mikehunt

just got back. Thought it was great.
One thing I really like is that they broke out of the "super hero never admits his secret to the girl he loves" thing (did they do that in the comics? other than the first movie I haven't had any spiderman exposure since the early-mid ninties when Fox had the cartoon). They also set up SM3 with the GG coming back.
The opening credits were really cool too
And that street violinist playing/singing the spiderman theme from one of the old cartoons or tv shows was great
"Spiderman, spiderman, friendly neighborhood spiderman"

however, the ending scene looked horrible. the idea was good, but the execution sucked. must have run out of budget for the CGI

also, I know a girl who slightly resembles kirsten dunst in looks and voice

mikehunt

oh, and if aunt may can't afford house payments on an old house that must be close to the end of the mortgage, where exactly is she going to get an apartment?

oh, and during the hospital scene I heard a little girl say "is it over yet, tell me when it's over"

Dr. DVD

Yep, but no prescription required if you got to a certain website. Just expensive. Never guessed one of my popular threads would spill into a Spider-Man discussion.

AEspinoza1

Hello Spider-fans,

Saw this last night at the Dome. When I got home my wife asked me "What did you think?" (can I just say she is incredible for allowing me to go see the movie while she stayed home with our newborn)

My response was that it was "good" and "better than the first".

I knew she would ask but I still did not know how to answer because I was still trying to understand how I felt about the film. I'm a huge Spidey fan and collect the comics to this day.

Before the film began my buddy and I had discussed how it would be tough to top Superman due to the opening sequence and John Williams score alone.

Then...WOW! I must admit they really got me with one of the most creative title sequences I have seen in a while. I still agree with others that Elfman's score is too familiar for this film. Although Peter is an ordinary man, when he puts on the costume he becomes a superhero and he should have a recognizable theme.

The movie was just not what I was expecting. (But in a good way) This movie has a lot of character development and exposition (some may argue too much.) I think over time people will appreciate this movie because of those details. Some of the action was good, some great but the train sequence was outstanding. Just watching Tobey/stuntman in the Spider-Man costume always makes me feel like a kid.

I was satisfied with MJ, Harry and Doc Ock learning Peter's identity. I'm not sure how I feel about the people on the train knowing but I understand that for dramatic effect an unmasked Peter/Tobey would add more depth.

As others have stated, MJ's enthusiastic "Go Get em' Tiger" and her subsequent look after he leaves really got me. Raimi really captured one of the themes from the comics.

If my wife asked me today what I thought of the movie I would say, "It was Amazing!"

whynotsmile

did anyone else feel bad for mary jane's fiance? he seemed like a really nice guy

Lara Means

Hal Sparks is gay. He was the host of E!'s Talk Soup at one time. Now, he plays a gay character on a very gay television show.

Booth

I doubt it. Did anybody else notice that in the wedding scene, Harry was wearing a greenish-black bow tie with his tuxedo? I think that it's pretty clear what is going to happen.

Abranut

Actually, Hal Sparks ISN'T gay. Everything else you stated is true.

But honestly what difference does it make? Did I miss some homoerotic undertones of the elevator scene?

Overall, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. I liked it a lot more than the first one.

Can someone explain to me the difference between Hob Goblin and Green Goblin? I read the comics when I was a kid, but I've forgotten everything about the characters.

Tarantino

Ned Leeds (Betty Brant's boyfriend?) was the Hobgoblin, he wore an orange cloak, his face shrouded. I think something happened later on in the comics to where he actually turned into a monster, because at first he wore a mask.

Dr. DVD

Indeed. Things might get a little hairy in the future when he is concerned.

devilshalo

Did anyone else feel/see/hear the similarities of Peter being lifted overhead thru the train and the penguins giving Oswald his send off in Batman Returns? Elfman does tend to sound very similar to his past work.

deluis

Saw It yesterday at the Arclight theater and I was it expecting it to be very good from the trailers, but not this good. It was a much better movie than the first one and the CGI looked better. I even enjoyed the action sequences better than the first one. Sure it had less action sequences than the first one, but they were much better. I love the fact that the story was not rushed and really took it's time.

The movie also has really great sound and uses it very well. Especially during the scene where Doctor Octopus was trying out the tentacles for the first time, almost felt my heart was about to explode, and the bank robbery which was my favorite scene in the movie.

Crazy4Film

see a frame of the movie. Alex Ross has indeed contributed a pretty amazing sequence, and it does a great job of reminding us of the emotional high points from the first film. it’s 2.35:1 this time. Scope. And Raimi and his cinematographer Bill Pope make the most of the new scale of things. Right away, as soon as the titles are finished, the movie kicks into a scene about Peter Parker, pizza delivery guy, and we get a hint of Raimi’s agenda this time out. Peter’s working for a guy who runs a pizza delivery place with a 29-minute guarantee. Even with Peter turning into Spider-Man and webswinging his way over a traffic jam, he isn’t able to make his delivery on time, and he ends up losing his job. If the first film was about how hard it was to become Spider-Man, then this movie is all about how hard it is to live with that decision.
It’s as a student that he wrangles a chance to meet Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), a brilliant scientist who is working on a fusion project for Oscorp. Harry’s convinced that he’s finally found something that will prove he is the right choice to run his father’s company, and he’s pouring tons of money into the project. He’s the one who orders Octavius to take a little time and show Peter around. Octavius ends up really liking Peter, and in one of the few scenes in the film’s first half where Peter isn’t getting punished in one way or another, he and Octavius actually have a great bonding conversation. When Peter misses a performance of Mary Jane’s play, despite all his assurances that he will be there, it’s because of a situation that demands his attention as Spider-Man. He tries to slip in late, but he comes face to face with a fairly snotty usher, played by none other than The Chin, (Bruce Campbell). He gives great smarm, and he has perfect chemistry with Maguire. Peter’s so upset by how one side of his life keeps intruding on the other that his powers actually begin to fade. He finds himself unable to produce webbing at a key moment, and his eyesight is suddenly not as keen as it once was. He’s not sure what could be causing the problem at first, never connecting it to the stress of his dual life.
And that stress just keeps getting worse and worse. The day of the big demonstration arrives at Oscorp, and Peter’s there to watch as things go terribly, tragically wrong for Octavius. His adoring wife Rosie (Donna Murphy) is killed, and the AI-driven robot arms that he uses to handle the tridium samples that fuel his experiment somehow become grafted onto him when the fusion machine goes haywire. It’s a great action moment, but even better is what happens when Octavius wakes up. If you’ve got any question about who directed this movie, it will evaporate when you see just how incredibly EVIL DEAD this moment becomes. A Doc Ock arm with a chainsaw. POV shots as the arms rush around the room and kill people.
Peter’s job as a photographer hangs by a thread, pun fully intended, due to his reluctance to sell photos of Spider-Man to J. Jonah Jameson
( J.K. Simmons). Jameson continues to portray Spidey as a menace every chance he gets, and it drives Peter crazy that he has to be part of that process. He does finally talk J.J. into sending him on another assignment, a society event, but he doesn’t realize what it is until it’s too late. He ends up having to take pictures of the party where Mary Jane announces her engagement to another man, J.J.’s son, the astronaut John Jameson (Daniel Gillies). It’s wrenching for him, and you can almost hear Peter’s heart break as he has to take the photos.
And still, all of this is just revving up to the real meat of the film, which starts to kick in around the time Doc Ock makes his debut as a criminal, having been driven mad by his own AI-driven tentacles. Seems he’s determined to reproduce his experiment, but on an even bigger level, and he’s going to need some funding to build what he wants. Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Peter are in a bank, trying to get a loan to help ease some of her financial problems, when Doc Ock shows up and tries to rob the place. Peter has no choice but to abandon Aunt May and change into his costume so he can try to stop Doc Ock.
That big fight forces Peter to the breaking point, and his powers seem to completely disappear. He makes a choice to take his life back, to abandon the Spider-Man persona once and for all, and he does his best to slip back into the normal life of Peter Parker. There’s a montage where we share in Peter’s joy at his decision that he’ll be able to pick back up where he left off before that fateful spider-bite. Of course, it’s not that easy, and no matter how hard he tries, he’s not really able to turn his back on people in need. The one scene in the movie happens in the middle of this stretch of the film, a dream conversation with Uncle Ben (watch closely for the Ashmobile) . Soon after, Peter reveals his role in Ben’s death to Aunt May to her obvious horror, and it works because it’s not just some lame inner voice hectoring him. He has to actually face his past actions again and see how much they hurt someone he cares for.
At the same time, Mary Jane and Harry are both wrestling with their own doubts and demons, giving us some really nice moments like when MJ asks her fiancée to kiss her upside down for comparison’s sake, or when Harry gets drunk at her engagement party and lashes out at Peter physically.
SM2 builds on the ideas from the first one and isn’t just a sequel where nothing of significance takes place. These characters are growing, and everything that happens to them actually has an effect.
Once Peter realizes that his choices do cause ripples in the world around him, he’s able to regain his powers and become Spider-Man again, and the film’s second hour features several giant-scale action scenes, including the one onboard the elevated train, that are pure geek bliss. The film runs right around the two hour mark, and it’s packed. So much happens, and so much of it is so important for these characters, that you’ll find yourself a little breathless by the end. This is relentlessly paced, and you can almost imagine turning the pages of a comic book faster and faster in an effort to learn what happens next.
By the end of the film, several people learn Peter’s secret identity, and each one of these revelations carries emotional weight. Instead of copping out and figuring out a way to reset after playing these big moments, the film plays fair and shows that Peter’s life is going to change once and for all. The last scene of the movie will send you out of the theater walking on air.
The ending of this film is enormously satisfying, but so many great ideas have been introduced that the wait will be insufferable. The last major scene with Harry is a direct echo of Willem Dafoe’s best scene in the first film, and the way the scene resolves will make you gasp. It’s audacious, and it suggests any number of terrible possibilities.

Things in the film to pay attention to/look for : The scene in the elevator, the introduction of Dr. Connors to the series, J. Jonah’s moment of honesty and his abrupt about-face, Scotty Spiegel’s cameo, the sly joke about Tobey’s back injuries. “Hi.” “... hi.” “This is kinda heavy” , More Betty Brant and whatever else you could find

Crazy4Film

how the hell do you edit posts???

Patman

There's an "Edit" button above each post, on the right side.

Crazy4Film

uh, nope.......there's the date, addy (yahoo for example) on top and report this post to moderator /IP: logged on bottom . But NO edit button.

mookyman

I thought it was excellent. Whereas the first one felt like it was made by a good director, there was very little that made it distinctly Sam Raimi. But this one was clearly a Sam Raimi film in almost every frame. It must be scary to be starting a highly valued franchise of films, but it must be great to have all the money in the world at your fingertips the next time around and know full well that it's going to be profitable no matter what. This felt like the work of a director who was having a great time.

devilshalo

nickdawgy

I just got back from seeing it, and it was great. Alot better then the first one, and I loved the first one.

Got the chills when Harry found the secret Goblin room. Also when he found out who Spider-Man really was.

Can't wait for part 3

For now, I'll have to make do with the soundtrack, and the video game

nickdawgy

Why not both?

jhansla

One of the worst comic books movies ever and biggest dissapointment of the year. Hellboy was a far better movie, and even The Punisher was better than it. The only decent part was the train scene

Amel

I loved it. Not more than the first though. this one moved too slow in the middle. Not enough action. No smart-ass Spidey talk either. In fact, Peter in the Spidey suit hardly talked at all.

Jackskeleton

forget editing, you need to learn yourself how to break paragraphs first.

Giles

what planet are you on, 'The Punisher's' acting was attrocious,

dgc

Great comic book reference