…DOES WHATEVER A SPIDER CAN!

We took in Spiderman 2 on Friday nite. We went with incredibly high expectations. So high in fact, you could even say they were on a global level (like this one movie could bring about world peace. Yes, that high). Our expectations were met and surpassed! Except for the world peace part (I was just joshing you about that).

I know that there is a lot of press about how great the movie is (better’n the first even), and well, the movie deserves it. I think what I will do is touch upon some of the things that really impressed me about it.

The opening credits. I thought if the rest of the movie sucked, this was going to be the best opening I’ve ever seen. And a very special, “Wow, that was great!” to the person who came up with it because it was perfect. The opening credits were a series of cartoon sketches recapping the important plot points from the first movie. An incredibly simple and effective way to bring everyone up to speed for this picture.

The story. I know as I write this, it sounds stupid to me to hear about a comic book character referred to this way, but…it was so much a more real story. Everything didn’t go well for Peter Parker, superhero, there was a lot of regular everyday shit, pretty much like in real life. Peter gets worn down by that. And that is so real. Great story.

And a couple of the standout characters. First, J. Jonah Jamison (played by J.K. Simmons) editor of the Daily Bugle. There is a kind of rush when you’re watching someone who loves what they’re doing and you can see and feel the joy they have playing the part. The DVD for the first movie included Simmons’ audition for the part and you could tell right from the get go that he was the best for this part and that he was going to make the most of it. And Alfred Molina! I had seen him in some other things (Species and Boogie Nights) and new how well liked he is by the movie going public, but I never saw him in a part like this before. It is so rare that an actor can range from pure good (renaissance academic) to pure evil (ultimate power without conscience), and he did it so beautifully.

All the characters had more depth this time around and again, an even better story.

Yes, I know I been talkin’ all the la-dee-da story stuff, yet another great thing was that the special effects didn’t get in the way of the movie. Gotta tell ya though, the fight on the train was wicked awesome. Everything looked real enough for you to forget. Many thanks Tobey Maguire and all those who worked on this picture because right from the first frame on my disbelief was completely suspended.