Spiderman 2

365 Films

Entry #36

Spiderman 2 (2004)

Directed by Sam Raimi

In thinking of how to best approach an entry for Spiderman 2, I was struck by my recollection of another holy franchise of geekdom: Harry Potter.  I never read those books and had only a vague interest in the subsequent films.  I only made it to movie number 5 before hopelessly giving up any and all interest in seeing how the damn thing wrapped up.  I didn’t find those films painful to sit through and there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with them, I just didn’t care.  I would dutifully go through the paces of seeing the film, sort of nod off half way through, and then have a friend explain who was doing what to whom and why it was important.  The only film that I have any strong recollections of in terms of appreciation is the fourth in the series.  This is where the first part of my ridiculously circuitous explanation is one quarter complete.  How this all ties into Spiderman 2 can be encapsulated by one word: emo.  I enjoyed the fourth harry potter because it was the least concerned with the plot and more than happy to luxuriate in all manner of teenage angst.  This is why Spiderman 2 is my favorite of the Raimi trilogy, (and most likely any subsequent Spiderman properties to follow), and my personal second best superhero movie of all time.  Number one will be revealed later in this blog and it is certain to blow your hair back.  I didn’t grow up with Spiderman in comic book form or any other.  I never watched the TV show, I never played any Spiderman video games, and I think it’s safe to say I knew as little about the character as a young male possibly could.  Therefore, my enjoyment and analysis of the work could be hampered by the fact that this film might have nothing to do with the original basis for the character.  The fact that the Internet has remained relatively quiet about this subject makes me think I’m okay (or I’ve just been ignoring them) Peter Parker could have been a speed freak that wore newspapers for pants and I would still love this movie.  What ultimately makes it so special is the immaculate balance of tone that Sam Raimi and his writers achieve.  On the one hand, the film is a marvel of comic book movie spectacle, with some of the most beautifully choreographed action sequences this side of Spielberg.  And on the other, there’s a genuinely involving relationship story and what is most remarkable about it is that neither drowns the other out of focus.  They seem to feed off of each other organically while growing into a stunningly ambiguous finale.  The action sequences are better because we care about the participants and each one exists for a very specific reason in the story.  At the same time, the character moments are stronger because we know that there are very serious and real stakes for all parties involved.  We seem to be in the era of unprecedented mediocre superhero movies with the next one being more forgettable than the one before it.  Spiderman 2 is a reminder of those halcyon days when an iconoclastic filmmaker was trusted to not only deliver a product, but also express his weird fetishes and obsessions at the same time.