World Famous Comics: Spider-Man 2 (Widescreen Special Edition)
Spider-Man 2 (Widescreen Special Edition)
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Rosemary Harris Directed By: Sam Raimi Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product. Number of Items: 2 Region Code: 99 Release Date: November 30, 2004 Running Time: 127 minutes Theatrical Release Date: June 30, 2004
Description: Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gives up his crime-fighting identity of Spider-Man in a desperate attempt to return to ordinary life and keep the love of MJ (Kirsten Dunst). But a ruthless, terrifying new villain, the multi-tentacled Doc Ock, forces Peter to swing back into action to save everything he holds dear.
Amazon.com: More than a few critics hailed Spider-Man 2 as "the best superhero movie ever," and there's no compelling reason to argue--thanks to a bigger budget, better special effects, and a dynamic, character-driven plot, it's a notch above Spider-Man in terms of emotional depth and rich comic-book sensibility. Ordinary People Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent received screenplay credit, and celebrated author and comic-book expert Michael Chabon worked on the story, but it's director Sam Raimi's affinity for the material that brings Spidey 2 to vivid life. When a fusion experiment goes terribly wrong, a brilliant physicist (Alfred Molina) is turned into Spidey's newest nemesis, the deranged, mechanically tentacled "Doctor Octopus," obsessed with completing his experiment and killing Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) in the process. Even more compelling is Peter Parker's urgent dilemma: continue his burdensome, lonely life of crime-fighting as Spider-Man, or pursue love and happiness with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst)? Molina's outstanding as a tragic villain controlled by his own invention, and the action sequences are nothing less than breathtaking, but the real success of Spider-Man 2 is its sense of priorities. With all of Hollywood's biggest and best toys at his disposal, Raimi and his writers stay true to the Marvel mythology, honoring Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and setting the bar impressively high for the challenge of Spider-Man 3. --Jeff Shannon DVD Features:
The first commentary track is by director Sam Raimi and a self-deprecating Tobey Maguire speaking in tandem, and producer (and Marvel CEO) Avi Arad and coproducer Grant Curtis speaking in tandem. They discuss a number of topics, including Raimi's memory of his excitement over Richard Donner's Superman and how the character of Black Cat had to be dropped from the film. The second commentary is by six members of the Oscar-nominated effects team, and one of their primary focuses is how Doc Ock's arms were achieved by a combination of puppetry and CGI.
The centerpiece of the second disc is a massive two-hour documentary that can be viewed all at once or in 12 separate pieces. It covers the development of the story, the visual effects, costumes, stunts, and sound and music. Three shorter featurettes cover Peter Parker's struggle between his personal and hero lives, Doc Ock, and the women in Spider-Man's life, and what's interesting is how they discuss those topics not just in relation to the movies but to the comic books as well. (For example, Betty Brant and Gwen Stacy had a much greater impact in the comics.) There's a scene in which you can toggle among three different camera angles, and a gallery of 17 paintings Alex Ross created for the opening sequence. The sound and picture are spectacular, though only the Superbit edition has DTS. --David Horiuchi
The fuse of fusion is melting The action is always simple and direct : save the victims of the bad guy. The method is always the same: stop the bad guy's mechanics by throwing a few strings in its gears. The rest of it is building up a network, in that case a cobweb. But this is a film, not an electronic game and we are at the cinema not in front of a game console. So the film adds a good layer of sentimental events and feelings. The girl friend from far behind. She is afraid and fascinated. She is jealous and possessive. She is maybe adult and open-minded. That kind of stuff gives to the film some interesting dimension. In the same way, in this film in particular, the super hero loses and even chooses to lose his powers, for a while at least. This whole dimension of a normal guy, a normal boy capable of normal feelings and cowardice is exploited here to reveal the other super-hero dimension is both a choice and a responsibility, a responsible choice and a chosen responsibility. Then the film can work as a film and not a dumb computer game. Then the bad guy has a new dimension. He is the self-victimized inventor of a machine that will destroy the world. But keep in mind that the solution to sink that nuclear fusion machine in order to kill it is rather primitive in intellectual value. But it is full of emotional pulpy strength. The fear of nuclear power is also typical of the beginning of this century when the oil companies were still the masters of the energetic game. We have since then entered the final stage of that oil dominance and we have to consider other solutions, particularly that do not produce carbon dioxide. It is also a reflection of a way of thinking in these 2002-2006 years: nuclear energy was only seen from the American point of view as basically criminal either in the hands of criminal individuals (that's the case here) or in the hands of criminal states. Luckily this dimension is aging pretty fast.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, CEGID
WTF??? Spidey does NOT take his mask off EVER!!!! Doc Ock, Harry, MJ, a TRAINLOAD of passengers ALL know who he is or at least what he looks like. C'mon Raimi you wad, cut the unmasking crap you are a loser and keep spidey's mask on. You idiot. I can't believe you are responsible for The Evil Dead one of the best flicks OF all time.
Also note the cameo on the train by the redneck Jake A.K.A.Danny Hicks from Evil Dead 2.
cost A week after I purchased this, Target had it on sale for $5.00. I did not realize that it is inconvenient to return things, example: I have to pay shipping as this is not an error on your part. I am new to online shopping and need to stay away from it. I had also purchased Once Upon a time in Mexico and realized it was dupe, already had it and asked to return, but, thought it is not worth it getting charged for shipping so kept the movie.
Too Contrived To Create Any Sort Of High Drama After being intrigued by my introduction to the Spiderman character (through the first film), I was very excited to see what the second installment would bring now that the whole duel-identity thing was established. Before the end credits had finished rolling, however, I knew that I wouldn't enjoy this film as much as its predecessor. I noticed that the screenplay was written by Al Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of TV's Smallville (a show I watch weekly). I should have been excited by that knowledge, as they created a very interesting show, but instead I felt my heart drop, as I knew EXACTLY the kind of contrived character relationships that would follow (think Clark/Lana on Smallville and you'll understand).
The basic plot of the film has Spidey hanging up his red and blue suit in order to spend more time as Peter Parker with crush Mary Jane Watson. Of course, just when things are looking up for that relationship, the evil Dr. Octopus begins to wreak havoc on New York City, essentially forcing the return of Spiderman and the break-up of Peter and MJ.
While that short synopsis may sound like it has great potential for high drama, it (sadly) fails to deliver. Millar and Gough just seemed to be rehashing the plot of Superman II, where Supes gives up his powers to be with Lois Lane only to see General Zod begin terrorizing Earth. Thus, the storyline of the movie was a bit predictable.
Also, again like Clark Kent and Lana Lang in Smallville, the Peter/MJ relationship is far too contrived and up-and-down to provide any real emotional scenes. I never felt as if I really cared whether or not Peter/Spidey would save/love Mary Jane. Adding to the lack of drama was a general lack of acting from Tobey Maguire, who seemed to react to every situation with that same wide-eyed expression. While that tact worked very well while first harnessing his abilities in the first film, in this movie it just gets old.
Finally, while the villain Doc Ock is visually pretty cool (what with all those tentacles flying around!), he again is a bit too much in common with the Green Goblin for my liking, as both were created in freak science experiments gone wrong. Nothing like the intriguing character development of The Joker by Christopher Nolan in The Dark Knight.
So, while the special effects of the film were excellent and the action scenes superb, I can't give it any better than an "average" rating due to all its contrived plots/relationships/characters. If you are easily sucked in to hokey romances, you won't find any fault in this film. If you prefer a more mature love story, though, then just watch it to set up your Spidey 3 viewing experience.
Move Over Batman and Superman; Spiderman is THE Definitive Trilogy I began watching the Spiderman Trilogy with Spiderman 2. To be frank, I was bowled over by this film! The characters are true to the comic book tradition, the plot is wonderfully deep and exciting, and the special effects are second to none. All considered, this is a viewing treat, an engaging, and surprisingly sensitive portrayal of Spiderman. I recommend the entire trilogy - and it is viewing that will not offend the children; the family can watch this together. (Small children under 7-8 years old, who view all things literally, may have nightmares about the evil Dr. Octopus).
The movie has been reviewed by nearly 800 individuals, so all I can add is my personal reaction to it. I believe it is the best "super-hero" series ever produced. Superman, despite its groundbreaking firsts, is still a bit corny (especially the first 4 films), and Batman, being directed by several different individuals with different visions of the Caped Crusader, is all over the map. Spiderman is consistent to the tradition of Spiderman, as presented in the comic books.
You absolutely cannot go wrong with this movie or the trilogy. 5-Star!
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