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List Price: $14.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 4183
Released: November 30, 2004 |
| Our Price: $1.59 |
| Used Price: $0.01 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gives up his crime-fighting identity of Spider-Man in a desperate attempt to return to ordinary life and keep the love of MJ (Kirsten Dunst). But a ruthless, terrifying new villain, the multi-tentacled Doc Ock, forces Peter to swing back into action to save everything he holds dear.
Description of Spider-Man 2 (Widescreen Special Edition):
More than a few critics hailed Spider-Man 2 as "the best superhero movie ever," and there's no compelling reason to argue--thanks to a bigger budget, better special effects, and a dynamic, character-driven plot, it's a notch above Spider-Man in terms of emotional depth and rich comic-book sensibility. Ordinary People Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent received screenplay credit, and celebrated author and comic-book expert Michael Chabon worked on the story, but it's director Sam Raimi's affinity for the material that brings Spidey 2 to vivid life. When a fusion experiment goes terribly wrong, a brilliant physicist (Alfred Molina) is turned into Spidey's newest nemesis, the deranged, mechanically tentacled "Doctor Octopus," obsessed with completing his experiment and killing Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) in the process. Even more compelling is Peter Parker's urgent dilemma: continue his burdensome, lonely life of crime-fighting as Spider-Man, or pursue love and happiness with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst)? Molina's outstanding as a tragic villain controlled by his own invention, and the action sequences are nothing less than breathtaking, but the real success of Spider-Man 2 is its sense of priorities. With all of Hollywood's biggest and best toys at his disposal, Raimi and his writers stay true to the Marvel mythology, honoring Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and setting the bar impressively high for the challenge of Spider-Man 3. --Jeff Shannon
DVD Features:
The first commentary track is by director Sam Raimi and a self-deprecating Tobey Maguire speaking in tandem, and producer (and Marvel CEO) Avi Arad and coproducer Grant Curtis speaking in tandem. They discuss a number of topics, including Raimi's memory of his excitement over Richard Donner's Superman and how the character of Black Cat had to be dropped from the film. The second commentary is by six members of the Oscar-nominated effects team, and one of their primary focuses is how Doc Ock's arms were achieved by a combination of puppetry and CGI.
The centerpiece of the second disc is a massive two-hour documentary that can be viewed all at once or in 12 separate pieces. It covers the development of the story, the visual effects, costumes, stunts, and sound and music. Three shorter featurettes cover Peter Parker's struggle between his personal and hero lives, Doc Ock, and the women in Spider-Man's life, and what's interesting is how they discuss those topics not just in relation to the movies but to the comic books as well. (For example, Betty Brant and Gwen Stacy had a much greater impact in the comics.) There's a scene in which you can toggle among three different camera angles, and a gallery of 17 paintings Alex Ross created for the opening sequence. The sound and picture are spectacular, though only the Superbit edition has DTS. --David Horiuchi
More Spiderman on DVD
The Spiderman Toy Store |
The First Film |
Spider Man on the small screen |
The Soundtrack |
Game Boy Advance |
The Book |
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Stills from Spider-Man 2 (click for larger image)
Spider-Man 2 (Widescreen Special Edition) Reviews:
"Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body. What are the odds?" 
2009-11-24 - In 2002, Sam Raimi made a Saturday morning cartoon.
In 2007, Sam Raimi made an unabashed piece of s***.
In 2004, Sam Raimi made an actual film with a story.
I could really relate to Peter Parker's plight when I saw Spider-Man 2 theatrically. During that time, I was lazy and always late; disappointing my professors and yes, even employers. I was brilliant but couldn't quite pull it together. It's nice to be reminded of an actual personal connection I had to a superhero character.
I'm tempted to make an erectile dysfunction joke about Toby Maguire losing his powers but that isn't the right metaphor so I won't.
Spider-Man 2 has uncommonly witty, intentionally funny dialogue for the comic book movie genre. Here are some of my favorite exchanges:
Peter: "I've been reading poetry lately."
Mary Jane: "Whatever that means."
Miss Brant: "Sir, your wife's on the line, she said she lost her checkbook."
J. Jonah Jameson: "Thanks for the good news!"
And of course, anything from Mr. Ditkovich, the humorous, debt-obsessed Russian landlord for Peter's apartment building:
Ditkovich: "Rent!"
Peter: "Hi."
Ditkovich: "Hi? What's hi? Can I spend it?"
Ditkovich: "If promises were crackers, my daughter would be fat."
A happy, glasses-wearing, 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' montage is infinitely better than Spider-Man 3's jackass, emo-hair Saturday Night Fever montage.
High points: Alex Ross' spectacular opening title design, Ditkovich and his family (including a cameo by Louis Lombardi aka Edgar Stiles from 24), an Evil Dead-style hospital massacre, Alfred Molina, J.K. Simmons, Doc Ock lighting a cigar with one of his tentacles, the lakeside climax and "Go get 'em, tiger".
Low points: James Franco's acting, Aunt May's 30-minute monologue, little "Henry" the plot device, a mask-less Spider-Man saving dozens of saintly train passengers (in a Crucifix pose) who promise to keep his secret safe.
This superior sequel ends on a curiously dark, almost chilling music cue and a worried look on Kirsten Dunst's face that left me feeling a bit uneasy.
Spider-Man 2. 
2009-10-26 - A little Better than the First, Alot Better than Part 3 that's for sure. Good Movie, Although I can't get over why this guy plays Spider-Man/Peter Parker. Good Spidey Flick and great to watch along with Part 1.
Super Sequel
2009-10-17 - Usually studios make sequels to mine an already played out vein. By keeping the same actors and continuing the franchise with a relatively short delay, the continuity made the film work. Fine performances by the leads were enhanced by the tremendous special effects. An excellent movie not just a weak rip off of an earlier work.
Excellent, excellent, excellent!
2009-08-12 - Excellent, excellent, excellent! Spider-Man 2 not only maintains the extroadinary story telling, action, and acting from the previous film, but it improves! It is arguably the best Marvel film of all time! (X-Men 2 is in this same category). From beginning to end, Spider-Man 2 is an inspiring and exciting tale that will have you wanting to watch again and again.
Like I said about the first film, the best part about this film is its story. One of the best things about this film are Spider-Man's struggles. Spider-Man is caught up on whether he should live a normal life or live as Spider-Man. Both come with their positives and negatives, and Spider-Man doesn't know what to do. The stress that he has to deal with is something of us have to deal with. Choices are very important, and sometimes it can be hard to make the right choice.
The other great thing about this film is the villain. Whereas the Green Goblin in the previous film was just utterly insane and evil, Doc Ock fights for a greater cause. He believes what he is doing is right, even if he is being controlled by his mechanic arms. With a villain that you can feel sorry for, Dok Ock brings further emotion and excitement to the story.
All in all, Spider-Man 2 is a must see for both fans and newcomers alike.
The fuse of fusion is melting
2009-06-05 - The action is always simple and direct : save the victims of the bad guy. The method is always the same: stop the bad guy's mechanics by throwing a few strings in its gears. The rest of it is building up a network, in that case a cobweb. But this is a film, not an electronic game and we are at the cinema not in front of a game console. So the film adds a good layer of sentimental events and feelings. The girl friend from far behind. She is afraid and fascinated. She is jealous and possessive. She is maybe adult and open-minded. That kind of stuff gives to the film some interesting dimension. In the same way, in this film in particular, the super hero loses and even chooses to lose his powers, for a while at least. This whole dimension of a normal guy, a normal boy capable of normal feelings and cowardice is exploited here to reveal the other super-hero dimension is both a choice and a responsibility, a responsible choice and a chosen responsibility. Then the film can work as a film and not a dumb computer game. Then the bad guy has a new dimension. He is the self-victimized inventor of a machine that will destroy the world. But keep in mind that the solution to sink that nuclear fusion machine in order to kill it is rather primitive in intellectual value. But it is full of emotional pulpy strength. The fear of nuclear power is also typical of the beginning of this century when the oil companies were still the masters of the energetic game. We have since then entered the final stage of that oil dominance and we have to consider other solutions, particularly that do not produce carbon dioxide. It is also a reflection of a way of thinking in these 2002-2006 years: nuclear energy was only seen from the American point of view as basically criminal either in the hands of criminal individuals (that's the case here) or in the hands of criminal states. Luckily this dimension is aging pretty fast.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, CEGID
