Spider-Man 2 (In Theaters)
Published August 05, 2004
I can't tell you, that is, without spoilers. The movie has been out for a while now, so the spoilers probably won't bother most people, but just in case you really don't want to know anything about the film and still haven't seen it, stop reading now.
For the rest of you, consider this: Doc Ock is told that he can exchange Spider-Man for the tritium he needs, and is given Peter Parker's name as the way to find Spider-Man. Put yourself in Doc Ock's shoes now. You know that Peter Parker is a good student with a very sharp mind. You've met him, even befriend him. Granted, you're a villain now, but you still remember who he is. Perhaps you know that Peter takes photos of Spider-Man and therefore probably knows where he is. Harry gave you his name as a possible lead, and for all you know, Peter Parker is the one and only prospect you have for tracking doesn Spider-Man. So what do you do now?
You throw a car at him!
Wha-a-a? Sure, it makes for a marvelous action scene and replaces the romantic tension that had been building with a new tension, but it just doesn't make sense. Think about it: If Peter Parker wasn't Spider-Man, he would be dead! Doc Ock shouldn't have known Peter was Spider-Man, so he shouldn't have tried to kill his only lead! Unless, maybe, his arms knew? Not!
Unfortunately, that gaping huge plot hole soured my mood so that when Spider-Man does show up and wage battle with Doc Ock, I kept wondering, "Why?" If the goal is to capture Spider-Man, why the cat-and-mouse game? Why did Ock first attack, then retreat, etc? Had I not been thinking about his motivation already, I might not noticed the problems here. The two superheroes fight as superheroes do, and we move on. But it just didn't make sense unless Doctor Octopus knew exactly how it would all end. Only looking back can we say that Doc Ock obviously did that in order to wear Spidey out and set up a "you or them" scenario. Looking forward, Doc Ock couldn't know that was how it would turn out. Since Ock's abilities didn't include prescience.
If you can enjoy the film without thinking about the fact that Doc Ock does things that make no sense at all in order to create some great action scenes, more power to you. I think I can, but it is a struggle. And it's too bad, because however much more thought would have been required to make that scene make sense would have been worth it. Perhaps the next film will avoid this problem.
Spider-Man 2 - In Theaters Now
Genre: Action
Watchability: Even wrestling with plot issues, I still enjoyed the film quite a bit.
Philosophy: "With great power comes great responsibility" is still the theme.
Suitability: Violent in one extended scene, but otherwise generally G-rated.
Overall: 4/5
(This review first appeared at W6 Daily: Toe Fungus On Toast)
- Spider-Man 2 (In Theaters)
- Published: August 05, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Action, Video: SF
- Writer: Phillip Winn
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i thought Spider-Man 2 was amazing, i gotta say. Raimi let loose and delivered something utterly astounding. And The Hulk was a masterpiece too, man.
For me, the Hulk was totally disappointing, Duke, so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on a couple points. I mean could there have possibly been a more fake CGI-looking Hulk?
I gave it a C+ grade which I thought was being kind.
I'm guessing that those who disliked the TV series Hulk liked the movie and vice versa.
Put me in the latter crowd because I happened to like the TV series with Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk and Bill Bixby as Dr. Banner. It was more human and real (well, except for the Ferrigno body suit) than the movie. The movie had a horrible ending (was there even an ending?). I realize the story goes on, but they didn't find a good seam for closure in the Hulk movie.
As I said in another thread, Hulk and Iron Man were my favorite comics as a kid so I wanted to like Hulk more than any of the comic adaptions to date. Unfortunately -- for me -- it just didn't work.
I am hoping Iron Man fares better than Hulk.
TDavid, i understand your reasoning, but i honestly thought the cinematography, the visual invention on display elevated it to some kind of wonderful plateau. I think Hulk not being the most realistic fella in the world added to the comic-book aesthetic and what not.
You might find this interesting;
The Duke On Ang Lee's Hulk Film
I actually thought the CGI in Spiderman 2 was aweful. It seemed like they used the same technology as part 1 but tried to do more with it. Like the scene where Doc Oc carries off MJ, it was so obvious to the point of making me cringe.
Phillip, here's another thing about Doc Oc that I noticed and want to add to your complaints. I don't know exactly, but gathering from just the film itself, I was under the impression that besides Doc Oc's 4 mechanical arms, the rest of his body was HUMAN. So following by that, wouldn't his body being thrown into a car or being punched repeatedly by Spiderman's superhuman strength cause some major pain in his human body?
Besides that, I was unnerved by the ending. The fact that Harry (his supposed best friend) knows about him, but yet he never bothers to go back and explain anything to Harry, what's up with that? I know this may be done in part 3, but part 2's ending looked like Peter just moved on with his life with MJ without ever talking to Harry.
That's enough of that for now I guess. Oh by the way, I actually liked Daredevil. I think most people that don't like it can't seem to get past the fact that Ben Affleck was in it, but who knows.
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I thought Spiderman-2 was entertaining but I liked the first one better. I sort of blame this to sequelitis that plagues all sequels. Not the over-the-top action scenes though that bothered me, the second one was a bit too sappy. Still, as far as action flicks go I'd put it up there among the best of the recent comic-to-theater translations.
Compare it to say Daredevil or Hulk and it's a masterpiece.