Being a superhero was never easy. I suppose Sam Raimi liked melancholy movies, ever since he made A Simple Plan. Melancholy, or sadness, was the main point of the movie. "It's the superhero movie for people who don't go to superhero movies," Roger Ebert says.

There is a bit of a melancholy element behind the sequel to the Spider-man. Peter Parker faces numerous personal problems, which bring down his self-esteem and bring in a whole lot of dialogue. (Which I didn't think was corny!) First of all, there is Harry. If you can re-call the first movie, Harry is still upset about the death of daddy. He knows Spider-man is connected to it, but doesn't know that Peter is Spider-man. Now, he wishes to take revenge on Peter Parker a.k.a Spider-man. So much for being a best friend! Next in line, is Mary Jane. Apparently being a superhero isn't all it's cracked up to be. There seems to be so much trouble, Peter can never arrive in time for his appointments. Sadly, one of them is Mary's play, which Peter has promised to see, but can never make it! And to think that Peter and Mary Jane almost had a relationship. Too bad she's getting married to somebody else.

Every superhero needs a villain, and Doctor Octopus is the one for Peter. After his experiment goes wrong, he accidentally fuses four metal tentacles onto his back. Now, crazed to finish his failed experiment, he puts the city in danger. Poor Peter. Only superheroes can stop the super villains. Now he must defeat Doc Ock. Add that to the "to do" list.

What more can we pile on?!?! Sadly, Peter there's much more. His grandma doesn't trust him, his grades are dropping, he can't even pay the rent and his stress even results in drastic consequences. Wow, after saving the lives of all those innocent people, so much bad happens to him! I wonder if karma does actually exist. Well, at least not in movies.

Spider-man 2 is a definite improvement on the first. Sam combines drama with action sequences to help the those with short attention spans.I hope Raimi has a lot more in store for us, because this is solid proof that sequels can live up to, or even surpass the originals. I just wish the film wasn't so darn predictable!

8/10