With great power comes a great sequel

‘Spider-Man 2’ in review

When I reviewed the original “Spider-Man,” I considered it one of the great examples of entertainment; with a new hero born to the cinema, Tobey Maguire made the role his own; Willem Dafoe was a sinister, yet delightfully corny villain in the Green Goblin; and Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane was a perfect love interest for the web-slinger.

However, its sequel reveals so much more in Spidey, first and foremost in the inner tragedy of the character. “Spider-Man 2” may also be great entertainment, but it somehow also manages to transcend the superhero genre and become great art. You’ve never seen anything like it.

So it’s been two years since we last saw Peter Parker (Maguire). With superpowers up the yin-yang, his life must be going great, right? You’ve never even picked up a Spider-Man comic before, have you?

Peter’s just lost his pizza delivery job on a technicality; his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) is having trouble keeping up with the bills; his love interest, Mary Jane (Dunst), has finally become fed up with Peter’s excuses and is dating (and marrying) someone else... all because of the time he puts into his superhero alter ego.

Even his own powers seem to punk out at the most inconvenient times. Perhaps it’s time to finally hang up the mask for good.

But wait! The brilliant Doctor Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) has just performed a terrible experiment gone awry, which has left him insane, with four mechanical tentacles attached to his body (never a good combination for superheroes). He becomes the treacherous Doctor Octopus, and like all good supervillains, his plans threaten the entire city of New York.

Director Sam Raimi (“The Evil Dead”) returns for a second go with Spidey, and he’s definitely learned a few tricks in the interim. Admittedly, the plot to the original was merely a skeleton, a series of excuses to get Spidey to lock in combat with the Green Goblin (not that it was necessarily a bad thing). Here, they’re certainly funny.

Although we’ve seen this kind of development in the first film, it takes on a whole new level here; we finally see why great power must be accompanied by great responsibility.

It’s never easy for Spidey, and oftentimes, it’s honestly heartbreaking. Sacrifice is the name of the game here. Consider the unknowing son of the Green Goblin, Harry Osborn (James Franco). He’s Peter’s best friend, but hates Spider-Man with a passion. It’s just sad knowing that it will soon all come crashing down.

But there’s still room for Raimi’s brilliant sense of self awareness. Consider a scene where Aunt May and Peter are at the bank, trying to work out their mortgage, conveniently at the same time that Doctor Octopus has decided to walk in, bust through the vault and steal all the dollar-sign bags he can get his hands on.

Or how about the first time that the two do battle, and Doc Ock mentions that Spider-Man’s meddled in his plans for “the last time,” as if they’ve fought a hundred times before? That could only happen in a comic book, and I love every minute of it.

Speaking of those fights, wow! Talk about some spectacular scenes. The battles of the original seem quaint by comparison. While there were certainly some great slug fights in that film, there’s just something about adding two pairs of tentacles to it all that makes it twice as exciting.

Comic books represent one of the only art forms that has produced great works but failed to win appreciation from the mainstream audience. By association, perhaps the superhero genre’s movies have not been taken seriously as they should have. But if you find the right example, you’ll become a believer.

If “Spider-Man” didn’t convert you, then by God, “Spider-Man 2” will.