Why Spider-Man 2 (2004) is not just another superhero film

"No matter what, We should always have the courage to do what's right: even if it costs us the things we want the most."

The following is a guest post by Stagan Obhon, an avid fan of Spiderman. He is also an excellent poet, whose works are soon upcoming in a new volume. Find him on Instagram @thecosmosareone.


Superhero films have a bad reputation of being "childish" or having "little to nothing offer to viewers who aren't children" when  it couldn't be further from the truth. There are many such films with tales of love, heroism, loss and sacrifice. A prime example would be "Spiderman 2", directed by Sam Raimi, the center of the "Evil Dead" franchise and produced by Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad.

Mary Jane Watson, played by Kristin Durst

Set after the events of the first film, (Spider Man), the film finds Peter Parker struggling to manage both his personal life and his duties as Spider man, which affects his civilian life dramatically. We see Parker, two years after Norman Osborne's (played by William Defoe) death, estranged by Mary Jane Watson (Kristin Durst) and his best friend, Harry Osborne (James Franco). Harry has bitter hatred of Spider man, who he thinks killed his father,  and also bears some animosity against Peter for not supposedly disclosing the location of Spider man. Peter's life is in shreds; his love, Mary Jane wants nothing to do with him since he keeps letting her down by not being able to see her play.

Aunt May's facing foreclosure on her marriage and he is missing Physics classes at the University of Colombia, resulting in poor grades.

 Nothing seems to be going right in his life. Coupled with his troubles, he also faces temporary but repeated loss of his powers in life threatning situations. When Harry introduces him to Dr.  Otto Octavius, his idol, he is awestruck by a self sustaining fusion reactor. Otto steps in his life as a mentor and befriends him. Peter gets close to him and admires him; because they both have the gift of intelligence. Otto also has happiness in his personal life, which is something Peter obviously struggles with. 

Doctor Octopus

But Fate has different plans, and Mary Jane gets engaged to a famous Astronaut, John Jameson, son of J Johah Jameson. 

Dr. Otto also becomes insane after some equipment goes horribly wrong killing his wife and breaking the inhibitor chip that attaches the experiment to his nervous system.

Peter finally suffers an emotional breakdown and loses his powers. He abandons the identity of Spider man, shunning the responsibility and walks away from the ideals of Uncle Ben.He tries to return to a normal life but the rise in the crime rate begins to worry him as he slowly realizes that he has to be Spider-Man like what Aunt May told him that no matter what, we should always have the courage to do what's right even if it costs us the things we want the most including our dreams. 

His powers eventually return when Doc Ock endangers Mary Jane to get back at Spidey and the climactic fight does end with throwing punches but instead on a reconciliation of the protege and mentor. Mary Jane finds out his secret and true feelings. But Peter having already accepted his destiny, asserts that they never can be together. Mary Jane, however on her wedding day, chooses Peter and although reluctant at first, he accepts this happy ending.

The screenplay by Alvin Sargent is impeccable. Alvin has done a really good job at making us feel for these characters, perfectly characterizing them, defining their mannerisms and motivations without any negligence. From the moment the film begins, we are told that it is a living breathing world. The dialogue seems innately natural and strikes a chord while each scene is acted out superbly by the cast. The story by Michael Chabon seems to be straight from the pages of a comic book. The cinematography by Bill Pope also doesn't disappoint.



The sets and environmental props follow a similar color palette to that of the first movie. Every scene looks vibrant and carries a lot of energy with each camera shot accurately depicting the thoughts of  the characters. The action never feels cartoonish although it relies heavily on special effects. The film has a trademark 'Sam Raimi-y' feel to it.

Danny Elfman somehow still manages to improve on his score, perfectly harmonizing the sense of responsibility with tragedy. This is evident by the Main Title Soundtrack:

This was a guest post by Stagan Obhon. Find him on Instagram @thecosmosareone.

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