Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 improves on its predecessor in every way possible. The web-slinging sequences are bigger, better, brighter, and even faster than the already spectacular ones in the original, and at the same time, the film's smaller emotional moments are denser, richer, and more resonant than those in the first.
Although Sam Raimi's direction is generally solid, and in many scenes flawless, the film's middle act has instances when it seems repetitive and exposition heavy. The storyline of Peter Parker going through an identity crisis, burned out from being Spider-Man and deciding to shelve his superhero alter ego, is one that's always been strange to many people, it’s been criticised endlessly from some for being an odd plot point,…