The "Spider-Man 2" movie is just a shade better than the first - which, in series films, is a cause for tremendous celebration. Happily, producers were able to pay director Sam Raimi and his main cast however many millions of dollars they needed... Also, the first film's "special effects" (however well done) seemed too startlingly change from live action to animation. This is still fairly obvious, but done much more smoothly; and, the "Dr. Octopus" villain costume is a cinematic success. Like they say, "(special effects director John) Frazier is especially effective (along with over a hundred helpers)."

Allowing for a comic book aficionado to be a little too critical, it does seem like an extraordinary amount of time is spent on illustrating the "downtrodden" life of "Peter Parker" (which is the main plot, I know, but it's a very large chunk of the movie). And, although Tobey Maguire (as Peter Parker) is wonderful in the role, he and Kirsten Dunst (as Mary Jane Watson) aren't going to be able to convincingly play "Peter" and "M.J." as "teenagers in love" much longer. It will be interesting to see how producers continue this relationship, which seems to be, herein, necessary for "Spider-Man" to remain fully powerful.

Alfred Molina (as Otto Octavius) rises to the challenge of playing the "visual effects"-enhanced villain role. Handsome "best friend" James Franco (as Harry Osborn) returns, to hint at becoming the new "Green Goblin"; as in the first film, the actor doesn't seem to be used to his potential (although, it looks like he will get a chance to put on a costume in the next film). My "No-Prize Awards" winners include: Elyse Dinh for playing the "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" theme song, Rosemary Harris for being "Aunt May", Hal Sparks for being so funny, and Stan Lee for believing in Super-Heroes.

******** Spider-Man 2 (2004) Sam Raimi ~ Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina