Spider-Man 2

"Spider-Man 2 is the best superhero movie since the modern genre was launched with Superman (1978). It succeeds by being true to the insight that allowed Marvel Comics to upturn decades of comic-book tradition: Readers could identify more completely with heroes like themselves than with remote godlike paragons. Spider-Man 2 is in another category: It's a real movie, full-blooded and smart, with qualities even for those who have no idea who Stan Lee is. It's a superhero movie for people who don't go to superhero movies, and for those who do, it's the one they've been yearning for. 4 out of 4."

- Roger Ebert

Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the second installment in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and the sequel to Spider-Man (2002), starring Tobey Maguire alongside Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, and Donna Murphy. Set two years after the events of Spider-Man, the film finds Peter Parker struggling to manage both his personal life and his duties as Spider-Man, which affects his civilian life dramatically. Meanwhile scientist and Peter's mentor Dr. Otto Octavius becomes a diabolical villain after a failed experiment kills his wife and leaves him neurologically fused to mechanical tentacles. Spider-Man must stop him from recreating the dangerous experiment while dealing with an existential crisis between his dual identities that appears to be stripping him of his powers.

Principal photography began in April 2003 in New York City and also took place in Los Angeles. Reshoots took place later that year and concluded in December.

Spider-Man 2 was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on June 30, 2004. It received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its emotional weight and visual effects, as well as Maguire and Molina's performances and Raimi's direction, and grossed $789 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of the year. The film won Best Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards, and was also nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing. The film is widely regarded as one of the greatest superhero films ever made and a blueprint for future movies in the genre. Its success led to Spider-Man 3 (2007). Maguire and Molina reprised their roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which dealt with the concept of the multiverse and linked the Raimi trilogy to the MCU.

Plot
Peter Parker is an unhappy man: after two years of fighting crime as Spider-Man, his life has begun to fall apart. The girl he loves is engaged to someone else, his grades are slipping, he cannot keep any of his jobs, and on top of it, the newspaper Daily Bugle is attacking him viciously, claiming that Spider-Man is a criminal. He reaches the breaking point and gives up the crime fighter's life, once and for all. But after a failed fusion experiment, eccentric and obsessive scientist Dr. Otto Octavius is transformed into super villain Doctor Octopus, Doc Ock for short, having four long tentacles as extra hands. Peter guesses it might just be time for Spider-Man to return, but would he act upon it?

Why It's Anything But Ordinary

 * 1) To this day, this is still considered to be a great follow-up to Spider-Man (2002), one factor being that this movie had better material to exploit than the first one. Many people also consider it to be one of the greatest sequels ever made as well as one of the best comic book movies ever.
 * 2) Tobey Maguire is still a good Spider-Man.
 * 3) Much like its predecessor, the posters are awesome.
 * 4) The comic book style used in opening credits is cool and interesting.
 * 5) It introduces new compelling themes such as Peter having to struggle between being a superhero and a normal guy.
 * 6) Alfred Molina was an excellent choice to play Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus and is now one of the most iconic comic book movie villains of all time.
 * 7) The one-issue comic, "Spider-Man No More!" was used as the main inspiration for the film with the emotional, iconic moment of Peter Parker throwing his Spider-Man suit into a trash can and walking away.
 * 8) An awesome alternative rock soundtrack featuring songs like "Vindicated" from Dashboard Confessional, "Ordinary" from Train and "Hold On" from Jet.
 * 9) The acting is great. Especially from Tobey Maguire went it comes to the emotional moments.
 * 10) Epic action scenes, such as the hospital scene where Otto's Arms kill all of the surgeons in the operating room, showing how dangerous they've become without the inhibitor chip suppressing them (This scene also show us how great Sam Raimi is when it comes to directing horror moments).
 * 11) Incredible visual effects on Doc Ock's mechanical tentacles. In some scenes, they're real mechanical arms that they created, and in other scenes they're puppets.
 * 12) Amazing score composed by the legendary Danny Elfman, who also composed the score for the first film.
 * 13) Memorable quotes, such as:
 * 14) *"Pizza time!"
 * 15) *"I WANT SPIDER-MAN!"
 * 16) *"I'm back!....My back!"
 * 17) *"Woah! He stole that guy's pizza!"
 * 18) *"Ladies and Gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts"
 * 19) *"The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand!"
 * 20) Funny cameo appearance by Bruce Campbell as the theater usher.
 * 21) The scene where Peter tells his Aunt May the truth about Uncle Ben's death is heartbreaking.
 * 22) Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus's fight on top of a speeding train is action-packed and became an iconic moment in the film. It could very well be the very best fight sequence in any Spider-Man movie.
 * 23) Much of the visual effects and cinematography have improved from the first film.
 * 24) Dr. Octopus' death and redemption was pretty sad and tragic.
 * 25) It sets in a good way Harry's arc for "Spider-Man 3" when he discovers that Peter is Spider-Man and may have been responsible for his father's death.
 * 26) The ending is incredibly fantastic and satisfying, with Peter Parker sharing a kiss with Mary Jane right before he becomes Spider-Man outside of New York.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Weak characterization, some examples include:
 * 2) *Peter Parker is still so socially awkward that he fails to capture Peter Parker's character development of growing out of being an awkward teen, and comes off as meek and wimpy throughout the movie. He's also pretty bland as Spider-Man. Throughout the film, he loses his jobs of delivering pizza and taking pictures for the Daily Bugle.
 * 3) *Mary Jane comes off as very unlikeable in this film, as she constantly and ruthlessly toys with Peter's feelings while not even showing the slightest concern for his well being, continuously dumping on Peter as if their relationship is crumbling all solely because of him, and rubs her engagement to John Jameson in Peter's face. She also has weak chemistry with Peter while dealing issues with her parents and her aunt Anna.
 * 4) **Even after she learns that Peter is Spider-Man, it doesn't make her any better.
 * 5) *Harry Osborne is really petty in this film as he spends most of his screen time complaining about how Spider-Man killed his father instead of trying to let it go while not thinking his father's death wasn't Spider-Man's fault, and he takes up drinking to numb his pain. Even though Harry didn't know Peter was Spider-Man at the time, there are scenes where he lashes at Peter and smacks him in the face as he acts as if the death of his father was Peter's fault.
 * 6) *Aunt May, who is usually portrayed as a kind morality figure, acts out of character in some parts of the film. Most notably the scene where Peter reveals to her that Uncle Ben's death was because of him, as instead of comforting Peter and telling him Uncle Ben's death wasn't his fault, she walks away from him and tells Peter later that they didn't have this conversation, which in turn would usually make someone feel even more guilty of their uncle's death.
 * 7) *J. Jonah Jameson's son, John Jameson, is a very uninteresting, forgettable, and pointless character who's only used as just a plot device and to be some guy that Mary Jane chases after when her relationship with Peter was crumbling, but he is not as annoying as his father.
 * 8) With the film constantly going out of its way to make Peter's life and relationship with his friends fall into shambles, along with it glossing over Mary Jane's selfish portrayal, the film comes off as very needlessly cynical and mean-spirited. It also takes up about almost the whole movie, while moments like this in the comics were only a small part of the story.
 * 9) * Peter's life struggles are also so exaggerated that it makes it come off as campy and unrealistic.
 * 10) Some of the acting can be cheesy, especially from the background characters, Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and James Franco as Harry Osborne.
 * 11) Some scenes that are meant to be serious are undermined by either campy or mean-spirited direction.
 * 12) The official movie trailer showed a lot of important plot points and scenes, like Peter quitting being Spider-Man and Harry unmasking him.
 * 13) Dr. Octopus' plan doesn't make any sense. He steals money to build his machine again, but if he's a criminal now anyways then he should have just saved time and steal the parts themselves.

Reception
Spider-Man 2 received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for the emotional weight and visual effects. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 274 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The consensus reads, "Boasting an entertaining villain and deeper emotional focus, this is a nimble sequel that improves upon the original." Metacritic awarded the film a score of 83 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Spider-Man 2.1
In April 17, 2007, Sony released an extended cut of Spider-Man 2, which added new scenes with 8 minutes of the film, as well as a sneak preview of the then-upcoming Spider-Man 3. It was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on April 17, 2007, and October 30, 2007.

Trivia

 * It has been confirmed that Bruce Campbell's cameos in the films are actually him playing Quentin Beck (aka Mysterio). He was planned to be in the cancelled fourth film.
 * Mysterio would eventually make a proper live-action debut as the main antagonist of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
 * Alfred Molina will reprise his role as Doctor Octopus in the third MCU Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: No Way Home.
 * An early draft had a younger Doc Ock, who has a relationship with Mary Jane, and his tentacles would have been endorphins, while revealing that Ock created the genetically-altered spider from the first film. So, Ock gives Peter the antidote to remove his Spider powers so that he cannot be dying with his tentacles and wants to extract his spine by himself to save. Also, Harry would have also have the Daily Bugle to hunt down Spider-Man for his father's death in the first film.
 * The Lizard and Black Cat were originally gonna appear in the film.
 * Danny Elfman didn't want to composed Spider-Man 2's soundtrack, though he composed it anyway, and he hated composing the film's soundtrack.
 * It spawned the "Pizza Time" meme along with other memes.
 * Considered to be Lukimus Prime’s favourite movie of all time.
 * The hot dog which Peter is eating in the scene where he watches two kids running across the street isn't a real hot dog; Tobey Maguire is actually a vegetarian. The "hot dog" he is eating is a tofu dog.

Videos
>TkWEkyHr7wU >jrP1SSNFMIE >H2oz8ETEg4E >5-8LO6kUQkI