Spider-Man 2

This is the most anticipated sequel, hell, movie, of the year. The original was another exceptional comic book movie, mostly due to Sam Raimi's unique vision. He made the story very human while still having the action. This movie, went a little to overboard on the human angle, and less on the action. Although when the action happened, it was awesome.
The basic story followed the continuing story of Peter Parker as he attempts to juggle being Spider-Man, holding a job, going to college, and pining for Mary-Jane. Things aren't going so well for him. But, he seems to be losing his powers, and as things go on, he decides he can't be Spider-Man any more. That comes at a time when Otto Octavious, backed by Oscorp and Harry Osborne, becomes a super-villian in a horrible accident.
As most of the movie deals with Parker coming to terms with having no powers, telling his aunt that he had a part to play in his uncle's death. Mary-Jane, however, is going to get married, to J. Jonah Jameson's son. It isn't until Octavious and Harry make a deal that Ock goes after Parker for Spider-Man.
As this happens, Parker gets his powers back, and the showdown begins. This includes a fight on a train, and Harry realizing that Peter is Spider-Man. In the end, Pete wins, gets the girl, and Harry finds his father's evil Green Goblin toys.
The story was excellent, follwoing with the line that got set up in the first. However, the middle act lagged and moved very slowly. It wasn't until the last act that things got very interesting and super to watch. Alfred Molina was wonderful as Octavious, following in Willem Dafoe's performance in the first movie. All the leads were exceptional as in the last movie, but the pace of the film was off. I enjoyed it, but the first was much better. And it set up the next chapter perfectly, with James Franco playing Harry and the next Green Goblin. It gets a 7, and now I'm looking forward to number 3.

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