Of course this is not the next Citizen Kane, but this has instantly become one of my favorite movies. The film combines so many different elements: drama, humor, romance, violence, and more. But instead of turning it into a horrible mish-mash, Sam Raimi has managed to create quite an epic here.

I don't want to give away too much of the story, but here's the gist of it. Peter Parker is facing quite an identity crisis. The love of his life is engaged to another man. His aunt can't pay her mortgage. He can't pay his rent. He still feels guilty about his uncle's death. He blames his crime-fighting activities for all this and decides that he is Spider-Man no more.

And then a maniacal super-villain comes along.

The effects are amazing (a HUGE improvement on the first film), but what really shines are the sincere performances by all of the actors involved. This movie just completely breaks free of its genre limitations, totally outdoing its only worthy competitor, X2 (and this review is coming from a person who prefers the X-Men comics to the Spider-Man ones).

It is an action-packed melodrama (and I mean that in a good way)...the best movie so far this year. Unless something really amazing comes along, this movie could quite possibly be the next "Raiders of the Lost Ark," allowing the snobbish Academy members to finally nominate an adventure film with just as much "meaning" as any character drama.

So, to get to the point...GO SEE THIS MOVIE...you won't be seeing anything better in the near future.