It has often been the case with me that movies and events never seem to live up to the hype that I allow myself to be drawn in to. I remember collecting everything I could find that had "Batman Forever" on it before the movie came out, reading the book, listening to the soundtrack, getting all the glasses from McDonald's, etc, making a T-shirt to wear on opening night, then burning the thing shortly after and using the glasses to serve cat food. Complete and total dissapointment was an understatement at the time. Needless to say, I have been cautious since then, trying not to expect too much from any one movie. After all, it's just a movie, right?

It's safe to say that I took a very careful approach to the first Spider-man, trying not to expect too much, but knowing I had high hopes nonetheless. It's almost impossible as a dedicated Evil Dead fan to not want Sam Raimi to do well, to rise to directorial prominance among the Hollywood elite. I can't say this was done with the first movie, but it was pretty darn close; Spider-man was an excellent movie and I expected the same from #2.

To my surprise, Spider-man 2 was not everything I could have imagined; it was more. I was on a roller coaster of emotion from the opening credits to the final spidey slinging sequence.

Writing this, I'm having a hard time trying to think of anything bad in the entire movie. I don't think enough can be said about the action and special effects. The fight sequences were original, fast-paced, and flat-out amazing. The motion was extremely fluid and it was hard to figure out where the actors ended and the cgi began. The story was off-the-charts. Characters were developed in full and the actors executed the roles to perfection (I couldn't imagine anyone else playing any of the characters; casting was meticulous and flawless).

Other reviews will talk about what happened in the movie, the Evil Dead homage paid by Sam Raimi, the crookedness of Kirsten Dunst's teeth, and whatever else they want to talk about. But I'm done, save this last comment: having cried the entire movie because of the sadness, happiness, giddiness, horror, and wonder I experienced during this work of art, I can safely say that it was the greatest movie I have ever seen in my life.

And stop making references to Superman 2.