Spider-Man 2

"I believe there's a hero in all of us." Each and every time I revisit it, it just astounds me how great Spider-Man 2 is. It almost completely destroys the first one. It steps up its game in almost every single aspect. The direction is better, the score is better, the themes are better, the balance of grit and camp is better, the cast is better, the action is better, the villain is better. Although I am of the maybe controversial opinion that the first film is a classic more so because of its legacy than because of the contents within the movie itself, there's no denying that this one is absolutely flawless. If I had to come up with one flaw, maybe Franco is still inconsistent as Harry. Sometimes he's in a real movie, sometime he's in Power Rangers. But that's it. Criticisms stop there. Spider-Man 2 is like Good Will Hunting if Matt Damon ans Stellan Skårsgard occasionally brawled all throughout Boston. Seriously, this movie is all character. All character motivations, character desires, their goals. It's so focused on being about people living their lives that the superhero stuff almost becomes the least interesting aspect. Almost. But that third act is so incredibly thrilling and unrelentingly entertaining that it sweeps you right along for the ride. The MVP of the whole movie is the man behind the camera. Sam Raimi is an incredible director, who understands style like almost no other. His portrayal of New York City is so full of life and charismatic small time characters, watching them react to their wall crawling hero is a joy. And it's also a joy to watch Spider-Man fly across the Big Apple, the camera flowing in such a rapid and fluid manner all through each and every thrill ride moment. That fight scene on top of the train is stunning. The brawl on the clock tower? Stunning. The moment where Otto's arms unleash for themselves and slaughter the operating room? Horrific. But stunning. Sequence after sequence that just floors the audience, looks like a splash sequence out of a trade paperback. Raimi's cast all step up immeasurably. Tobey Maguire remains the perfect Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Tonight I watched the 2.1 extended cut and there's so many more moments when he shines both masked and unmasked. The absolutely standout is when he confesses to May about what really happened the night Ben died. Him and Rosemary both command that entire scene. Kirsten Dunst is also excellent. When I was younger, I viewed her as unreasonably cruel to Peter. But as an adult, you see her frustration with the man that keeps standing her up and you understand exactly why she's so fed up. And J.K. Simmons is once again picture perfect as J. Jonah Jameson. Every single comedic beat he's a part of lands exactly as you want it to. Standout actor, though, of course is Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius. Endearing from the first moment you meet him, like a mentor that had always looked out for and wanted you to achieve greatness. You don't want him to turn evil, you don't want him to succumb to the mechanical voices droning in his head. When he finally looks at the machine causing so much destruction and vows not to die a monster? Pure perfection. It's so bizarre to me how Sam Raimi went from a campy, dated but entertaining blockbuster to arguably the first of the genre to really, truly crack the glass ceiling and become world class cinema. Spider-Man 2 fires on all cylinders from the moment it begins to the moment it ends. Sam Raimi's best movie. The best Marvel movie. The second best superhero movie. One of the best movies of the 2000s. Just perfect. Totally perfect.