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Tell Others About This Page By Using This Button "SPIDER-MAN 2" (2004) (Tobey Maguire, Alfred Molina) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Minor Heavy *Moderate Heavy Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Minor Heavy None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild Mild Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Adventure: A young man tries to balance his personal and superhero lives while dealing with his new nemesis, the multi-tentacled "Doc Ock." PLOT: It's been two years since high school student Peter Parker (TOBEY MAGUIRE) was bit by a genetically altered spider that turned him into a teenager with superhuman powers. He no longer lives with his widowed Aunt May (ROSEMARY HARRIS), but still feels guilty about not stopping the robber who eventually shot his uncle dead. He also feels torn between fighting crime in the big city and trying to lead a normal life. The latter includes his unfulfilled feelings toward his former next-door neighbor, Mary Jane Watson (KIRSTEN DUNST), who's now a stage actress. Then there's his best friend, Harry Osborn (JAMES FRANCO), who hates his alter-ego, Spider-Man, whom he blames for his father's death. With Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. SIMMONS) putting more pressure on Peter to deliver new photos of the web-slinger, Peter faces an identity crisis as his dual-end candle burning increasingly takes a toll on him and his personal and academic life. It's with the latter that he meets Otto Octavius (ALFRED MOLINA), a scientist employed by Harry's inherited company who's trying to create a fusion energy source. During a demo of his latest experiment -- where he uses robotic, tentacle arms that are temporarily attached to his spine -- things go terribly awry. Those sentient tentacles not only become fused to Otto's body, but also take over his mind, creating a villain known as Dr. Octopus or "Doc Ock." As Peter tries to work his way through his identity crisis and feelings toward Mary Jane, he must contend with Harry wanting Spider-Man dead and Doc Ock's quest to resume his fusion experiments that soon threaten everyone in the city. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're too young to recognize the character, that would be a definite yes. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For stylized action violence. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: TOBEY MAGUIRE plays a frazzled college student whose superhero duties are putting a strain on his personal life. As he battles Doc Ock and other crime as Spider-Man, he must decide what's right for him and the good of the residents of his city. ALFRED MOLINA plays a brilliant scientist who's turned into a villain with extraordinary abilities when a demonstration of his fusion experiment goes awry. He battles Spider-Man as he tries to resume his experiment. KIRSTEN DUNST plays Peter's former next-door neighbor and the girl with whom he's always been smitten. She's an actress who gets engaged to someone else, but can't shake her romantic feelings and longings for him. JAMES FRANCO plays Peter's best friend who runs his dead father's company but is really only interested in the demise of Spider-Man. He drinks, once to the point of intoxication. ROSEMARY HARRIS plays Peter's older and widowed aunt who's come under hard times financially and misses her husband, but still manages to give her nephew helpful advice. J.K. SIMMONS plays the curt and sensationalistic newspaper editor who's always after Peter for photos of Spider-Man. He uses a little profanity and smokes some cigars. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action/adventure film that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of a handful of expletives (no "f" or "s" words), while some colorful phrases are uttered. Some brief kissing occurs, while a drawing in the opening credits shows the main character shirtless and then some (although stopping before his crotch). Violence consists of all sorts of brutal and/or harsh, comic book style action where characters punch, kick and/or smash around others or objects, often in a rather severe fashion and much of the time into walls and other hard surfaces (some falls also land on the latter). Some fighting briefly has bloody results (but not too much at that). A minor character is killed by flying shards of glass (no blood), another appears to have drowned (although that's probably not the case), and various characters shoot at others. Those scenes and others may be unsettling, tense or suspenseful to some viewers, but mainly just very young ones. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, a few smoke, some drink (one appears to be intoxicated) and some tense family material involves dealing with the aftermath of deaths that occurred in the first film. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, a few scenes feature such flashes (but never to a full-strobe effect). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Miscellaneous people have drinks at a reception and Harry appears to be drunk and then has more champagne. Peter asks Mary Jane if he can get her a drink, but she turns him down. He then grabs a tropical drink from a tray for himself and tries to drink from it, but the glass is empty. Harry drinks. Harry drinks again. BLOOD/GORE We briefly see some blood on Spider-Man's torso in torn-open sections on his suit. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE A receptionist has a snide attitude toward Peter when he's just a few minutes late in delivering some pizza. Harry is obsessed with Spider-Man following him thinking that the superhero is responsible for his father's death. Various miscellaneous criminals have bad attitudes. Doc Ock, under the control of his sentient, robotic arms attached to him, becomes a villain who injures or kills some people, robs a bank for funds to continue his fusion experiment, and tries to kill and then capture Spider-Man. Harry agrees to give Doc Ock a rare substance he needs for his fusion experiments in exchange for Doc Ock bringing him Spider-Man so that he can kill him. A bride stands up the groom at a wedding (for another man). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such action mayhem. Others will likely have no problem with the material. Peter has various close calls with cars, cabs and buses as he zooms through downtown traffic on a moped while hurrying to deliver some pizza. Spider-Man swings down and saves two kids who are nearly hit by an approaching truck when they walk out in front of it. Doc Ock climbs the outside of a wall while holding Aunt May with one of his robotic arms. As Spider-Man tries to come to her rescue, Doc Ock drops her and Spider-Man shoots webbing to save her. He then flings her back up but she ends up going past him and then hangs onto some building ornamentation with her umbrella (but starts to slip from that). Peter comes across a building that's near completely engulfed in flames. When he hears that a kid is trapped in there, he rushes inside where flames surround him on every floor. He's nearly hit by falling debris but eventually finds the young girl. He tries to carry her out, but the floor collapses in front of them. He tries to leap across the hole, but ends up holding onto the edge of it with her. They eventually get out after he pulls himself up. We do hear that one unseen person did die in the fire Doc Ock puts a subway train to its highest speed and disables the throttle and brake controls. Spider-Man then sees that the end of the line (that abruptly stops on the elevated track) is fast approaching. He then tries to stop the speeding subway car, first by planting his feet on the track (breaking the wood on the track and causing him pain) and then by shooting webbing onto adjacent buildings and then using his body to brake the train. That causes him pain as his arms are strained and bent back along the sides of the train's nose. He eventually stops it, but only as the first car of the train goes over the edge and hangs there in mid-air. Doc Ock delivers a bound Spider-Man to Harry who then approaches Spider-Man with a large knife/letter opener with the intent of killing him. As a fusion reaction grows, it starts pulling anything metal toward it, including Mary Jane who's bound by chains that are now drawn toward the reaction. As Spider-Man tries to save her, Doc Ock intervenes, smashes him back hard against a wall, and then knocks Mary Jane aside. A large wall nearly falls on Mary Jane, but Spider-Man catches it just in time, but strains to keep it from crushing both of them. A large rolling object then nearly hits both of them as it's pulled toward the growing fusion reaction. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Shotguns/Machine Guns/Knife: Carried and/or used to threaten, or attempt to wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. We see a drawing of a handgun from the first film. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Or your ass is fired," "What, are you stupid?" "Geezers," "Psycho," "Watch it, jerk," "If promises were crackers, my daughter would be fat," "That's crap," "Pissing me off," "Freak," "Where the hell did you get that?" "The hell with it," "He's just a great big jerk," "What the hell?" and "Go get 'em, tiger." It's possible some kids could try to imitate Spider-Man jumping from buildings and then swinging on his web (by using ropes). The same holds true for all of the fighting, etc. A young woman wears a midriff-revealing top. JUMP SCENES After Harry hears thunderous footsteps approaching his large balcony, one of Doc Ock's robotic arms suddenly grabs and lifts him into the air, dangling him over the side of the building. A door suddenly blasts inward on a subway car. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful and action-oriented music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 3 hells, 2 craps, 1 ass and 1 use of "For God's sakes." SEX/NUDITY During the opening credits, we see a drawing of Peter who's shirtless and the shot goes down a little below his waist (but doesn't show his crotch). We briefly see Peter's landlord in his boxers when he comes out of the bathroom with his pants around his ankles. Mary Jane shows a little cleavage. Mary Jane and her fiancé do some brief passionate kissing (but she's really doing so just to see if it has the same spark as when she kissed Spider-Man in the first film). Mary Jane shows a little cleavage. Peter and Mary Jane briefly but passionately kiss. SMOKING Jameson smokes cigars several times, while Doc Ock smokes a cigar once and a miscellaneous person smokes. We see a drawing of Jameson with a cigar from the first film. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Aunt May says that she still misses her late husband two years after he was murdered. Otto's wife is killed when shards of shattered glass fly at her (we don't see the impact, but do see her body fall to the floor -- no blood). We see Aunt May at her late husband's grave and she states that his death was her fault. Later, Peter tells her the truth about what happened and how he could have stopped the killer if he had only known what he was going to do. Harry sees his dead father who talks to him (but it's a hallucination of sorts). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Being so over-worked that other aspects of one's life suffer. Harry being so obsessed with Spider-Man following him thinking that the superhero is responsible for his father's death. The comment that intelligence is a gift, not a privilege, and should be used for the good of mankind. Fusion. VIOLENCE A getaway and cop car crash into each other with one nearly hitting Peter on his moped. He flips out of the way but the moped is mangled. A villain then fires a shotgun at the cop car, hitting it and causing it to crash into another cop car. It then becomes airborne and heads straight for a group of people, but Spider-Man's web catches it in midair, saving them. The villains then fire shotguns and machine guns at Spider-Man who snatches the guns from their hands via shots of his webbing, and he pulls two from their car with that webbing and suspends them in the air. When he suddenly can't shoot any more webbing, Spider-Man falls a long distance and lands quite hard on some piping or duct work on a rooftop. Doc Ock's long, robotic and octopus-like arm knocks Spider-Man back into a wall (quite hard). Spider-Man then saves Harry from being hit and killed. Otto receives quite the electric shock and there are some explosions in a lab. Doc Ock's long, robotic and octopus-like arms attack various doctors and other medical personnel who are about to amputate them. The arms grab, lift and smash the various people, with one's fingernails scraping channels into a surface as she's pulled backwards. Property damage occurs, one person is shocked when smashed into the surgical lights and another is grabbed and then presumably killed after trying to cut off an arm with a chainsaw. Doc Ock flips a car into another. Aunt May tries to kick Peter under a desk to get him to agree with her, but instead accidentally kicks the banker they're talking to. Doc Ock rips a huge metal door from a bank vault and flings it aside. It nearly hits Peter and Aunt May. A guard then aims his handgun at Doc Ock, but his arms knock that guard and others aside. He then flings various heavy bags of change at Spider-Man who avoids them and throws one back that hits Doc Ock. Doc Ock finally hits Spider-Man with one and then grabs his head and tries to crush him. Spider-Man then uses his webbing to smash some tables into Doc Ock who's then knocked outside and against a cab. Doc Ock then throws part of that cab at Spider-Man and then grabs Aunt May with one of his arms. Doc Ock climbs the outside of a wall while holding Aunt May with one of his robotic arms. As Spider-Man tries to come to her rescue, Doc Ock drops her and Spider-Man shoots webbing to save her. He then flings her back up but she ends up going past him and then hangs onto some building ornamentation with her umbrella (but starts to slip from that). Spider-Man and Doc Ock exchange various brutal punches and smash each other into the side of a building and then through part of it. As Doc Ock prepares to impale Spider-Man with a sharpened tentacle end, Aunt May cracks him on the head with her umbrella. He then knocks her off and Spider-Man must save her before she hits the street. Police then open fire on Doc Ock as he escapes. Harry slaps Peter twice on the face. When his webbing won't shoot from his wrists, Spider-Man falls a long distance, slams into buildings, and then lands hard in an alley. He then falls and lands hard again when he tries to climb up the side of a building. We briefly see two thieves beating up a guy in an alley (and Peter walks by without doing anything after he's given up being Spider-Man). After Harry hears thunderous footsteps approaching his large balcony, one of Doc Ock's robotic arms suddenly grabs and lifts him into the air, dangling him over the side of the building. Peter runs and tries to leap from one rooftop to another, but comes up short. He then falls a long distance, grabs a clothesline and then slams into the side of a building. He then falls and lands on one car and bounces against another (complaining about hurting his back, but he walks away). As Mary Jane leans in to kiss him while seated in a cafe, Peter senses danger and gets the two of them out of the way just in time as a car smashes through the large window and its tire barely misses them. Doc Ock (who threw the car), then grabs Peter by the neck and threatens to peel the flesh from Mary Jane's bones if Peter doesn't deliver Spider-Man to him. He then throws Peter into the back wall (quite hard) and some building material collapses on him. Doc Ock then grabs Mary Jane with his robotic arm and leaves the scene. Doc Ock and Spider-Man get into a fight on the outside of a building where both use an enormous metal clock hand to bash the other. Other brutal punches, some kicking to the face, and smashing into the building occur. The two then fall onto a moving, above-ground subway car where Spider-Man tries to avoid the various swings by Doc Ock's arms. Doc Ock does get him with one, however, smashing him into the subway car. Spider-Man then barely avoids hitting a structure on the outside of the train, but Doc Ock blasts him from the subway car down onto the street below him (quite hard). Doc Ock then grabs and tosses several people aside and Spider-Man must catch them in webbing to save them. Doc Ock then puts the train to its highest speed and disables the throttle and brake controls. Spider-Man then sees that the end of the line (that abruptly stops on the elevated track) is fast approaching. He then tries to stop the speeding subway car, first by planting his feet on the track (breaking the wood on the track and causing him pain) and then by shooting webbing onto adjacent buildings and then using his body to brake the train. That causes him pain as his arms are strained and bent back along the sides of the train's nose. After various people state that he'll have to go through them to get to Spider-Man, Doc Ock uses his robotic tentacle arms to smash all of them apart and to either side of a subway car. He then strikes Spider-Man with one such arm, knocking him out. Spider-Man and Doc Ock get into another fight with brutal blows delivered by each. Doc Ock blasts Spider-Man out through the ceiling, but Spider-Man comes back and knocks Doc Ock through the floor where he punches him many times in the face. As a fusion reaction grows, it starts pulling anything metal toward it, including Mary Jane who's bound by chains that are now drawn toward the reaction. As Spider-Man tries to save her, Doc Ock intervenes, smashes him back hard against a wall, and then knocks Mary Jane aside. Doc Ock is electrocuted, but lives and Spider-Man is knocked aside by the jolt. One of Doc Ock's arms grabs Spider-Man by the neck. A man appears to have drowned (we see his body underwater), but it's unlikely that he's really dead (since he appears in later comics and thus, one assumes, will reappear in possible future movies). Harry throws a knife/large letter opener through a glass window, shattering it. Reviewed June 24, 2004 / Posted June 30, 2004

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