You don't have to be a brilliant scientist to guess that something goes (repeat after me) horribly, horribly wrong, causing the six-armed machine to go kablooey, blow up Octavius' lab and fuse irrevocably to Octavius' body. And when Peter changes into his Spidey suit and saves Harry from the ruckus, Harry freaks out and dedicates himself anew to exterminating his nemesis for good.
Octavius, or Doc Ock, as the newly eight-armed villain comes to be called, is the element that sends Spider-Man 2 into the stratosphere, far outdoing the original. See, you can't have a good comic-book flick without a good, conflicted supervillain. Although Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) was scary-crazy, he just wasn't a kick-butt, over-the-top agent of doom like, say, Jack Nicholson's Joker in Batman.
But Doc Ock, inhabited by British stage actor Molina, has a serious operatic God complex going on, fueled by the evil tentacles that whisper destructive suggestions into his ear. And Raimi, who cut his teeth on wild-n-cheesy fantasy action fare such as the Evil Dead series and Darkman, uses this opportunity to cut loose with a combo of somewhat restrained violence and a clever comic streak.
For instance, Doc Ock's tentacles not only spur him to do bad things but also helpfully light his cigars and remove his rakishly placed fedora from his head. They're just cool like that.
Also cool is Tobey Maguire's talent at making Peter Parker vulnerable without making him seem like a weenie. Ditto for Dunst -- the first time around, MJ was sort of a redheaded, miniskirted bundle of need, but you cheer for her this time when she puts her foot down and dares Pete to admit he loves her or stop mooning at her already. We've all been there.
And the always amazing James Franco, who usually seems to be channeling James Dean (whom he played in a TNT biopic), gives Harry just the right amount of edge and grief-driven fury without making him utterly villainous.
Even with the sequel's increased edge, Raimi allows some too-obvious moments. There's a particularly syrupy speech by Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), who tells Pete about the importance of heroes and destiny and rainbows and puppies and other inspirational hooey stolen directly from a high school graduation song. Blech. I almost expected Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and the Up With People choir to appear on the stoop and provide backup.
But the cheese cannot quell the awesome rush of the fast-paced action sequences that out-thrill any Lethal Weapon movie, as well as the human fireworks exploding between Peter, MJ and Harry.
And by the time it's all over, Raimi has neatly set up Spider-Man 3 while adding an emotional coda to an already compelling story. I'd hope that next time they find a way to make the computer effects a little less obvious. But otherwise, I wouldn't mind a few more sequels like this one.
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