John Hammond (Sir Richard Attenborough, Jurassic Park, 1993)
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John Hammond (Sir Richard Attenborough, Jurassic Park, 1993) |
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After witnessing the extraordinary sequel that has been crafted by Sam Raimi, I have only one thing to say: The man is a genius. In delivering Spider-Man 2 to the big screen, Raimi has again surpassed all my hopes and expecations for this film. Let's just say that I entered the theatre prepared for a traditional sequel and what I got was a movie that defies all tradition and redefines sequels! You may find yourself asking, "What could be so incredibly mind-blowing about Spider-Man 2?" The answer isn't its CGI, special effects, or eye candy. All of that has proven to be meaningless in the face of an underdeveloped story, as evidenced most recently by the lamer than lame Van Helsing. The answer is the craftsmanship and delivery. What Raimi has crafted here is your basic everyday love story filled with angst, hardship, and self-doubt. Its his gift of storytelling that makes the film believable, and coerces us into caring for these characters. The most noteworthy example of this is Peter Parker and his ongoing quest to win Mary Jane. This love story, coupled with a touch of humor and some of the best damn action sequences ever conceived, helps to create a brand new standard for the rest of the world to live up to in the quest for action filmmaking and decent comic book film adaptations. Now on to the more pressing details. Our movie begins with Peter Parker still struggling to fulfill his dual roles as crime fighter and part-time worker/student. As the story unfolds we learn that Peter has still been hiding his love for Mary Jane in order to protect her from danger. At the same time, Mary Jane has worked her way onto the local theatre scene, finding success in acting and modeling. Soon we meet Dr. Otto Octavius, whose fusion experiments prove to be a promising development for Harry Osbourne, who now runs his father's company and still harbors an extreme hatred for Spider-Man. During a public display for industry professionals, Octavius fits himself with four mechanical, neurally controlled arms that allow him to better control his fusion experiments. Predictably, the experiment soon goes awry and an accident with the fusion reaction ends up grafting the arms onto his body permanently, creating our brand new, badass super villain Dr. Octopus. Now, I must say that some of the action scenes that followed had me cheering and smiling so hard that my face felt like it was going tear. We have our typical operation room scene that grants the opportunity for Raimi to wreak havoc in respect to his Evil Dead days. I won't reveal too much but seeing a bunch of surgeons get mutilated by four mechanical arms proves to be extremely gratifying onscreen. Next we are privileged to witness the bank robbery scene where Doc Ock and Spidey have quite the tangle. Finally, we have our clock tower/train super showdown which proves to be exceptionally choreographed, highly stylish, and action packed. All in all, in seeing this film we are treated to a good ol' fashioned love story with plenty of awkward, humorous scenes to prompt a hell of a lot of laughs. Be ready for several inside jokes in reference to Tobey Maguire's back problems, the discomforts of wearing the Spidey costume, and several entertaining cameos such as Stan Lee, Bruce Campbell, and Donnell Rawlings from the Dave Chapelle Show. So everyone, run, jump, and swing your way into theatres as fast as you can to see what will mostly likely be the highest grossing film of 2004. And remember, "He stole that guy's pizza!" |
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