Watched: 07/02/04 3:15pm AMC Southdale 16 Score: 10

Going into the theater expecting something good, it turns out I was underestimating this movie. The special effects are great, the plot is great, and the ending is great. Can you guess what adjective I would use to describe Spider-man 2?

Taking place 2 years after the end of the first movie in the timeline, Peter Parker is now battling with a new enemy: doubt. He has issues keeping up with being a crimefighter and a student at the university. Mary Jane has began her acting career (performing in The Importance of Being Ernest, hint, hint) and Harry Osborn has taken his father’s place as head of Oscorp. Of course this movie wouldn’t be complete (or true to it’s comic book roots) without a new villian, and Alfred Malina delivers a great performance as Dr. Otto Octavius.

Spider-man 2 is at the same time funny and profound, and the audience develops an empathy for the characters throughout the movie (even the villian). This doesn’t mean that they skimped on the effects - they are used more in this movie than in it’s predecessor, but at the same time they are almost seamless.

Director Sam Raimi takes this sequel to the box office record breaker farther than Spider-man, both in plot depth and character development. He has shown the world that sequels can still be better than the orignial, and wraps it all up in a truly enjoyable 2 hours. See this movie this summer. On the jamuraa scale it gets a well-deserved 10.