We're glad you're back, Spider-Man.
This is the cry that greets Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) when he slips back into his mask and tights after a brief hiatus from crime fighting in Spider-Man 2.
It's a cry that will be echoed by millions of fans of Sam Raimi's 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man.
It's good to have Spidey back where he belongs fighting this summer's action doldrums.
Van Helsing, The Chronicles of Riddick and Around the World in 80 Days fell flat, so it's a relief to find some genuine electricity and fun in a summer popcorn movie.
Maguire's Spider-Man is the best incarnation of a comic book superhero since Christopher Reeves' Superman and Michael Keaton's Batman because all three actors bring a genuine hint of humanity to essentially cardboard characters.
Maguire is entirely believable as the weakling who stands to get sand kicked in his face and he is the eternal wide-eyed innocent.
In Spider-Man, the fun came from watching Parker deal with his new super powers.
In Spider-Man 2, it's watching him come to terms with these gifts and the huge responsibilities that accompany them.
One of the finest moments in Spider-Man 2 occurs when Parker finds the hero that exists inside him and not inside Spider-Man.
The look on Maguire's face when Parker rushes into a burning building to save a child is chilling because it's so real.
Parker senses real danger so we do too, which is not the case whenever Spider-Man is in the deadly metallic grasp of his newest villain Doc Ock (Alfred Molina).
This is something Raimi understands, which explains why he has Parker lose his mask for the run-away train sequence.
The scene benefits greatly because we see a real face experiencing real danger instead of a giant bug that could easily be a stunt double or computer generated.
Dunst and Maguire bring a lot of humour -- and a little pathos -- to the love story.
Dunst makes us understand why Mary Jane would consider marrying another man, but she's even better at revealing the woman's dilemma when she realizes she might be making this choice for a wrong reason.
Molina shows both the torment and manic delight when Doc Ock discovers he is both Dr. Frankenstein and his monstrous creation.
Doc Ock is a fun villain but greatly limited in what he can do with those metallic appendages.
The first few times he scales a building, tosses vehicles around, rips into buildings and pavement or grabs a human hostage, it's stunning visual wizardry -- but the effect wears thin.
Spider-Man's high-flying high-wire acts are still impressive and thrilling and technically far superior to what they were in the first film.
When they concocted the screenplay for Spider-Man 2, Alvin Sargent, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar had a copy of Jerry Siegel's Superman 2 next to their stack of Marvel comics.
Their final script balances precariously between homage and rip-off, but they did an excellent job pumping up the action and the romance.
Because he doesn't have to deal with so much exposition, Raimi is able to concentrate on plot and action.
His film bogs down in the middle third, which could benefit from losing at least 15 minutes. But it's still rip-roaring good escapist fun.
(This film is rated PG)
More Movie Reviews
