I for one was not totally blown away by the first Spider-Man film. Yes, it is a good comic to film, but somehow I just didn't get caught up in all the hoopla. That was changed with Spider-Man 2. This film took the successful elements from the first (character and acting) and pushed it up another notch.

We were given again only 1 new villain, this saved much needed time to flesh out Peter Parker/Spider-Man as well as further the other story lines going on with those surrounding Peter. The struggle that Peter goes through; should he or shouldn't he sacrifice his life for others, is handled beautifully here. You feel that struggle. He may be a "superhero", but he is still just a kid trying to sort out his life. A life that seems to sucker punch him every single day. I thought this was the most logical step to take the franchise after the introduction in the first.

The special effects this time were much improved over the first. Many times I was taken out of the moment in the first film because the effects looked to much like effects and were not natural. That is still a problem from time to time here again, but by in large a much better outing.

Story, performances, effects, all were improved in the 2nd installment, something we just don't see happen a lot. One of the best comic to film productions ever in my opinion.