RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
94 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:231

Fresh:216

Rotten:15

Average Rating:8.3/10

Consensus: A nimble sequel that improves upon the original.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for stylized action violence

Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:15-07-2004

Synopsis: Columbia Pictures' Spider-Man 2, the next installment in the adventure series that began with the 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man, swings into theaters on July 2, 2004. Spider-Man, a Marvel... Columbia Pictures' Spider-Man 2, the next installment in the adventure series that began with the 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man, swings into theaters on July 2, 2004. Spider-Man, a Marvel Enterprises/Laura Ziskin Production, grossed more than $820 million worldwide and became the fifth highest grossing movie in U.S. history. Spider-Man is based on the classic Marvel Comic book character. Spider-Man 2 reunites the filmmakers and cast from the first film, including Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons, along with director Sam Raimi, and producers Laura Ziskin and Marvel's Avi Arad. Stan Lee and Joseph M. Caracciolo serve as executive producers for Spider-Man 2, and Grant Curtis serves as the film's co-producer. Sam Raimi directs Spider-Man 2 from a screenplay by Alvin Sargent and Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Michael Chabon, based on a story by David Koepp and Alfred Gough & Miles Millar. In Spider-Man 2, the webslinging superhero encounters a new nemesis, the villainous "Doc Ock," who will be portrayed by Alfred Molina (Frida, Identity). Two years have passed, and the mild-mannered Peter Parker faces new challenges as he struggles with "the gift and the curse," desperately trying to balance his dual identities as the web-slinging superhero Spider-Man and his life as a college student. Tormented by his secrets, Peter finds that his relationships with all those he holds dear are in danger of unraveling. His life-long yearning for M.J. (Kirsten Dunst) becomes even stronger as he fights the impulse to reveal his secret life and declare his love. His friendship with Harry Osborn (James Franco) is complicated by the young Osborn's bitterness over his father's death and his growing vendetta against Spider-Man. Even Peter's beloved Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), who has fallen on hard times after the death of Uncle Ben, begins to have doubts about her nephew. Peter's life is about to become even more complicated as he encounters a formidable new foe -- Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina). Peter must use all the powers at his disposal to try to stop this diabolical madman in his octagonal tracks. Director Sam Raimi and producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad lead a top creative team which includes Director of Photography Bill Pope, ASC (the Matrix film series), Production Designer Neil Spisak (Spider-Man, The Gift), editor Bob Murawski, (Spider-Man, The Gift), Visual Effects Supervisor John Dykstra, ASC (Spider-Man, Academy Award winner for Star Wars) and Special Effects Supervisor John Frazier (Spider-Man, The Perfect Storm). The Executive Producers are Stan Lee and Joseph M. Caracciolo. "ACADEMY AWARD" and "OSCAR" are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [More]

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons

Director: Sam Raimi

Director: Sam Raimi
Screenwriter: Alvin Sargent
Story: Michael Chabon
Producer: Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad
Composer: Danny Elfman
Studio: Columbia Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Spider-Man 2 Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Spider-Man 2

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Spider-Man 2 is probably more of a lateral step but that doesn’t stop this episode from being a lot of fun.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
08/07/04
Dan Chant
Dan Chant
FilmFocus

Raimi has once again crafted a blockbuster that thinks as hard as it thwacks -- in a word, amazing.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
07/20/04
Dan Jolin
Dan Jolin
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

All in all, this sequel is a blockbuster with both a heart and a brain.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Dave Calhoun
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A mind-boggling piece of showboating and the most rigorous fairground ride of the year

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
07/15/04
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Confident, exciting, funny and crafted with real heart.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
12/15/03
Matthew De Abaitua
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Exciting sequel that improves dramatically on the effects of the first, but also has an emotional depth that is surprising in a blockbuster this big.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
07/20/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Raimi handles it effortlessly because he keeps his focus tightly in the characters' hearts and minds.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
07/08/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Raimi weaves a wonderfully seductive web of arachnid action, human drama, and wink-nudge comedy.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
07/12/04
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
07/03/04
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

For a big-budget action movie Spider-Man 2 is modest and not assaultive -- it has a boring decency.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment 2 Comments
07/03/04
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

Comic-book dialog, where everything has life or death urgency, yet you can still take time to wax philosophical... same movie - with less swing-time, and almost no fun.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
06/30/04
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Feels like a remake of the first one, with the same character struggles and plot points we’ve come to expect

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
06/29/04
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Surges and sags in massive sections.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
07/02/04
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

There are a lot of dull spots where there's only banal chatter.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/30/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The movie's first half is talky bordering on tiresome -- endlessly rehashing the same mix of frustrated puppy love, survivor guilt, and identity crisis.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment 1 Comment
06/29/04
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice

A noisy, dopey sci-fi thriller.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
07/03/04
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

...Spider-Man 2, despite a terrific villain, is boring.

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment 4 Comments
07/07/04
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

Gets the characters where they need to go, but it doesn't develop their struggles to a satisfactory level.

Full Review Source: Mark Reviews Movies | comment 6 Comments
12/06/04
Mark Dujsik
Mark Dujsik
Mark Reviews Movies

The lightning that struck for so many of this summer's sequels fails to ignite Spider-Man 2. The franchise remains a tolerable proposition tolerably well-executed.

Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | comment 1 Comment
08/30/04
Nick Davis
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
all

Latest News for Spider-Man 2

October 31, 2007: Spider-Man 4 Script On Its Way
The questions of who will be directing and starring in it remain unanswered, but Spider-Man 4 just got itself a screenwriter. More...

July 31, 2007: Early Production Underway for Spider-Man 4
Yep, just a little more vague mumbling about what might happen on Spider-Man 4, but when Sam Raimi has something to say, it's usually worth listening to. More...

July 13, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: "Potter" Power Takes Control of Multiplexes
The Hogwarts posse is back with the highly anticipated launch of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", the fifth film in the blockbuster wizard series which has... More...

July 12, 2007: "Harry Potter" Conjures Up Box Office Records
Four years after "The Return of the King" set the $8 million record for a midnight screening, cinemagoers have boosted the latest "Harry Potter" flick above... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
83% 83% Harry Potter and the H…
67% 67% Public Enemies
75% 75% Julie & Julia
95% 95% The Cove
85% 85% World's Greatest Dad

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
12
  • Peter Jackson Talks Hobbit, LotR Blu-ray Source: Collider.com
13
  • Woman Jailed for Filming New Moon Screening Source: Chicago Sun-Times
14
  • McG Has Plans for Fifth and Sixth Terminator Movies Source: Gizmodo
147
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
22
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
82
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
56
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
37
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
28
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Blind Side Takes the Lead
26
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
30
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Spider-Man 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Spider-Man 2 at IGN
  • Spider-Man 2 at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.