peter's rent payment. 

       The next day, Peter goes with Harry to meet Otto, and the two really hit it off, and discuss an experiment that Otto is planning to unveil really soon. Peter then makes his way to watch Mary Jane in a Broadway play, but is delayed due to having to stop a high speed chase, and is denied entry by a snobby usher. Peter then heads home, but is still having issues with his powers. Yeah, apparently the stress of a double life, as well as not having much of a solid foundation for his life as both Peter AND Spider-Man, is costing Peter his powers, as they're starting to fluctuate in and out at random. 

        At the demonstration of Otto's experiment, we see Otto attach a set of high-tech mechanical arms with high levels of artificial intelligence, which he is able to protect his higher brain functions from with an inhibitor chip he developed to maintain control of the arms. Otto then goes to a massive machine, grabs a sample of tritium, and begins a fusion experiment to use tritium to create a power source of equal abundance as the sun itself. Unfortunately, the power of machine is too much, and a containment breach ruins it, leading to the death of Otto's wife, Rosie, and Otto himself to be electrocuted and rendered comatose, with the inhibitor chip destroyed, all of this in spite of efforts to save everyone by Spider-Man. 

          In the hospital, doctors try to have the arms removed, but the arms attack and kill all of the doctors, and Otto awakens and escapes. Later, Otto seeks to rebuild a larger version of his machine, but now under the influence of the arms, agrees to steal the money needed for the experiment. His robbery attempt happens to occur at the same time as Peter and Aunt May are trying to take out a bank loan. Peter suits up as Spider-Man, fights Otto, who then abducts Aunt May, and Peter rescues her, saving her from Otto, whom Jameson decides to dub Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock for short. Jameson then assigns Peter to photograph a high society gala event for Jameson's son , astronaut John Jameson. At the event, we learn that Mary Jane and John are in a committed relationship, and she agrees to marry John. All the while, Peter's friendship with Harry further deteriorates, as Harry thinks Peter is being overprotective of Spider-Man, whom Harry thinks is a murderer and the man responsible for the death of his father, Norman. 

       Peter's powers finally give out, and he decides to give up the superhero life, and just focus on being Peter Parker for a change. Peter's grades in school improve, and he's doing a lot better now that he's not living a double life anymore. He does, however, save a little girl from a building fire. Meanwhile, Otto finishes building his machine, and decides to get more tritium from Harry, who agrees on the condition that Otto brings him Spider-Man. The next day, while at a cafe, Peter and Mary Jane talk, but Peter's spider sense (again, NOT calling it the damn "Peter tingle," because that's stupid), kicks in, and he saves Mary Jane from a car being thrown into the cafe. Otto arrives and demands that Peter finds Spider-Man, and he takes Mary Jane hostage. Gee Mary Jane is a hostage of the villain. Must be a Tuesday.

         Anyway, Peter's powers return, and he retrieves his suit from the Daily Bugle, where it ended up after Peter three it away earlier, and goes after Otto. The two have a major fight, and Peter manages to stop a runaway train. Otto takes Peter to Harry, who removes his mask and learns that Peter is Spider-Man, and is convinced that Peter killed Norman. However, setting their issues aside, Harry tells Peter where to find Otto. Peter goes after Otto to stop the new experiment, and the two ultimately fight. Peter saves Mary Jane, all while Otto gets electrocuted again, regaining his old self, and taking back control of the arms, deciding to drown his machine to save the city. Peter and Mary Jane have a moment, where she ALSO learns that he's Spider-Man, and that he does, in fact, love her. However, he tells her that they can't be together, because, his enemies could put her in harm's way just to get to him. 

       That evening, Harry sees a vision of his father, Norman, in a mirror, who tells Harry to avenge him, and Harry refuses, throwing an object, shattering the mirror, revealing a hidden laboratory containing a gas chamber, performance enhancement serum, pumpkin bombs, razor bats, the Goblin Glider, and the Goblin suit, showing Harry that his father was the Green Goblin. Some days later, Mary Jane's wedding day arrives, but she decides to break off her engagement and be with Peter, running all the way to his apartment in her wedding dress. She tells him that she's willing to face the risks with Peter, and sends him off to save the city by telling him."Go get 'em, Tiger." 

       Okay, so.this movie was definitely better than the first Spider-Man, with Alfred Molina absolutely owning the role of Doc Ock. Again, I'm glad he got to reprise his role from this movie in No Way Home, because he's that good. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are both terrific as Peter and Mary Jane, with Dunst definitely improving in the role in this movie. James Franco also improves as Harry in this movie, as well. Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons were great once more as Aunt May and Jameson, with Harris definitely having more to do in this movie than the first movie. 

         Other newcomers that I enjoyed were Dylan Baker as Curt Connors, who definitely fit the role quite well. Donna Murphy did really well as Rosie, and her death in the movie was definitely a shocking moment. I also enjoyed cameos by guys like Hal Sparks, Aziz Ansari, and Joel McHale. Of course, Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee have cameos as well, with Bruce appearance as the snobby usher, and Stan appearing as a bystander saving a woman's life during Spider-Man's first fight with Doc Ock. 

        The story was definitely had a lot more going on this time, but it never felt overstuffed or convoluted. Overall, Sam Raimi delivered on a sequel that is better in every way to it's predecessor. Therefore, I'm giving Spider-Man 2 a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off, and Marvel May will wrap up the Raimi-Maguire Spider-Man trilogy with easily one of the biggest superhero movie letdowns of my generation: Spider-Man 3.