Rewatch SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004) for the studio's 100th anniversary. Deeply earnest in its delivery, Sam Raimi perfectly portrays the central “why” of Spider-Man. Truly one of the best in the genre. Simply put, they just don’t make 'em like this anymore.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 8, 2024

This is the ultimate Spider-Man movie, and it’s one of the best-ever superhero films we’ve ever gotten.

| Jun 20, 2023

Narratively lumpy as it sometimes is, "Spider-Man 2" marks Raimi’s return to the pure cinema of fun.

| Original Score: A | Sep 19, 2022

Still one of the best superhero films of all-time.

| Dec 17, 2021

Despite a total of four writers and filming beginning before an official script was completed, Spidey 2 contains more coherent drama, action and character development than a dozen of the usual Hollywood blockbusters.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 20, 2021

A cartoonish "coming-of-age" story, tepid liberalism, limp satire. Given the current state of things, this is dangerously weak material.

| Feb 15, 2021

A groundbreaking, epic masterpiece, Spider-Man 2 sees Sam Raimi continue to make great use of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's classic stories to deliver the rare perfect sequel.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 11, 2020

It does delude the possibility of a different Marvel, less limited and more permeable to authorship and the unpredictable forces of the fantastic. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 1, 2020

Not compelled to spend time sketching in the origin of Spider-Man, Raimi can flesh out his villain of the piece, Dr Octopus, and it's a lovely performance by Alfred Molina.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 13, 2019

Raimi's film delivers a carefully balanced mix of warm-hearted sentiment and exhilarating spectacle. Darkening the tone, but never straying very close to the edge, this is feel-good fantasy.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 18, 2019

Displays the kind of poise and confidence that can only happen when you're following on from a critical smash that also became one of the most successful movies of all time.

| Mar 22, 2019

Due to back pain, Tobey Maguire was almost replaced by Jake Gyllenhaal, the Topher Grace of Gyllenhalls.

| Aug 29, 2018

The second installment of the trilogy, co-scripted by Michael Chabon, is a real supe-opera, with the usual young adult turmoil pushed into the realms of comic-book mythology with the complications of his power, guilt, and responsibility.

| Aug 26, 2017

Spiderman 2 is has got a little bit of everything: angst, explosions, tight suits, bad guys, good guys, more explosions.

| Aug 24, 2017

Spider-Man 2 is not a great movie. It is, however, a great superhero movie, one of the best ever made. If only its influence could more clearly be felt in the "Avengers" CGI-fests of today.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Jun 15, 2017

The trick with Spider-Man is to swing both ways -- the superheroics and the super lack of self-esteem -- without getting mired in the dreary introspective moping that did for Ang Lee's awful Hulk. Spider-Man 2 balances it all but perfectly,

| Jun 29, 2015

Maybe it has something to do with Sam Raimi's skills as a director, or with Tobey Maguire's very human central performance, but the Spider-Man films are by far the best of the superhero genre.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 29, 2015

Spider-Man 2 ranks alongside Superman II and both X-Men films as the best screen adaptations of comic book heroes, a status that, as we've seen through the years, isn't as easy to master as it sounds.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jun 29, 2015

A sequel that not only outstrips its predecessor but has a perversity and quick-wittedness that hardly seem to belong in a comic-book movie.

| Jun 29, 2015

Spider-Man 2 is better than just dark, it's touched by authentic teenage paranoia and neurosis.

| Jun 29, 2015