"Spider-Man 2" does everything a sequel is supposed to do. It expands the Spider-Man world, further develops the main character, and raises the stakes. This is one of the better comic book movies ever made, and it still holds up extremely well today. It definitely holds up better than the other two movies in the Raimi trilogy. Tobey Maguire stars as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and does a great job. He may not be as young as the character is meant to be portrayed, which is the only flaw in him being cast in the role. He was about 28 years old in this movie and the character is referred to as "just a kid" at one point, and Peter is in college so he is probably somewhere between 20-21 here, so the age discrepancy is a bit glaring, but it's not terrible. The story is compelling and relatable. Peter is struggling balancing his normal life and hero life, and because of the stress and his deteriorating relationships, he begins losing his powers. The villain is Doctor Octopus, a scientist striving to make sustainable energy, but when his test fails and his mechanical arms take control of his body, he has less than honorable motives to recreate the experiment. Alfred Molina plays Doc Ock and does great. All of the characters are really brought to life by some strong acting and witty dialogue. The campiness from the first film is toned down a bit here and the movie has a bit more mature feel to it. The effects still look really good. Every once in a while a scene looks a bit rubbery or video-gamey, but more often than not it looks great. The action is exciting, I do wish a bit more happened in the climax, but there is a lot of pay-off that makes it still feel satisfying. I don't know if it is my nostalgia that makes me love this movie or what, but I really think this is a great superhero movie. I do know that it is flawed though. It has some dull moments here and there, and there is some cheesiness still. This movie is incredibly fun and entertaining. Overall, I give this movie an 8.5/10.