Spiderman 2 Movie Review


Spiderman 2 is a movie about redemption and the hero’s struggle with it. Can the hero find redemption? Can the hero be saved from his problems? Peter Parker is forced to come to terms with the consequences of his decisions in Spiderman. He kills his friend’s father, the Green Goblin, as Spiderman. He turns his back on a relationship with Mary Jane because he wants to protect her. His aunt is angry at Spiderman because she believes he is responsible for the death of her beloved husband, when in reality, Peter Parker holds himself responsible. It was his uncle’s death that caused him to make a commitment to be Spiderman, to use his abilities to help save people. This is the most important decision that he made in the first movie, and the second is the outworking of that choice.

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It is necessary for the hero, Peter Parker, to turn his back on all that in order to find out who he really is. He doesn’t realize that the “spidey” part of him is really who he is. It is not until he turns his back on the life of a superhero, and sees that NOT being Spiderman really doesn’t’ change his problems. I found the scene where Peter Parker enters the burning building to save a little child to be one of the most interesting parts of the film. He still feels the need to go into the burning building. Even without his powers, he HAS to go in and try to save the child. He is weak and barely accomplishes the task. It is interesting that the director has the child engage in the rescuing. Without the help of the child, Peter could not have accomplished it alone. This theme continues on in the film. When Spiderman is trying to save the train full of people, his identity becomes compromised. However, the people make sure he knows that they won’t tell anyone, and they then step in front of the very hurt Spiderman when the villain, Doc Ock, comes to take him away. His Aunt forgives him for the death of his uncle and she encourages him to continue being Spiderman. Later, when Mary Jane finds out that Peter Parker is really Spiderman, she also agrees to stay loyal to him and help him. The redemption of Spiderman is found through meaningful relationships. Spiderman no longer needs to face his problems alone as he has the support of his family, friends, and the people of New York City.

Though the typical superhero film is about the hero overcoming the villain, Spiderman 2 is about Spiderman overcoming his own failures and weaknesses. At first, he thinks he has to be the hero himself, but he realizes that he cannot. It is when he allows other people to see his weaknesses that he is saved. Spiderman 2 is a very relatable story with a powerful redemptive theme because it shows the weaknesses that humans all have, and that being superhuman won’t save a person from himself. It is the redemption found in relationship with others, something beyond you.