He climbs walls like a spider and weaves filament like a spider. But Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, hollers like Homer Simpson cornering some donuts. In Spider-Man 2, our hero takes to the air in pursuit of a bad guy and lets out a huge, adrenalized whoop.
Being a superhero is addictive fun for Peter in Spider-Man 2. The only problem: There's a super hangover. Peter spends some of his waking hours zooming around on spider webs, and the rest of it exhausted and unable to focus. Peter knows Spider-Man is wrecking his life, but he can't give it up. Being a superhero -- saving lives, foiling evil, doing cool aerials -- is more than a job. It's a habit.
Spider-Man 2 is the most effective superhero film ever, largely because the audience gets a taste of Spidey's power. Imagine slipping into the spider suit for a few hours. How hard would it be to surrender that piece of technology? That's Peter's dilemma: Can he trade the feels-so-good superhero sensation for an ordinary life?
In the original Spider-Man, released in 2002, we learned how Peter (Tobey Maguire) got his powers, fell in love and killed his best friend's dad. The new Spidey takes place a few years later and advances and deepens the story. Spider-Man, though firmly established as a popular icon, is suffering through a superhero career crisis.
Being a superhero doesn't pay the bills (friendly advice for Spidey: Do some trade shows!), and Peter is juggling a day job, schoolwork and romantic life. And he's running around conquering all that is wicked. Already a month behind on his rent, Peter's too broke to spend two quarters finishing a phone call to his would-be sweetheart M.J. (Kirsten Dunst).
Of course, Spider-Man 2 features an arch-villain, the brilliant scientist Octavius (Alfred Molina). After muffing an experiment, Doc Oct finds himself shuttled around town by robotic, serpentine arms. Molina, a terrific actor, proves definitively that a middle-aged paunch doesn't interfere with the pursuit of evil.
Though Spider-Man 2 is set in the present -- there's even an eBay reference -- it has the intangible quality of vintage comics. That's due in part to the presence of Michael Chabon, one of four Spider-Man 2 screenwriters and author of the terrific novel Kavalier and Clay, a love song to old-timey superhero pulp.
Chabon and director Sam Raimi know their comic books. Spider-Man 2 has the eye-bending graphics, the sharply drawn, larger-than-life characters and an end-of-world plot. More important, it incorporates the pop psychology so essential to the superhero genre. In the typical superhero comic, an angst-ridden character wrestles with some sort of identity crisis. Who am I outside the suit? What are these powers doing to my psyche? How do I balance the needs of society with my own desires?
Peter, in Spider-Man 2, could live a good life without the suit -- he has a brilliant mind for science and a talented, pretty and devoted would-be girlfriend. Spidey is ruining Peter's life -- he's failing school, can't hold down a job and has alienated his friends. The classic addict, Peter can't kick his habit: Wearing the spider suit is just too exhilarating.
Watching Spider-Man zip through the skyscraper corridors of New York City, I understood why. No one has ever flown like Spidey flies -- he tumbles and darts through the air, a supercharged athlete coached by an avant-garde choreographer. I will never be able to watch Superman bodysurf through the sky with a straight face again.
Spider-Man 2's effects are hugely sophisticated, but they don't drive the movie. Much of the best stuff is low-fi -- simple slapstick jokes, a few good spoofs and plenty of references to other movies. Raimi even builds an inverse to his famous flying-eyeball shot from Evil Dead 2 -- a piece of glass hurtling toward a woman's eye. (Evil Dead fans will also appreciate Bruce Campbell's cameo as a snide usher.)
A thrill from start almost to finish, Spider-Man 2 falters only during a schmaltzy, action-stopping monologue on heroism and a goofy, semi-happy ending. Like a great comic, it leaves you hanging and wanting more -- there's even a teaser for Spider-Man 3, coming to a theater near you in 2007.
