 Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy 3-Movie 4 Disc Boxed Set - Part 2 Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man centers on student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who, after being bitten by a genetically-altered spider, gains superhuman strength and the spider-like ability to cling to any surface. He vows to use his abilities to fight crime, coming to understand the words of his beloved Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility." Storyline: Peter Parker is an unhappy man: after two years of fighting crime as Spider-Man, his life has begun to fall apart. The girl he loves is engaged to someone else, his grades are slipping, he cannot keep any of his jobs, and on top of it, the newspaper Daily Bugle is attacking him viciously, claiming that Spider-Man is a criminal. He reaches the breaking point and gives up the crime fighter's life, once and for all. But after a failed fusion experiment, eccentric and obsessive scientist Dr. Otto Octavius is transformed into super villain Doctor Octopus, Doc Ock for short, having four long tentacles as extra hands. Peter guesses it might just be time for Spider-Man to return, but would he act upon it? Written by Soumitra Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, August 7, 2013 I believe there's a hero in all of us. Director Sam Raimi has accomplished something special with Spider-Man 2. He's taken a successful formula -- everything that made his first Spider-Man so great -- and improved upon it. Hooray for continuity, vision, commitment, and fantastic source material. All are critical in pushing the franchise forward and making it better, not so much significantly but rather subtly. At its core, the two movies are largely the same on the outside, but it's what develops under the surface that makes this sequel a real winner. And without the need to establish the character origins and the universe, Spider-Man 2 finds itself in a position to more fully explore all that those characters and that universe have to offer. And even considering the greater thematic underlay, Spider-Man 2 still amps up the energy, excitement, and fun factor in its action sequences. In short, it's moviemaking at its best, perhaps not the finest in any one area -- there have been better action spectacles and superior character dramas -- but very hard to top when all the pieces are considered in sum. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) can't seem to find much order in his life. His everyday identity is constantly interrupted by the requirements of his alter-ego, Spider-Man. He's been fired from his pizza delivery job and he's in danger of flunking out of school. His last, best hope for college might be in a research paper he's writing on Oscorp's most brilliant scientific mind, Doctor Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), and there's nobody better to introduce Peter to him than Peter's friend and Oscorp's own, Harry Osborn (James Franco). When Octavius' experimental fusion reactor goes haywire, his wife is killed and his special four-armed mechanical suit becomes fused with his body. It alters him into a psychotic villain who will stop at nothing to continue his work and collect the tritium his reactor requires, even if it means destroying the city and battling Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Parker's inability to control his emotions and balance his life leaves him vulnerable and powerless, forcing him to find that balance -- and fast -- or give up his identity as Spider-Man once and for all. Watching Spider-Man 2, one cannot help but to notice that, superficially, this is nearly the exact same movie as the first. Sam Raimi did something similar with his Evil Dead and Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn films, in essence recreating the first film in the sequel. Spider-Man 2's similarities aren't quite so drastic, however, but see if these plot points sound familiar. Peter Parker chases Mary Jane, but wrestles with whether he can have her, now not because he's a geek but because he's Spider-Man. Mary Jane still secretly pines for Peter but still plays the field, this time with the Bugle chief's son. The film's villain is a gifted, highly intelligent, and more or less likable (though not so much as Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn) scientist whose experiment goes terribly wrong and transforms him into a super villain. What sets Spider-Man 2 apart, then, is what goes on underneath all the noise. In essence, the real villain in the film is Peter's own struggle to come to terms with who he is, what he can be, and where his life is headed. He slowly grasps the true meaning of "with great power comes great responsibility," learning that uncontrollable emotions and a fragile psyche mean a powerless superhero. Though he physically battles Doc Ock, he emotionally battles the realities of his own life, and it's in his inner struggles -- finding a balance between the man in the suit and the man out of it, drawing on the strengths both offer him, and emerging a stronger man and a greater superhero -- that the film finds its greatest success and its separation from the first picture. Again, Raimi directs an excellent cast. Maguire plays the lead part very well, depicting the emotional turmoil perhaps not with the sort of nuance it might have benefited even more from but well enough to get the meaning across without being blunt about it. Where Maguire shines brightest is in his ability to show Peter Parker at his most vulnerable, not only physically but emotionally. The extremes are where the film finds its most impressive feeling of significance, and Maguire shows himself to be up to the challenge of portraying an outwardly wounded and inwardly wayward superhero. Just as important, he still shares that unmistakable spark with Kirsten Dunst, whose role feels a bit more out of the way in this film, no less critical to the story of Peter Parker but not quite so much up front, at least not in a physical sense. Alfred Molina makes a quality Doc Ock, slipping into the costume and supportive effects very well. The character feels somewhat relegated to a supportive element, a necessary outward foe for Parker to battle rather than a more fully developed villain, but Raimi makes excellent use of character to construct some amazing action scenes, all of which are smartly choreographed and expertly photographed. Spider-Man 2 is, in essence, the perfect sequel, following to a "T" that old adage that says the finest sequels simply take the best of the original and improve upon it. It may have been outdone in the years to follow by films that managed to be more purely entertaining or more dramatically satisfying, but Sam Raimi's web-slinger sequel is still a gem of a movie, a perfect popcorn film that also manages to find a current of humanity and thematic relevance under the costumes, visual effects, and explosions. It's a movie in perfect harmony from start to finish that should serve as a model for all others that aspire to comic book movie greatness. Sony's "Mastered in 4K" Blu-ray release of Spider-Man 2 features incredible video -- amongst the finest the format has ever seen -- and equally astonishing audio. (Based on Comic Book) Cast Notes: Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man/Peter Parker), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (Harry Osborn), Alfred Molina (Doc Ock/Dr. Otto Octavius), Rosemary Harris (May Parker), J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson), Donna Murphy (Rosalie Octavius), Daniel Gillies (John Jameson), Dylan Baker (Dr. Curt Connors), Bill Nunn (Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson), Vanessa Ferlito (Louise), Aasif Mandvi (Mr. Aziz), Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin/Norman Osborn), Cliff Robertson (Ben Parker), Ted Raimi (Hoffman). IMDb Rating (11/08/17): 7.3/10 from 453,821 users IMDb Rating (09/23/06): 7.8/10 from 62,870 users
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