I had a lot of high expectations going into the midnight showing for Spiderman 2. First, living up to the first movie. Second, washing away the horrible taste of other recent superhero movies (Punnisher and Hulk to name 2). Third, being worth a midnight run on a weeknight.

Spiderman 2 takes off just after Spiderman left off and hits all the right notes. Follow up on all the first movies plot lines? Check. Tons of spider action? Check. Mega-badguy plus fightscenes? Check. Better CGI? Yeah, its still got some pixels around the edges sort of feeling, but I barely noticed it. Check.

In all, this was a better movie. You didn't have to sit through the "Peter is a geek" and character introduction parts. Everybody is already known to the audience, minus the necessary intro to Doc Ock. The "great responsibility" angst is turned up, giving Peter a lot more depth as he lives his dual life. The ever-hammy Jameson is a riot, with just a touch of humanity thrown in and yanked right back out. Even the minor characters that add a lot depth, especially the heavyset black guy in the Bugle and Aunt May.

Add some humor on the side, some great arc development and a preview of Spidey 3 and I barely noticed getting home at 3am.