In 2002, director Sam Raimi and screenwriter David Koepp re-defined the superhero movie with Spider-Man. Remaining true to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's original creation, the filmmakers transferred an iconic character and story to the big screen with a level of care and detail calculated to please everyone from the most slavishly devoted fans to relative comic book neophytes.

That was just a warm-up. With Spider-Man 2, Raimi unleashes the big guns and delivers not only the undisputed best superhero movie of all time, but also a flat-out amazing film.

Spider-Man 2 picks up shortly after the events of the first movie. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is struggling to maintain his dual existence as a college student by day and a costumed crime-fighter by night. He's behind on his rent, perpetually late for his classes, and has fallen out of touch with love interest Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco). With the shadow of his uncle's death still hanging heavy over his head and heart, even Peter's relationship with his beloved Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) is strained.

When his superpowers start to fail him, Peter begins to question his purpose in life. With the sacrifices he has to make in order to be Spider-Man too much to bear, he is more than willing to use his loss of powers to give it up for good. Naturally, that doesn't last long.

Without your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to keep things in check, crime quickly spikes. But the bigger problem is Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), a talented scientist who goes mad after a freak accident fuses four mechanical arms to his body. With the entire island of Manhattan in jeopardy, Peter Parker is torn between leading the life he wants to lead and the life that has been forced upon him.

Spider-Man 2 outclasses its predecessor in almost every category.

As Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Maguire displays an almost uncanny understanding of the superhero psyche. He does equally well at playing the geeky Parker talking quantum physics as tossing off one-liners while battling evil as Spider-Man. While in the prior film he was more often forced to react and respond to situations, this time around he is both more confident and more decisive in driving the course of events.