Henry's Top 100: # 03 - Spider-Man 2

The best Comic Book Movie ever made.


Have you ever had your heart cheer?

Look, if you wanna poke holes in Spider-Man 2...and Sam loves to do so...it's easy. It's corny, some things don't make any sense, a lot of scenes contain bad acting...I can't claim that it is a "flawless" movie like some other movies on this list.

But if you have any romance, humor, or joy in your heart... or if you've ever enjoyed reading a comic book...then you know why I have Spider-Man 2 as my 3rd favorite movie ever.

My top three movies are in another level above all the other 97 films. I appreciate the 97 films that I've written about here. I really, realy, really like them. These last three...I love them. Love. Adore. These last three are a part of who I am, are recalled in my darkest hours...these last three...can't top 'em.

Spider-Man 2...I've never walked out of a movie, with all the movies I've seen, I've never walked out of a movie with as much joy as I did with Spider-Man 2. The last scene...the last line...guh...I turn into an 8 year old girl.

But Spider-Man 2 delivers for the rest of the film too. It captures a perfect Peter Parker, and nearly perfect Spider-Man (he could make a few more jokes...) and nails every supporting character. Kirsten Dunst is actually, somehow, charming and attractive in the film. Rosemary Harris' Aunt May verges on annoying but manages to be the best representation of the character in her nearly 50 years of existence. And Alfred Molina, as Doctor Octopus...how great is he? Until Ledger's Joker, I would argue Molina gave us the best super-villain (Well, Sir Ian's Magneto was pretty great too...) ever.

But for me, when I think of Spider-Man 2, I think of two scenes. One is the aforementioned last scene...and again it really makes me... just so happy. Just happy. I mean outside of hearing good news about a family member, or hearing the right Beatles song on the radio at just the right time, how often does something just make you happy? Just make you believe in fate (in a good way), or humanity, or potential, or just... basically win your heart over? That's what the last few minutes of Spider-Man 2 mean to me. But it's not my favorite scene...

No, the best scene in Spider-Man 2 is an action scene. It contains nothing but Spider-Man fighting the villainous Doc Ock. But, it happens to be in my opinion, the best action scene of all time. But, more importantly, it is the action scene I had been waiting a lifetime to see. Before Spidey 2, the best "comic book fights" in film were in The Matrix, or involved Nightcrawler in X2 (which were great)...but I had never got, man on man, super-hero vs. super-villain, until Spider-Man 2. Spidey 2's "Clocktower to the Train" fight is a childhood dream come to life. All those days and nights spent imagining the choreography of the fights I'd read in comics...it was finally on screen.

So yeah, F-You Sam, Spider-Man 2 is my 3rd favorite movie ever made. No movie, even the next two and final films, makes me as happy to be alive.

Best Scene: