I saw Spider-Man 2 today. Lately, going to see a movie has become a big deal. Getting me out of the house to do anything isn't easy on the best of days. Then, you figure I've got to drive through 100+ degree heat, braving Las Vegas traffic, and it all becomes more of a nightmare that I care to deal with, and the end result better be real worth it. (How hot is it here? I know what the temperature is at this very second, but I have my air conditioner set to keep the house cooled to a comfortable 85 degrees.)

Spider-Man 2 is worth it. No squirming in my seat, looking at my watch wishing I had a glow-in-the-dark dial, no thinking along the lines of, "Geez, this was a mistake; I don't really want to be sitting here watching Lord of the Rings Part 3 after all." (That's my touchstone, the one I go back to every time I think about going to see a movie in the theaters; am I going to have as uncomfortable a time as I did at Return of the King? This is why I'm much more willing to wait for video than I used to be.) I even had a kid next to me, playing with the velcro fasteners on his shoes, chewing his freaking strawberry-flavored red vines with his lip-smacking mouth wide open, and it didn't ruin the experience for me. That's how much I enjoyed it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I'm entertaining the thought of going to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in the theater tomorrow.

The movie itself is a nice continuation from the first one. I'd read in interviews that their intent was to essentially produce the next issue of a Spider-Man comic on film, and that's what this is. Subplots from the first movie carry over, but the main story is all new. It feels like a genuine continuation, as opposed to the relatively unconnected adventures of the Batman or Superman movies. (Or even the X-Men ones, considering that they've got to tell the stories of about four hundred characters, so there's not really room for a lot of continuing character arcs.)

I try to steer clear of "which one is better" games, but if pressed, I think I'd have to say that Alfred Molina's more restrained performance as Doctor Octopus made this movie a little more enjoyable for me than Willem Dafoe's "Look at me, I'm playing a SUPERVILLAIN!" Green Goblin in the first one. (Those interested in digging through this blog's archives will probably find I was complimentary about his performance at the time, but I can't be bothered to look to see what I said back then. Repeated viewings of the movie on video and cable have taken some of the sheen off.) I like the effects better in this one, too; only once did I really feel like I was watching a video game. But that's only to be expected as technology develops.

An important positive that this one shares with its predecessor is tone: they both unembarrassedly embrace the source material and tell a story that feels like a Spider-Man comic book, only in live action on the big screen. The emotion is a little heightened, a little melodramatic, but it works, because it's a world where it's acceptable that a guy in a spider-suit who shoots webs and sticks to walls can fight a guy with four giant metal arms. The actors make it all seem human and real, as far as it goes, but as much as they deserve credit for taking it all seriously, they also deserve credit for not underplaying it to the point where it just doesn't work. It's a fine line, but they tread it nicely. And the box office would seem to indicate that audiences are willing to come along for the ride.

One quick comment, which is something of a spoiler, so I put it here at the end, after some space....








Is there anyone who doesn't see Spider-Man without his mask in this movie?