"I'm Spider-Man no more...."

Halfway through Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), his morale lowered by his chaotic personal life and seemingly losing his spider-like superpowers, tosses his red-and-blue tights into a New York City trash receptacle and swears, "I'm Spider-Man no more."

After watching the first hour of Sam Raimi's second entry into what promises to be a successful film franchise based on the comic book character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the early 1960s, I can't say I blame PP for wanting to hang up the Spidey suit and forget Uncle Ben Parker's admonition that "with great powers comes great responsibility." For two years after having been bitten by a genetically engineered "superspider" at Columbia University, the aspiring scientist/freelance photographer has had more downs than ups (at least emotionally speaking) since becoming our favorite web-slinging crime fighter. His double life has not only forced him to give up any romance he might have had with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), but he's chronically late to his classes and his two jobs, much to the displeasure of his professors and employers.

In addition, he's also seen his friendship with Harry Osborn (Peter Franco) deteriorate. In the two years since Spidey's final confrontation with Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin, Harry has assumed control of what's left of Oscorp and become relatively wealthy...but he's also bitter; he hates Spider-Man for killing his father and resents Peter for being pals with "the bug" and not revealing the web-slinger's identity.

In an effort to live up to his father's reputation as a man of science, Harry has also been funding Dr. Otto Octavius' (Alfred Molina) latest project, a stable tritium-fueled fusion reactor that, if successful, will revolutionize the power-generation industry and harness the energies that fuel stars -- including our own Sun -- to provide a safe and cheap source of electricity to an energy-hungry world.

But like Norman Osborn before him, the charming and erudite Octavius, like Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein, soon discovers that over-reaching in scientific research sometimes has a terrible price, and before you can say Don't meddle with powers you don't understand three times fast, Octavius' public demonstration of a fusion reactor goes horribly wrong. The reactor goes haywire, things explode (killing Otto's beautiful wife, played by Donna Murphy), and a set of "smart" mechanical arms is fused onto the physicist's body, essentially taking over his personality when an inhibitor chip burns out.

Although horrified at his transformation, Octavius can't resist the arms' artificial intelligence's demands that the work on the fusion reactor be completed. Worse, he can't fight the arms' enhanced survival instincts which surface violently in a New York hospital's OR, and the scientist becomes something he clearly doesn't like...a criminal who robs banks and injures -- even kills -- anyone who stands in his way. Dubbed "Doc Ock" by Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), the eight-limbed cyborg goes on a rampage of crime....and attempts to build a larger and potentially more dangerous fusion reactor, setting the stage for the possible destruction of half the Big Apple...and a confrontation with Spider-Man.

But Peter Parker/Spidey is in no shape to face Doc Ock. Fired from his pizza-delivery job for failing to make pizza runs on time and barely able to pay his rent, Pete is also still struggling to deal with his feelings for Mary Jane. Two years earlier he had told her he wasn't in love with her, a lie which he felt necessary to protect her in case his enemies found out he is Spider-Man and went after the people he loved, especially "MJ" and his beloved Aunt May (Rosemary Harris). Now he's still in love with the beautiful rising star of the New York stage, but his crime-fighting duties and his work-study responsibilities always get in the way of his promises to be there for Mary Jane as a friend. Even when he promises to be at a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, Peter fails to show up...his moped is wrecked, a "this is a job for Spider-Man" situation intervenes, and he is finally prevented from watching the play by a Snooty Usher (frequent Raimi player Bruce Campbell).

Worse, his Spidey powers are failing...webs don't sling, and falls that would have been relatively easy to avoid now really hurt Peter. Now, with his abilities diminishing and his personal life in chaos and not getting any better, Peter is perplexed -- "What is happening to me?" he asks after a particularly bad night -- and frustrated. Wanting to have a more "normal" life, he decides to literally toss the Spider-Man tights away and focus on school, his friends, and his Aunt May.

Spider-Man 2, like Richard Lester's 1981 Superman II, tells a story of a superhero in love, torn between his responsibilities to the community he has sworn to protect and his heart's desire. Just as Clark Kent was smitten by Lois Lane in the comics and feature film series, Peter Parker deeply loves Mary Jane, but his choice to be Spider-Man -- in his eyes, anyway -- precludes any chance of a true relationship between them. It's this contradiction within him that causes Peter to push MJ away and into the arms of astronaut John Jameson (Daniel Gillies) and nearly ruin their friendship, as well.

Spider-Man 2's success at the box office in the summer of 2004 was well-deserved; the script by Alvin (Ordinary People) Sargent -- based on a story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Smallville) and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chambon -- builds upon the foundation of the first film and explores the humanity of all the characters in the story. Both the writers and director Sam Raimi did well by choosing to make Otto Octavius/Doc Ock sympathetic and tragic rather than a typical "oh, he was bad to the core anyway" movie villain. Yes, like Norman Osborn, he is obsessed with achieving his goals and he is responsible for his own downfall. But unlike the Green Goblin, Doc Ock isn't driven by revenge or madness; the mechno-arms somehow became self-aware and gained control of Octavius' higher brain functions when they became fused to his spine after the reactor accident. Molina, who usually appears in more artsy films and is best remembered as the treacherous Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark, plays Otto brilliantly, making us grieve for him even as we root for Spidey to defeat Doc Ock.

I really enjoyed this movie when I saw it at the movies this summer; I thought it was done very well by the writers, the actors (particularly Maguire and Dunst), and director Raimi and the production crew. Everything about this film -- whether it is the artwork in the title sequence, John Dykstra's visual effects work, the costumes, or Danny Elfman's operatic score -- is rife with wit, energy, and style. making Spider-Man 2 a memorable and enjoyable viewing experience.

DVD Features:
Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Commentary by director Sam Raimi, actor Tobey Maguire, producer Avi Arad, and coproducer Grant Curtis
Commentary by technical supervisors
"Spidey Sense 2" pop-up trivia track
Blooper reel
Four Web-isodes: original online featurettes
Train music video: "Ordinary"
Disc 2:
"Making the Amazing": 12-part documentary
"Hero in Crisis": a deeper look into Peter Parker and his personal battles
"Ock-umentary: Eight Arms to Hold You"
"Interwoven: The Women of Spider-Man"
"Enter the Web": groundbreaking multi-angle look behind the scenes
Art gallery
Behind-the-scenes look at the Activision game
Number of discs: 2