In Spider-Man 2, the latest installment in the blockbuster Spider-Man series, based on the classic Marvel Comics hero, Tobey Maguire returns as the mild-mannered Peter Parker, who is juggling the delicate balance of his dual life as college student and a superhuman crime fighter. Peter’s life becomes even more complicated when he confronts a new nemesis, the brilliant Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) who has been reincarnated as the maniacal and multi-tentacled “Doc Ock.” When Doc Ock kidnaps MJ (Kirsten Dunst), Spider-Man must swing back into action as the adventure reaches new heights of unprecedented excitement.

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

On the DVD
Spider-Man 2.1 features eight minutes of new footage incorporated into the movie, including a longer, less-adversarial conversation between Harry and Peter at the birthday party, more from comedian Hal Sparks in the elevator scene, more fighting with Doc Ock, and a goofy appearance by J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man costume. While the new scenes are interesting to watch and add some laughs, they don’t justify a second purchase of the movie. The bonus features are new but underwhelming. The commentary track by producer Laura Ziskin and screenwriter Alvin Sargent (there were two different commentaries on the original two-disc Spider-Man 2) is rather dull and only tangentially mentions what we’re most interested in–the new scenes. A 12-minute featurette on the second disc does discuss those, while another congratulates the visual-effects crew for their Oscar. Also included: 30 minutes of visual-effects analysis, a multi-angle look at Danny Elfman’s score, and a pop-up trivia track. –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)

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