Spider-Man 2
January 2005 Reviewed by: Anthony Di Marco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Among the many wonderful scenes in Spider-Man 2, one sticks out as a classic superhero moment: Spider-Man uses every ounce of his strength to stop a train full of New York City commuters after the villain, Dr. Octopus, smashes the controls. The scene delivers riveting action and genuine emotion as every muscle in the web-crawler’s body strains to slow the speeding locomotive. Superman or the Incredible Hulk would have hardly broken a sweat, and Batman, sans any real super powers, would have used his utility belt. Given the context of the scene it’s hard to imagine any of them eclipsing the raw sacrifice of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.

As the film opens, it’s been two years since the Green Goblin, and Peter Parker/Spider-Man is finding it hard to balance the demands of his superhero responsibilities with his own human needs. While Spider-Man is busy saving the people of New York, the love of Peter’s life, Mary Jane Watson, is slipping farther away.

There are superb, shaded performances throughout. Aunt May’s speech about why heroes like Spider-Man need to exist expresses the innocent idealism America was built upon and often struggles to retain. Lesser actors would have gone off the deep end and crushed the delicate moment with melodrama. You rarely get characters expressing this sort of thoughtful observation in an action film. This healthy dose of humanity and goodness elevates Spider-Man 2 into a poignant, character-driven experience.

The high-definition transfer doesn’t jump out and grab you. Colors have a muted, but filmic quality. Blacks are very dense and film grain is noticeable without being distracting. Images are very sharp -- especially on close-up. Poorly calibrated monitors will make the blacks appear crushed, while DVD players with limited processing ability will overlay softened edges and substitute natural film grain with compression artifacts.

Copious ambient information and clean, extended bass reinforcement make for sound much better than the bland sonics of the first film. The scenes where Octavius attains fusion created a very believable atmosphere in my room. This is a very well-balanced mix that uses surround sound in thoroughly appropriate ways, both to create a sense of space and environment and to heighten dramatic action.

There’s plenty of praise and back-patting going on throughout the special features, most of it delivered by the director about his cast and crew. On the surface you could say that Raimi is playing politics. Listen to the director’s voice closely and you’ll witness a very different agenda. Raimi values the creative talents of those around him -- a collection of highly talented people realizing one vision. You can see and feel this philosophy throughout the extras. Both commentaries sound like friends getting together to reminisce about their experience, while the excellent two-hour documentary contains very little fluff and a lot of interesting technical background. No one person on the crew or cast appears to be taking all the credit. It’s a team effort, and it has produced the best superhero film of all time.

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