In the second installment of the Spider-Man saga, Sam Raimi brings us one of the best comic book/superhero movies ever. I still remember how blown away I was after watching this movie in theaters after it's initial release. The action, the story, the special/visual effects...everything was spectacular and came together to create an awesome ride. Two years after the events of the first film, Peter Parker is struggling to balance his real life with his role as Spider-Man. He's unable to keep a job, failing his college courses, and ruining his friendship with longtime love Mary Jane Watson; on top of all that, his best friend obsesses over Spider-Man's role in the death of his father. Meanwhile, an experiment to create fusion by nuclear physicist Otto Octavius leaves him with four metal tentacles welded to his body and an insane desire to recreate the dangerous experiment, risking the lives of half of New York City.

Where do I begin? I absolutely loved this movie. The first movie was a great film as well, but it's sequel seemed to take everything a step farther. I felt the story was better in this installment; it manages to fit in so much development but never feels overwhelming and without losing the audience in too much plot. The film concentrates on Peter's personal troubles just as much as it does the Doc Ock storyline. In fact, Doc Ock's transformation doesn't even occur until nearly 40 minutes into the film, but with so much else to absorb, it doesn't hurt the film. And once Doc Ock emerges, the movie only gets better from there with great battles and memorable moments. The hospital scene in which Doc Ock awakens is probably the best scene in the movie (and oozes with Raimi's style) and the battles between hero and villain are some of the best superhero battles created for film.

Alfred Molina and the actual character of Doc Ock ranks as one of my top favorite villain performances. Raimi made Octavius and sympathetic character in the film, rather than completely evil, and Molina was a perfect fit for the role. While I was a huge fan of Willem Dafoe and his Green Goblin in the first film, I feel Molina and Doc Ock have topped him. We also get great returning performances from the key players: Maguire, Dunst, Franco, Harris, and Simmons. You can tell they've all become comfortable with the roles at this point and are grasping their characters even better than before. We're also introduced to Mr. Ditkovich (Elya Baskin), Peter's landlord, who injects some humor into the story.

As you can see from my rambling, I was a huge fan of this movie and, as much as I've seen it, it never gets old. While it's not the greatest comic book adaptation out there, it definitely ranks with the best. Director Sam Raimi proves that he was meant for this franchise, embracing it and improving with the sequel.