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Spider-Man 2 (2004)


Sometimes you re-watch a movie and think, "That one holds up." It's a weird idea: That something can be "good" at the time but maybe less good later. Can a movie really depreciate over time, like a car? Is it normal for movie depreciation to happen, and what causes it to happen?

In the case of Spider-Man 2, for example, it's the second movie in the first Spider-Man franchise. A 2026-viewer will naturally compare the movies from the first franchise against the movies from the second and third Spider-Man franchises. Any viewer will also compare a sequel or the continuation of the story against the movie that came before it. 

When I was re-watching Spider-Man 2, I found myself more interested in assessing it against Spider-Man (2002), a movie that I had some questions about -- one being: Why are Harry (James Franco) and Peter (Tobey Maguire) friends? Unfortunately, Spider-Man 2 simply assumes they are. It does nothing to strengthen the case. Peter is still working his way through college, but what's happened to Harry? Has he taken over Oscorp? Maybe he's not exactly the head, but they don't explain his involvement in the company, and they don't explain if Harry finished college, or if college doesn't matter because he inherited all of his father's money. At least in the first movie Harry and Peter were roommates, but if they're no longer roommates and no longer going to the same school. is it likely that they are best friends, or even "better friends" than they were before?

I have the same question about Peter and Mary Jane (Kristen Durst): Why are they "best friends"? In Spider-Man, Peter tells her that a friend is all he can be to her, but that should probably kill not only their potential dating relationship, but also their friend status. In Spider-Man 2, they are both living busy lives, and Mary Jane is even serious enough about a guy that she's ready to marry him. If Peter was a best friend, it seems logical that they would have talked about her getting serious with this other guy before the point when she actually tells Peter she's getting married. 

Part of the reason I don't like this movie is because I find it too melodramatic. It relies too much on these key relationships, and it never takes any opportunity to develop them.

I'm also not always a fan of how every time we see Peter and Mary Jane talking, each seems to have a flashlight shown in their face. The lighting is just a little heavy. 

Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) is a fun villain, and I like how all the Spider-Man villains seem to be split into good and bad parts, just like how Peter is split in two parts -- not necessarily "good" and "bad," but when we see Peter ignore a mugging, I guess you could still say his "bad" side was in control. 

So, does this movie hold up? I don't know. It's definitely not as good as I remembered it being, but maybe it never was as good as I remembered it being. Keep in mind that Spider-Man 2 came out before Marvel started releasing 2 or 3 superhero movies every year. It probably felt more special back in 2004 simply because the superhero movie landscape hadn't been saturated with superhero movies. Part of me does feel that I'm being a little harsh assessing it as 3 out of 5 stars, but I liked it less than Spider-Man, and so I couldn't justify rating it any higher, which scares me as I don't recall thinking Spider-Man 3 was better than Spider-Man 2... We'll see how I feel after the re-watch.

Rating: 3/5 stars

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