How It’s Done?
When it comes to the Superhero genre of films in this modern day and age, it’s not uncommon to see successful Superhero films spawning sequels since there is such a demand for it to happen and the fact that studios like Marvel, have the financial repertoire to do that. However, the flip-side of having a sequel to a Superhero film can be it’s lack of quality and not sticking to the formula that the original production had. For a Superhero sequel to work properly, is to not only have this continuity of entertainment quality that was ever-present in the first film, but it also has to have a niche and innovative story-hook; something that ‘expands’ the story through the narrative of the film. In the case of Spider-Man 2, it’s a film that not only successfully manages to do this, but it uses this niche plot device in a manner that goes beyond the call of duty. To reiterate from my last review of Spider-Man, the character of Spider-Man/Peter Parker is one that is very iconic to not only the comic-book die hard fans, but also to the general consensus of film-goers and simplistic demographics. While it’s expected that you’re going to get your traditional action sequences that appeals to audience in a film like Spider-Man 2, it’s a film that doesn’t overly-rely on action pieces alone. Instead, Director Raimi very much hall-marks back to the original Spider-Man adaptations and focuses more on a human element to Spider-Man; what it means to be a hero whilst living your ordinary life as Peter Parker and this construct is done in original yet clear manner.
It’s been 2 years since Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) became Spider-Man and he is still trying to balance his life perfectly. He loses a job, faces financial difficulties and struggles to attend his physics classes. Estranged from both love interest Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), who is getting married to astronaut John Jameson and best friend Harry Obsorn, who intends to seek revenge on Spider-Man for his father’s death, Peter additionally discovers his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) is facing foreclosure. After missing Mary Jane’s debut play, things are so bad for him that Peter can’t live up to the responsibilities and decides to give it all up and never put on the suit ever again. But after a failed experiment, eccentric and obsessive scientist Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is turned into super villain Doctor Octopus, having 4 metal tentacles sticking out from his hand-made exo-spine. Sensing that he’s needed to become your friendly-neighbourhood Spider-Man once again, Peter return to web-slinging, but can he push himself to the limits to save the day?…
As briefly mentioned in the intro of this review, One of the aspects that I really appreciate seeing in this feature and in fact has been used in the previous Superhero films, most notably in Bryan Singers X-Men series of films, is how it adopts a lot of social elements into the story; rather than just being your generic and plain Superhero/action flick. Looking back at Spider-Man’s past iterations and how it goes about ‘telling the story’, Raimi’s sequel could have easily just been a simple yet boring tale of a ‘good-guy beats a bad-guy to save the day’ which Spider-Man in some T.V re-imaginations has been like. But one of the ways in which a good sequel succeeds, is having a new technique added in; whether it’s something film related with the camera, or most likely the story in which you want to expand the universe of the on-going story and add new elements for the protagonist. This ‘new’ technique in Spider-Man 2 is the character of Peter Parker and how he’s trying to balance out his life in his best way. I think looking at the first film that Raimi directed, it was always expected that it was going to focus more on the action set-plays than the actual story-development since Spider-Man’s origins is a element that everyone knows and it was a film that needed to make an impression with the action sequences which I think it did. If Raimi simply did the same thing in this film, then this review right about now would be drastically different. Don’t get me wrong, Spider-Man had snippets where these social elements were deployed such as the scene in which Peter and Uncle Ben are talking taking responsibility which Peter refutes but later realises that is the truth with the death of Uncle Ben. This theme of responsibility however specifically and very subtly creeps in to Spider-Man 2 with Tobey Maguire’s character of Peter, not being able to attend Mary Jane’s debut play or attending his college classes etc. The other theme that I got from Spider-Man 2 which serves to be an imperative one, is this idea of acceptance and simply letting go of things you can’t control. This of course is inclined with Peter since he can’t handle everything that’s going on in his life and ultimately, has to make the hard choice and accept the fact that he can’t become Spider-Man no more and the fact that he tells Aunt May about the truth of Uncle Ben’s demise. Later on however, this theme of acceptance gets successfully resolved as we find Aunt May talking about why Spider-Man matters and this general idea of role-models and hope. A good way a theme works in any film is to not only simply go through it in detail with the narrative and the characters, but also how in some cases, these themes can be resolved and abolished and Raimi does this perfectly in this feature.
Similar to what I just talked about in the previous paragraph, for a good sequel to work for the audience’s viewing pleasure, it has to have elements that are new and doesn’t become too similar to the previous entry. While I would go as far as saying that Raimi’s inclusion of these social themes are important and does offer a different dimension in watching a Superhero film, the way the action looks in Spider-Man 2 in comparison to the first film, overall looks a lot more clear and concise. Going into nit-picking mode, I remember thinking in the first film that the action always seemed a bit off despite the fact that it was made in the early 2000’s. The action-piece I specifically didn’t get to grips with at all is the first encounter between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin with the parade. The whole visualisation just seemed too panto-like and predictable. What also annoyed me was the amount of numerous times Spider-Man and Green Goblin faced off against each other which wasn’t needed at all. Like the social elements, Raimi does a consistent job of introducing the action and how it plays out. For instance, unlike the first film, there aren’t multiple occasions when the hero and the villain intertwine with each which is a god-send after recently watching the first film. In a very subtle way as well, you can actually tell what’s happening on screen when it comes to the fighting. The effects along with these scenes do actually make it more believable as well than the first of Raimi’s films. One thing that I was a little bid disappointed with was hardly no-use of the mixture of practical and CG effects which is one of the strongest reasons I liked Spider-Man. It was a good statement of intent to show that not all Superhero films need big-budget explosions and lengthy fight scenes which are deemed as ‘epic’. While thankfully Spider-Man 2 doesn’t that any of that whatsoever, it would have been better to see more innovative uses of the practical effects.
One of the major aspects I like going to this film is how Raimi dealt with the narrative and how it was paced. At the time of it’s release back in 2004, correct me if I am wrong, but Spider-Man 2 was one of those films that was a sequel that everyone watched, but mostly, people didn’t watch the first part, like myself. What I liked about the very first scenes of the film, is actually the opening credits of the film as it showed montage stills from the first film that were put in a chronological order to tell us what happened in the first film which I thought was very slick and smart of the film-makers to do. And being that this is Spider-Man, a character who undoubtedly is a hopeless romantic when it comes to Mary Jane Watson (and others as well), is that it doesn’t waste time in introducing the romantic element of this film/story as well. For example, the very first scene of the film starts with an inner monologue of Peter explaining why he can’t be with the woman he loves. Linking this with another point I have is how the characters are very consistent in terms of who they and what they represent and how juxtapose well with the structure of the narrative. Each actor/actress of this film very much stay true to the characters motives and personality. A good example would be that of J.K Simmons and his good job of playing J. Jonah Jameson. When you watch it back, Simmons was seriously just born to play that fun role who provides the quick wit of Jameson. Very much similar to that of Tobey Maguire as well with his role as Peter Parker. He simply has the look to play the role; while he can look geeky and nerdy, he does have this hidden strength to play a bad-ass role. The introduction to Doc Ock was the best thing I liked about the characterisation and the narrative structure. Normally when it comes Superhero sequels, some do have a tendency to go over-board with the origins of the 2nd villain as it takes a fair amount of time to bring that character up and make him/her a viable piece of the story. What I appreciate that Raimi did with Alfred Molina’s character was it basically took a scene too summarise his character when we see his character badly misjudging an experiment which turned him into the villain; subsequently resulting in another scene which echoes Tim Burton’s gothic Batman. The funny thing I find about this role as well and with other Superhero films as well is how you always see English actors play the antagonist roles. Like do Hollywood think of us as the bad guys all the time?!
I think in this day and age, the hardest film for a Director to go about and make is a Superhero sequel. Not only because of the demand and fan service it comes with, but also how it has to be a film that has all elements covered. While most Superhero films don’t disappointingly do that, there are a few acceptions. In the case of Raimi’s 2nd attempt with Spider-Man 2, thankfully it doesn’t fall into that pit. What I think everyone can appreciate from this film is how it’s not just simply a story of the good-guy saving the day and beating the villain. Raimi goes beyond the expectation and others a sophisticated social and human element to a story complex which in past iterations never truly explores these themes. Besides these themes, Raimi mostly checks the list with what a good sequel requires, and there aren’t many Superhero films that do this…
And on that note, it’s time for me to close this film review. As always, if you enjoyed reading today’s review of Spider-Man 2, feel free to drop a comment down below if you have an opinion on what I’ve said or on the film itself. A quick note just before I do depart, next week will be a Blog Update explaining what’s going on with me and future Blog Posts I will evidently do. Simply I’m reaching a critical point at Uni where I have to be on top of my work and so I will talk about this Blog and when I can Posts etc. Besides that though, thank you for reading my film review as always, you guys are the best. I’ll see you all next week with the Blog Update. Until then, have a good week!!!
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte