Originally Posted by B5Erik

I like ham.

Originally Posted by Mike86

Random bump, but I watched Spider-Man 2 last night. It had been quite a while since I’ve watched it fully through. I have to say that while I kind of get why people like it to me it’s never really been a favorite.

The basis for the storyline is good. I feel like the film doesn’t always execute it the best though. It’s very melodramatic and I kind of rolled my eyes at a lot of parts. Maguire annoys me often, especially when he’s in the Peter role versus when he’s in the Spidey suit.

Alfred Molina is great as Doc Ock. Definitely one of the standout aspects of the film. I also think the sequence where Spider-Man has to stop the train is really good and holds up as one of the better big action set pieces in a superhero film in my opinion.

Overall I think the movie is okay, but I don’t quite understand why it’s highly regarded as one of the best superhero films of all time or the best Spider-Man film. Maybe it was good for its time, but I think it’s been surpassed by quite a bit.

Originally Posted by rocket1312

I waited to see Far From Home before voting. Not sure why since there was a roughly 0% it was going to be better than Spider-Man 2. I actually just re-watched the first two Raimi films after picking up the UHD trilogy and while the first one has some warts (didn't love it even when it came out back in '02), the second is as good as ever. Special effects aside, I can't for the life of me figure out what is "dated" about them, unless "dated" is just code for "not the MCU." Give me a director with a discernible visual style, drama that isn't constantly undermined by some quip, and a movie that feels like an actual movie rather than an episode of an ongoing tv show any day of the week. I really enjoy Tom Holland, but the character he's playing barely resembles Spider-Man, or at the very least barely resembles Spider-Man as written by Stan Lee. Tobey Maguire, on the other hand, is pretty much perfect as Peter Parker. I'll admit that when he puts on the suit there's a little something missing in his interpretation, but he's so good as Parker that it's easy for me to overlook. JK Simmons and Rosemary Harris are two of the most perfect castings in comic book movie history. The character Kirsten Dunst is playing isn't really MJ (feels more like Betty Brandt to me), but the chemistry between her and Maguire is really sweet. The will they/won't they aspect of their relationship starts to wear a little thin by the end 2, but I love that final shot of her watching Spider-Man swing off to some mission and her happy face turns to dread. It's the relationships that really make these movies click. Green Goblin is of course the elephant in the room with the first movie. Dafoe is awesome as Osborn, but as soon as he puts on that terrible costume it all goes wrong. They also tried to cram too much into the first one. The whole first movie should have taken place in high school. The second is allowed to breathe a little more and Octavius is one of the great big screen comic villains. It's also hilarious in a way that doesn't depend on every character being a sassy quip machine. Notice I haven't mentioned the Garfield movies. I saw the first one and promptly purged it from my memory. Never saw the second one and I probably never will. Spider-Verse was incredible as a piece of pop art, but I need to see it again to see if it holds up on second viewing. I doubt I'll like it more than SM2, but it might solidify itself as my #2.