Spider-Man 2
A lot has changed since we last left Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire). He's in college now pursuing his love for science while work, school, and being Spider-Man preclude him from persuing his love for Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). MJ is the star of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" while friend Harry (James Franco) runs the company inherited from his father. Harry is currently funding the project of Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is which his fusion project would generate massive amounts of energy if harnassed correctly. Yet the demonstration goes awry and Dr. Octavius is stuck with the robotic arms needed to control his project. Without the inhibitor chip, it is more correct to say the robotic arms control him. As a result, he decides to build his project again. Meanwhile, MJ is put off by Peter's lack of attention for her and runs off with an astronaut. All of this has a profound effect on Peter, affecting his senses and webbing and considers giving it up. But will the lure of fighting crime be enough to bring him back?

While billed as an action movie, director Sam Raimi and the screenwriters were obsessed with teasing the love story between MJ and Peter. Yes, it is necessary to tell, but it soon came to the point where I was indifferent to what happened to them. And one of my pet peeves about movies is when they foreshadow to the next movie and here in this film, it is obviously blatant. Yet, one look at Spider-Man shooting webs at buildings and flying right past them will have you hooked. I mentioned in the first film that if the sequel could get a villain better than the Green Goblin, the movie would be better and Dr. Octavius is a better one at that, even if his screen time is limited. Molina makes the most of his Gollum-like performance and the fighting scenes at times exceed the level of the first, but you'll have to wait a little while for them. It is a fine sequel with its trademark humor, some nice special-effects wizardry, and Spider-Man himself. Can't wait for the third one; at least we know what the story will be. 3 stars