When I heard a sequel was being made to the original Spider-Man movie, I admit that I had my doubts as to whether it could be pulled off. Sure, Raimi and co. did a great job with the first movie, creating not only a faithful comic book adaptation, but a great movie in its own right, but the usual 'sequel issue' looms into view: a well done and successful movie is made, but then the sequel is rushed out a year or two later which turns out to be less than successful, and the entire series is remembered on a bad note. I liked the idea of a Spider-Man 2, but I didn't want it to ruin the memory of the original. Turns out I had nothing to worry about at all.

Raimi bestows upon us a masterpiece, easily equaling if not surpassing the first in quality and enjoyability. Unlike most sequels, which turn out with a very shabby plot, attempted to be covered up by stuffing in as much action as they possibly can, we actually spend more time with Peter Parker out of costume than behind the mask of Spider-Man. These long sequences spent with Peter Parker's friends and family as he struggles to solve his various personal problems risk losing our attention, but fortunately, Spider-Man will rush out to beat on some criminals at just the right moment to keep us interested.

Raimi himself uses the directorial freedom granted by a sequel to allow his quirky sense of humour to permeate the film much more visibly than in the first movie. He uses techniques such as having the scene go entirely black except for the eye of Spider-Man's costume as a scene transition, or having the camera perform a dissolve effect, representing Doc Ock's progressing insanity. Such liberties you can't usually get away with in a movie, but Raimi finds a way to make them work. However, the main problem I had with Spider-Man 2 is that the 'slow scenes' drag on far too long. Far too much time is devoted to nothing but Peter Parker walking along the street, or running with a determined look on his face, without even any dialogue. I think these parts should have been edited down to about a quarter of their length, to decrease the likelihood of them appearing boring, unnecessary and out of place.

The visual effects are much improved - Spidey looks and moves better than ever! And the addition of Dr Octopus and his four metal tentacles to the script gives the FX people plenty to play around with. The tentacles were apparently part puppetry and part CGI, but however they did it, the tentacles looked and acted excellent. This also opened up an opportunity for much more intense fight scenes than in the first movie, with Doc Ock and Spidey crawling up and down the walls, bashing at each other all the while.

Unlike the Batman series, which threw in new actors every time, destroying any sense of continuity, all the principal actors from the first film return to play their characters once more. As the man behind the mask (for part of the time anyway) Tobey Maguire gives another solid performance. (in spite of what British Tabloids have to say about him out of character) He offers a lot more insight into the character of Peter Parker, and the motives that drive him. Kirsten Dunst gives a decent performance as Mary-Jane Watson, but she seems bored in her role, as if she would rather be just about anywhere else at the time, which doesn't help us realize what it is about her that makes Peter love her so. J.K. Simmons, however, gives another enthusiastic performance as the wonderfully horrible J. Jonah Jameson, number one tormentor in Peter Parker's dual life.

Noticeable improvements can be seen in the performances of James Franco and Rosemary Harris. Harris as Peter's kindly Aunt May breathes a lot more life into her character this time round as the sole parental figure in Parker's life, ultimately becoming his inspiration for continuing to be Spider-Man.

Franco has a real mess of a character to handle in Harry Osborn. Consumed by a lust for vengeance upon Spider-Man, who he believes murdered his father, and trying to take up his father's mantle at the family company, Oscorp, Harry is, whether he realizes it or not, becoming an exact copy of his father. This becomes more clear by the end of the movie. (you'll have to see it for yourself to figure out how) Franco conveys all these emotions convincingly, contrary to the shallow job he did on the first movie. It's good to see him improving as an actor.

However, the show stealing performance has to go to Alfred Molina as multi-armed super villain Dr. Octopus. Molina does a spectacular job, perfectly inhabiting the complex character of Otto Octavius. What could have been a campy performance by someone else is a heartfelt and charismatic one in the hands of Molina. By spending some time with Otto and his wife and sensing the love that resonates between them, we know that he isn't really evil - just driven and determined that his 'dream for mankind' will succeed. It's just a darned shame that it seems like his character was stuffed into the script at the last moment just so Spider-Man has somebody to bash about, but fortunately, Molina's performance helps us forget this. Visually, he fits the part perfectly, looking like he just stepped out of the pages of a comic book, and his evil little smile was truly chilling! Molina put everything he had into the part to great effect: indeed, he lived, breathed and died Doc Ock.

All in all, the Spidey folks throw us a well thought out and very successful sequel. All I can say is 'Bring on round three!'

-9.5/10