Two years have passed, and the mild-mannered Peter Parker faces new challenges as he struggles with "the gift and the curse," desperately trying to balance his dual identities as the web-slinging superhero Spider-Man and his life as a college student. Tormented by his secrets, Peter finds that his relationships with all those he holds dear are in danger of unravelling. His life-long yearning for M.J. (Kirsten Dunst) becomes even stronger as he fights the impulse to reveal his secret life and declare his love. His friendship with Harry Osborn (James Franco) is complicated by the young Osborn`s bitterness over his father`s death and his growing vendetta against Spider-Man. Even Peter`s beloved Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), who has fallen on hard times after the death of Uncle Ben, begins to have doubts about her nephew.

Review of Spider-Man 2 by Christopher Pattison

With the success of ‘Spider-Man’ there was always going to be a sequels. Sequels are always tricky business, very rarely does a sequel come along that manages to capture the same tone and feel of the first film and many end up flopping. ‘Spider-man 2’ is one of those rare sequels. This films manages to capture the elements that worked on the first film and dial them to eleven. This is perhaps my favourite comic book film of all time. Spider-Man 2 manages to capitalise on everything that worked in the first film whilst also expanding on those elements, to create something new entirely. Peter’s personal life takes a beating in this film, he is letting everyone down, his best friend hates him because he thinks that he is hiding Spider-Man’s identity from him, Mary-Jane is sick of Peter letting her down and doesn’t want to wait for him anymore ad he is failing college. Nothing is going right and when Peter’s personal life is taking a hit, so his life as Spider-Man. His losing his powers…

What I like about this film is that it shows the weight of responsibility, being a superhero is hard work and it takes a toll on every aspect of your life and this film showcases that very well. The film also has a great villain in Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus) played by the devilishly charming Alfred Molina. Doc Oc really captures the campy tone of the film whilst also providing levity as well to the overarching story, he isn’t a villain at heart but has turned into one due to his hubris. The action sequences in this film are also phenomenal, my favourite sequence is Doc Oc v Spider-man on the train. It still holds up remarkably well and looks amazing in 4K UHD. The sequence where the train goers find out his identity and their reaction to this. All of it is just fantastic. Tobey Maguire is great once again as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He finds the balance between both personalities and makes it his own, he is nervous and quiet as Peter and confident and outgoing as Spider-Man. I think he really nails it here and this is by far my favourite portrayal of the character in a film to this day. J.K. Simmons again is amazing as J.Jonah Jamieson. Every line out of his mouth is pure gold and every time I find myself laughing out loud. There is so much to unpack in these first three Spider-Man films and all of it comes down to the masterful direction from Mr Sam Raimi. Raimi again understands the character using some of the techniques that he has popularised over the years including, the fast-zooms, the wide-angle shots and even touching on his horror background with the scene in the hospital where the doctors are trying to remove the arms from Doc Oc. Its great stuff and I don’t think any director will be able to capture this kind of cinematic brilliance again with this character. I cannot recommend this movie enough, it is one of the best blockbuster films of all time and I am giving Spider-Man 2 a 10/10. Pick this one up on 4K UHD today, it is by far the best this film has ever looked!

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