129 - Octopus

 A scientist conducts an experiment which goes wrong and turns him in to a super villain... Norman Osborne or Otto Octavius? Well, it's both, isn't it? Two films in, and already were getting in to a formula. But for Spidey films it kinda works.

As per the previous film, again the scale is relatively small scale; nothing Doc Ock does has any impact beyond a relatively small part of New York, and again this is a good thing. You absolutely have to build up the threat. Alfred Molina does somewhat ham it up at times in the film, and it somehow works. He's not up to the 11 of Willem Defoe, but he's damn good. Though I do often still picture him as Tony Hancock.

The core of this film, though, is the relationship between Peter and Mary-Jane; at times you just want to slap Peter for his ineptitude. Face it, tiger, you hit the jackpot... but you're not bothering to collect your winnings. The way he pushes away MJ at various points in the film just makes you want to slap him, and it's no wonder she turns to someone else. Though when she finally realises that he's Spidey, everything gets back on track... and I guess I should mention here Kirsten Dunst's performance as MJ; she's just a perfect embodiment of the comic book character.

And talking of perfect embodiments of comic book characters, I have to mention JK Simmons' performance as J Jonah Jameson. He absolutely nails the character, and often injects a tone of levity in to things. He has spot on timing with his lines, and whenever he's on screen he's the best thing on it. In fact, I'd say his performance is up there with the aforementioned Kirsten Dunst, as well as Robert Downey Junior's Tony Stark, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Chris Evans' Johnny Storm (yes, you read that right), but I'll get on to those last three when the time is right...

One thing this Spidey does seem to be overly fond of is taking off his mask so that people can see who he is. He seems to do it with an alarming frequency. It's a good job these movies are set before decent cameras on phones were really commonplace, otherwise his identity would be all over TikTok, Instagram, FaceBook, and Twitter before he'd even got home...

And again, foreshadowing. After mentioning Doctor Curt Connors (another scientist who'll conduct an experiment that goes wrong turning him in to a supervillain) we actually get to see him here. Though, ultimately, it's foreshadowing that goes nowhere in the Maguire films, as we never see The Lizard in these films. Not until Andrew Garfield takes over. 

We also see Harry Osborne stumble on his dad's secret stash of Green Goblin equipment... hmm... I wonder what will happen there in the next movie...? Hmm... 

I have a feeling, if memory recalls correctly, there may be at least one thing I rant about when we get on to the next movie...