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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Spider-Man 2
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment


7.6

based on 41 reviews
Read critic reviews
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based on 239 votes
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FILM:

GAMES:

Spider-Man 2 (Xbox)

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for stylized action violence

Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, Donna Murphy, and Daniel Gillies

In the second installment in the Spider-Man series, based on the classic Marvel Comics hero, Tobey Maguire returns as the mild-mannered Peter Parker, who is juggling the delicate balance of his dual life as a college student and a superhuman crime fighter. The entertaining adventure escalates and Spider-Man's life becomes even more complicated when he confronts a new nemesis, the brilliant Otto Octavius, (Molina) who has been reincarnated as the maniacal and multi-tentacled "Doc Ock." (Sony)

GENRE(S):	Action \| Fantasy \| Sci-fi
WRITTEN BY:	Alvin Sargent, Alfred Gough (screen story), Miles Millar (screen story), Michael Chabon (screen story), Stan Lee (comic book), Steve Ditko (comic book)
DIRECTED BY:	Sam Raimi
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 30, 2004 Video: November 30, 2004 Theatrical: June 30, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	127 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Variety Todd McCarthy

The pleasure is doubled in Spider-Man 2. Crackerjack entertainment from start to finish, this rousing yarn about a reluctant superhero and his equally conflicted friends and enemies improves in every way on its predecessor and is arguably about as good a live-action picture as anyone's ever made using comicbook characters.

100

Newsweek Sean Smith

Amazingly, it's not all the visual splendor or killer action sequences that elevate Spider-Man 2 above its predecessor and almost every superhero movie that has come before.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's a real movie, full-blooded and smart, with qualities even for those who have no idea who Stan Lee is. It's a superhero movie for people who don't go to superhero movies, and for those who do, it's the one they've been yearning for.

100

USA Today Mike Clark

With special effects so convincing you don't even think about them, a head-case hero and a three-dimensional villain who is his equal, socko Spider-Man 2 has something for everyone.

100

Premiere Aaron Hillis

Fantastic news, true believers: Spider-Man 2 is smarter, hipper, faster, funnier, and flat-out more electrifying than the original, swinging to new summer-movie heights as the greatest comic-book adaptation yet made.

100

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

The filmmakers smartly counter heavy drama with goofy comedy, mining a rich vein of humor in the juxtaposition of the mundane and the superheroic. Maguire and Molina excel at opposite ends of the moral spectrum, but the film is stolen once again by J.K. Simmons.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Smart, fun entertainment.

100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Spider-Man 2 offers one emotional or action-packed aria after another; at the end you feel like giving it a standing O.

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

This triumphant sequel to the hard-to-top 2002 original may be the first great comic-book movie in the age of self-help and CGI wizardry, an entertainment in which both the thrills and the therapeutic personal growth are well earned.

100

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A masterpiece of pop filmmaking -- a fantastic, exuberant entertainment that manages to be both sleek and substantial without being patronizing.

100

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

Where Peter was yee-ha giddy with the discovery of his newfound powers in the first film, he's crushed by the weight of responsibility that comes with them in its far superior successor.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Spider-Man 2 succeeds in pretty much the same way "Superman II" did -- only more so.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Forget "Raising Helen" and "The Notebook," this is the movie summer's most touching young romance.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Better than its predecessor, and also superior to most other comic-book-based movies. It has a more credible (and more frightening) villain, a more capacious and original story and a self-confidence based not only on the huge success of the first "Spider-Man" but also on Mr. Raimi's intuitive and enthusiastic grasp of the material.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

It's refreshing to witness a superhero with doubts. Maguire and Dunst again display the depth of talent they bring to these roles by injecting such everydayness into larger-than-life characters.

Slate David Edelstein

It's the tone of the picture that's most striking. This is nothing less than a superhero's lament--Spidey Agonistes, a comic-book spectacle in which the primary struggles are behind the mask.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This movie, directed with precision and an appreciation for (relatively) rich character texture by Sam Raimi, remembers all the fine elements of the original film (and the comic book story). It reprises them perfectly, including wonderfully choreographed, skyscraper-hanging fights.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The cutting is so sinuous and breathtaking, the music (by Danny Elfman after too much coffee) so onrushing and the camera so penetrative of the depths and heights of midtown Manhattan at cloud level, that the illusion, despite its artificiality, works. You don't believe it but you "believe" it.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A lot of talent to lavish on a single movie, but the result is uncommonly smart for the genre, and not just smart but tremendously enjoyable.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Love, death, hope, and hatred: Spider-Man 2 has ’em all, in spades.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Raimi doesn't make the mistake of over-thinking the flimsy psychology of the genre. All this conflicted-hero stuff isn't meant to be profound; instead, it's there for the same reason as everything else -- to give the action (the interior action in this case) a healthy shot of pop energy.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A perfect blend of summer action, a big movie with a deeply personal story.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Sequels don't get much better - or smarter - than the action-, drama-, romance- and comedy-packed Spider-Man 2, which miraculously improves on the webslinger's hugely popular first screen adventure in every imaginable department.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A sequel of twisted thrills and sly surprises.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

Until it develops a bad case of verbosity toward the end, it improves upon its predecessor in almost every way, delivering flashier thrills while digging deeper into its characters and adding an overlay of wit.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

As played by Alfred Molina with both computer-generated and puppeteer assistance, Doc Ock grabs this film with his quartet of sinisterly serpentine mechanical arms and refuses to let go.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The rare sequel that actually improves on the original, this robust entertainment's intelligence and emotional impact belie conventional wisdom that summer movie spectaculars are by nature brainless nonsense and only a stupid snob would complain about their cynical insubstantiality.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

It’s easily the best movie of the summer so far. Sony has obviously given Raimi more freedom to run the show, and the results are very entertaining.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Molina is an actor of unusually elastic gifts, but unlike Willem Dafoe, who has only to bare his scary teeth to send us all scampering for the exits, there's no getting around the fact that Molina has the face of a kindly basset hound even when it's contorted into a deadly grimace.

Empire Dan Jolin

This summer's most satisfying, spectacle-packed movie. Like its predecessor, it offers a strong story rather than a feeble excuse to connect set-pieces.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The sequel is more exciting and surprising than the 2002 original, thanks largely to Molina's excellent acting. Only the strenuously comic scenes fall as flat as one of Spidey's leftover webs.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Raimi seems more comfortable being his outlandishly jokey, B-movie self, letting entire sequences play on the line between carefree schlock and Hollywood blockbusting.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

I also like that when Our Hero starts swinging from skyscrapers, he's not just emulating Tarzan, but is working out the Newtonian physics of action and reaction.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Although Sam Raimi's direction is generally solid (and, in some scenes, flawless), the film's middle act has instances when it seems repetitive and exposition-heavy.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

As Dr. Octopus, Alfred Molina makes a more baroque supervillain than Willem Dafoe did as the Green Goblin, but the other stars--seem happy to be giving us more of the same.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

The set pieces, such as an unmasked Spider-Man trying to stop a runaway subway car, are furiously scary, and compensate for all the icky mooning and moping that Peter does whenever he's questioning his gift, which is most of the time.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Yet for all the fun the sequel provides, the series shows signs of wearing out quickly, unless characters get developed thoroughly and in unexpected ways.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

A silly comic book movie with provocative psychological overtones. Or a provocative character study with silly comic book overtones. Take your pick. Either way, it's hardly the cinematic milestone it's widely hailed as being.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

Never has a blockbuster, I would guess, required so many soliloquies. What with the mournful Molina, the hazed-over Dunst, and the puffy uncertainties of Maguire, we in the audience are the only ones who still believe, without qualification, in thrill and spill.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

For a big-budget action movie Spider-Man 2 is modest and not assaultive -- it has a boring decency.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

As much as I enjoy Spidey's high-flying Cheez-Doodle swoops through the skyscraper canyons of a digitally rearranged midtown Manhattan, I get no kick from his angst, especially since in this incarnation, as opposed to the '60s comic book version, he's more innocuously depressed than defensively paranoid.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 239 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bob R. gave it a9:
An incredible work of art. Much improved from the first Spider-man, this movie is possibly the best super hero film of all time.

Tom K gave it a9:
This movie is the best comic book adaptation, and is much better than spider man 1. It was a funnier, has more emotion and heart, great story, and a fantastic action with amazing CGI on doc oc. Spiderman 1 was more of an intro, but spiderman 2 displayed the wrenching consequences that comes along with having all this power.

Mark W. gave it a1:
This was possibly the worst movie I have ever seen.

Joe D. gave it a10:
This film is a masterpiece. If you don't believe it, ask these critics and IMDB fans alike. The division is what creates brilliance. Heck, there was even division among Bobby and Babel, and even among Queen. This film is certainly better than the first two (with Babel being like "Crash" the lite version), and is on a par with Queen. This film is a masterpiece. Just go ask IMDB fans.

Lewis B. gave it a10:
Spider-Man 3 is the Lawrence Of Arabia of the superhero movies world. It is epic, sprawling, magnificent, meaningful, beautiful. Anyone who doesn't enjoy this movie must be a pretty spoilt brat or a cynical old misery. For near on three hours it envelops you in its world and makes you CARE about the characters. How's that for a special effects laden blockbuster, a movie with characters that matter? The comedy works, the emotion works, the action works. Everything Raimi tries comes off. The set pieces are particularly astounding, ranging from an out of control crane to Spidey's numerous battles with the meaty villains on show. Like others, I think this is by far the best of the three (though I loved the first two as well). It's a modern-day classic, an enrapturing fantasy that exhibits all that's best in modern movie making. An experience not to be missed.

Arnie G. gave it a4:
Extremely overrated. Unbearably corny and sappy by times. Although I'm sure this is straight from the comics but why does Peter have to know all his villians personally before they become villians? I find this unrealistic plot point distracting but I'm willing to get over it if the movie worked...which I found only when the action kicked in gear. I loved the first Spidey, thought it was stylish and rang true...here's hoping that Spidey 3 is more like the first.

Randy M. gave it a10:
The best comic book movie ever made. No...no....let me rephrase that. This is one of the greatest movies of all time. Absolutely powerful and just plain fun to watch.

Spider-Man 2 Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment

Spider-Man 2
Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment