A few years back, “Dark Knight” garnered a lot of well deserved attention after it came out, and became a cultural phenomenon. The film became one of the highest grossing in history and changed the landscape of superhero films if nothing else. Christopher Nolan had managed to give the world a film about superheroes that not only fit the character, but brought the audience into the world of the hero, where for an hour and a half, a guy in clown makeup became the scariest thing on the planet. Keep in mind, the Joker is probably the most famous mass murderer in American Fiction, so seeing him up on the screen should create this kind of reaction. Nolan did what Burton and the other previous directors couldn’t: he gave movie audiences the same feeling comic readers have had for over seventy years. Batman was never just a dude in a suit, the Joker was never only a guy with a weird sense of humor, and Harvey Dent wasn’t just an attorney. All three represented something bigger than themselves. Nolan created an almost perfect comic book movie. Too bad Sam Raimi beat him to it.
Spider-Man 2 will always be, in my mind, the first time a comic book movie was done exactly right. Now, first off, let me say that there are plenty of good to great comic movies out there. A lot of people go back to Superman, which I can’t really comment on since it came out thirteen years before I was born, other than to say that I’m sure it was excellent at the time. But the problem I have with that movie, assuming we accept Luthor, is that if Superman can reverse time, why doesn’t he go back and prevent everything bad from happening? Why does he just save Lois? Isn’t that kind of selfish? The movie brings up more moral quandaries and questions about Superman as a person than it should because of that one scene. The first Spider-Man movie was good, but had its share of problems, but a lot of those, aside from having Willem Dafoe dress up in a power ranger costume to play the Green Goblin, were because it was an origin story. Spider-Man 3 had a lot of potential, but between doing what the studio wanted, trying to be funny, and trying to bring a bunch of plotlines together, that got lost in the jumble that was three main villains, two love interests, and an emo Saturday Night Fever dance routine. X-Men 2 is clearly the strongest from that series. Both of the Hellboy films are excellent, even if they don’t follow Mike Mignola’s excellent comic stories. But, still, none of them quite measure up to Spider-Man 2.
Spider-Man 2 stands above all others, because what we get in Spider-Man 2 is a film that gets exactly who Peter Parker is and taps into the reason the audience connects with him. Peter is a guy whose life sucks before he gets powers, and then starts sucking even more after he gets them. You’d think, at the very least, that with his awesome web-slinging powers, he’d be able to deliver a pizza across town on time. Nope. He winds up losing his job because he saves a kid from getting hit by a truck. And that, my friends, is Peter Parker in a nutshell. Peter is trying to balance everything but he just can’t. Between school, saving people’s lives, trying to make rent money, and keeping up with his friends, he’s always letting someone down. He can’t let anyone get hurt, so he takes the pain on himself. If stopping an armed robbery means failing a test, he’ll deal with it. After losing his uncle, Peter can’t bear to see anyone hurt, and he’s always going to feel responsible for allowing it to happen. It’s what defines him. It’s why he’s willing to let the woman he loves marry another man. As an audience, we connect with that, because we’re the only ones who know Peter’s secret, so it hurts us when he doesn’t make enough money at the Bugle. We know he’s a good person, and it’s tough watching him struggle because he does the right thing. Tobey Maguire does an excellent job of portraying Peter, giving him enough angst to balance out the humor, and make Peter really seem like the kindest guy on the planet.
The other side of the coin is Doctor Octopus. Otto Octavius is a scientist who’s trying to make the world a better place by trying to give the world a clean and efficient renewable energy source. But, alas, he doesn’t check his calculations, and everything goes horribly wrong. He winds up killing his wife because of his own hubris and becomes a monster with four mechanical arms. Raimi brilliantly handles making this transformation, giving it the air of a monster movie. I think he’s had some past experience with those. Anyway, the scene in the hospital excellently sets up the power and the horror of the arms, and manages to pay tribute to the classic movie villains while doing so. What we see in Otto is a man who has become overwrought with grief, pride, and outside influence enough to become a monster. He doesn’t want to rule the world or to hurt other people, he’s just concerned with finishing his work. Alfred Molina gives Octavius humanity so that the supervillain becomes someone we understand. When he meets his doom, though, it is as a hero who refuses to “die as a monster.” I wonder if killing Dr. Octopus off was the best answer, but to give the character the proper finale, and to reunite him with his wife, I suppose he has to die. But a point to remember is that Spider-man defeats Octavius not with his fists, but with his mind. There’s no way Peter could have beat him one on one, but because he used his head, he was able to solve the problem. And that’s the magic of Spider-Man: fists don’t solve everything.
Both of these parts of the film, the relatable hero who can’t be with the woman he loves, and the villain who we can relate to, are important pieces to the whole arc of the film. But “Dark Knight” has both of these as well. What puts Spider-Man 2 over the top, in my opinion, is the way it captures the spirit and energy of the character. As great as “Dark Knight” is, it is almost impossible to watch it and walk away smiling. With Spider-Man 2, it’s impossible not to smile. Seeing Peter recite poetry never fails to make me feel awkward. When Doc Ock climbs up the side of the bank with Aunt May, I always gasp. Every time Peter and Mary Jane meet at the end of the film, I can’t help but grin. The film manages to bring enough light and hope to the screen that I can’t help but love every second of it. No matter what’s going on, it makes me feel something. The absolute best part of the film, though, for me, is the end, where finally, FINALLY, our hero, after dealing with his pain all alone while we’ve been with him, has someone who knows his secret, and better yet, appreciates him for it. Say what you will about Kirsten Dunst (and believe me, I’ve said plenty,) the look in her eyes when Mary Jane finally realizes that Peter is Spider-Man is incredible. In that look, she understands how good Peter is and how tough everything he’s been through must have been. She knows how terrible everything she’s taken for granted is. And she realizes how much pain and guilt he carries with him. When they finally kiss at the end of the film, we applaud it not only because the hero gets the girl he’s been chasing all this time, but also because someone finally sees everything that he does. He doesn’t have to carry the weight alone anymore. He’s found someone who is willing to take risks just to be with him because the thought of letting him go it alone anymore is beyond agonizing. And, what’s more, is that we know he deserves it. Seeing Peter finally get kissed as Peter means as much to us as the audience as it does to him. We know that he deserves love, and now, at last, he has it. And nothing is more perfect than that.
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