Spider-Man 2 (5 Stars)

"Spider-Man 2" was made in 2004 and is a sequel to the 2002 film "Spider-Man". I consider it almost as good as the first film, making it the second best Marvel film ever. While watching it today I had to ask myself what makes it better than the more recent Marvel films, and I could only think of two words: Sam Raimi. He knew what he was doing, remaining close to the source material in the 1960's comics.

Having said that, he does deviate from Stan Lee's stories more in the second film than he did in the first. In the comics Doctor Octopus was all bad. All he wanted to do was get rich and kill Spider-Man. Sam Raimi decided to make Dr. Otto Octavius a complicated man who wants to do good but ends up doing evil. That was a wise choice. In films the best movie villains are the ones we can sympathise with.

In the film Dr. Octavius is a scientist determined to create a perfect energy source, a device in perpetual motion creating infinite energy. He doesn't do this to become rich or even win a Nobel prize, he sees it as his duty to help humanity. He's created mechanical arms to assist him in handling dangerous material, each arm endowed with its own artificial intelligence, but given orders by the doctor himself via a neural link. After an accident while testing the energy source the arms take control of him, taking away his reluctance to kill people. And yet he still wants to create the energy source.

He's not all bad. In the end he dies a hero. That's a character trait that Stan Lee never envisaged, but it's appropriate to the film.

Stan Lee's cameo is even briefer than in the first film. It lasts for one and a half seconds, and his face is visible for less than a second. It's an equally heroic cameo to the one in the first film. He saves a woman from falling debris when Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus are fighting on the side of a tall building.

In the first film Bruce Campbell played a wrestling ring announcer. This time he's a theatre usher. Is that a different role, or the same person who's changed his job? It's not clear, but if I had to guess I'd say the latter. I've read that Sam Raimi intended Bruce Campbell to play the villain Mysterio in "Spider-Man 4". It's a crime that the film was never made.

Look at how Sam Raimi manages to recreate this iconic scene from Spider-Man #50.

Sam Raimi could hardly be more respectful to the source material, as created by Stan lee and John Romita.

"Spider-Man 2" presents Spider-Man as his fans know and love him. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Bring back Sam Raimi!

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