Sequels are very tricky. They're very hard to crack open, but every so often we do get a sequel that is better than the original like Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Aliens, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Dark Knight, and others.

Spider-Man 2 is one of them. The common thing among mostly all sequels is that bigger is better, that's not always the case, and that's where director Sam Raimi comes in, he does the opposite. He makes it smaller, more personal, but with big impactful moments.

Here we see a damaged Peter Parker, still full of guilt with the death of Uncle Ben, he's getting fired all the time and late to school because he's busy protecting New York as Spider-Man. His relationship between Harry and Mary Jane are deteriorating as he keeps disappointing them. In the end, he gives up his duties as Spider-Man, only to return to action when Doctor Octopus is threatening the city.

This movie in many ways is a coming of age story for Peter Parker. With a moving romantic subplot, Peter learns to accept his responsibilities as Spider-Man in the long run, and puts that first above all his desires including Mary Jane, and he also finds closure by telling Aunt May the truth about what happened on the night of Uncle Ben's murder. Tobey Maguire brings much depth and complexity to Peter Parker. A very fine performance by him showcasing the right amount of emotion in every single scene.

Alfred Molina is excellent here as Dr. Otto Octavius, also known as Doctor Octopus, whom Peter deems as his idol in the beginning of the film. What makes him such as awesome and likable villain, is that film allows you to like him from the beginning, and to see his downfall to villainy, then to a redeemable hero at the end makes an engaging story. Give credit to Raimi and his writing team, as they provide Doc Ock much needed flare.

Kirsten Dunst here is pretty good as Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane also get a lot time bickering at each other here. It's a very complicated and complex romance as she wants Peter and Peter wants her, but he can't cause of his duties as a crime-fighter. James Franco is great playing the a-hole friend. As an audience member it's very sad to see their friendship deteriorate as Harry questions Peter's loyalty to him or to Spider-Man.

The action serves the story here, it seamlessly transitions to action set pieces while still serving the narrative. Not to mention they are awesome. All the fights between Spidey and Doc Ock are an adrenaline rush, particularly the subway train fight. But with that being said, if you took out all the action sequences in this movie, you still have a very intriguing and moving story to watch. That's how good this film is.

Raimi and his crew of filmmakers did a tremendous job with Spider-Man 2. There are real human moments in this film, one of them involves Spidey and a group of civilians in the train. A real nice, tender, and human scene. Rosemary Harris as Aunt May even has a substantial role in the film as Peter's moral compass and she also has an action sequence in the middle of the film. J.K. Simmons is even better as J. Jonah Jameson this time around and has the film's funniest moments.

Everything in this film clicks on all cylinders. The music by Danny Elfman is better than ever, and also provides the film with lots of tender scores. The visual effects are better, Spidey's web-swinging abilities are better, the romance is better, the action is better, the sound mixing and editing is better, the story, the acting, just everything. It's pretty much a perfect film.

I for one thought it deserved just a little bit more from the Academy Awards other than winning the well deserved special effects award.

10/10

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is struggling to make ends meet and having a hard time keeping his secret. He can't even keep his pathetic pizza delivery job. Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) is having some success on Broadway. Meanwhile Harry Osborn (James Franco) hasn't lost his hatred of Spidey. He is now funding Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) and his work on fusion. However something goes wrong in his demonstration and a new villain is born.

Director Sam Raimi is able to inject a bit of spidey fun in this movie. The internal struggle in Peter Parker about his identity is very compelling. And Alfred Molina makes for a great villain. I especially like J.K. Simmons as Jameson. They're great characters. As for the CGI, they look very nice without looking like a video game. I like the arms and I like the web swinging. It's a well put together movie and may be even better than the first.

I really enjoyed the first film, despite its unevenness in the script, and its length. This sequel is almost as good as its predecessor, and for me one of the better sequels out there. If there is one thing that I do prefer over the original, despite the rather slow start, I do think this film has the stronger storyline. The script is in general very good too, but the only other real problem I have with this film is its length. Despite the flaws, it is a pretty darn good action sequel. Two things made this movie as wonderful as it was. One was that it was terrific visually and technically, with splendid special effects and jaw-dropping stunts. The final action sequence between Spiderman and Dr Octopus was in particular brilliantly staged. The cinematography is focused and makes the film even more a wonder to look at. The other was the villain Dr Octopus, superbly played by Alfred Molina. Dr Octopus is made into a rather complex villain, after the death of his wife Rosalie, and becomes a villain after being part of his own invention. The music was also dramatic and fun. The remainder of the performances were very good too, while not admittedly the most charismatic actors ever, (Sean Connery is definitely a contender for that) Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst still give believable lead performances. All in all, a very good sequel. 8/10 Bethany Cox