June 16, 2004. Copyright, 2004, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Spider-Man 2 set to be top summer blockbuster
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, June 16, Graphic News:  Spider-Man 2, due out on June 30, looks set to confound the theory that sequels never match the power of the original. Director Sam Raimi has woven a tight web of secrecy around the action movie, but we know enough to expect even more from this second installment about the nerdy kid who is cursed with Òthe giftÓ after being bitten by a genetically modified spider.

First of all, Spider-Man 2 picks up on the themes and relationships that took the first film into unfamiliar action movie realms, and reunites its much acclaimed cast: two years after discovering his ÒpowersÓ, mild-mannered Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is at college and desperate to reveal the secret of his dual identity to longtime love Mary-Jane (Kirsten Dunst).

Life has not got any easier for Parker, whose friendship with Harry Osborn (James Franco) is threatened by HarryÕs anger towards Spider Man, who killed his father. An older, wiser Parker is still struggling to balance the different demands of his unique personality and this time he faces a new arch-enemy: the sinister, multi-tentacled Doc Ock (Alfred Molina).

Of course, most of the buzz about Spider-Man 2 focuses on his clashes with Doc Ock in the concrete canyons of New York. The scene of Doc OckÕs transformation, in particular, has been described as unmissable: as surgeons prepare chainsaws to separate the mechanical tentacles that have fused with his flesh in an accident, the tentacles spring to life. Maguire himself says Doc Ock is a much ÒcoolerÓ villain than the Green Goblin of the first film.

With Spider-Man 2, Raimi has promised more high-quality special effects and even more death-defying stunts from the arachnoid superhero made famous by the Marvel comic books. The sequel also makes more use of the ÒSpydercamÓ camera system specially developed for the first movie to capture the red-and-blue suited Maguire soaring between the skyscrapers of New York City. The city itself has a more prominent role this time, according to Raimi.

Such is the excitement surrounding the movie that Columbia Studios decided to bring its release date forward from the scheduled July 2. If the success of the original is anything to go by -- it made a record $100 million in its first weekend at the box office -- Spider-Man 2 is likely to swing all through the summer.
/ENDS