Spider-Man 2 picks up where the original film left off, this time showing the more difficult hardships of being a superhero. Standing in the way is Dr. Otto Octavius(Doc Ock) a brilliant scientist whose fusion experiment goes awry at a demonstration Peter attends.

The story, and characters are fleshed out more this time out, as well as the effects. Kirsten Dunst is more convincing as MJ, she seemed a little flat in the role last time. Here she, like the rest of the cast, do a convincing job. The top performance has to go to Alfred Molina. In the short screen time Otto has before he becomes a diabolical powerhouse supervillain, he is an endearing, likable person. Spider-Man 2 also offers more confidence in it's story telling. The "raindrops" sequence is an evident example. Not afraid to go full nine, this movie is the definitive comic book movie, possessing action, drama, comedy, and message(without being too preachy). Director Sam Raimi and crew really nailed it this time around. Be sure to check out comic artist Alex Ross' paintings spliced in the opening credits, entailing the events of the first film. A great opening to a great film.