Spider-man 2

Forget “Batman,” “Daredevil,” “The Hulk,” “X-Men,” and “Hellboy”—Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” is easily the best comic book adaptation since Richard Donner’s landmark 1978 “Superman: The Movie” (the movie that resurrected the comic book as Hollywood subject matter).

The mega-sequel to the 2002 mega-hit “Spider-Man” blends multi-dimensional characters (Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock is far less over-the-top than was Willam Dafoe’s Green Goblin), outstanding special effects, deft action, romance, and a sense of humor.

The story, by Pulitizer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon and “Smallville” (the WB TV series Superman’s formative years as a young Clark Kent) creators Alfred Gough and Miles Miller, and fit to the screen by veteran screenwriter Alvin Sargent (“Hoosiers,” “What About Bob?”), brings the world of Spider-Man, Peter Parker, and Mary Jane Watson—created more than 40 years ago by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in the pages of Marvel Comics—to the big screen with reverence and humor, and manages to neatly set up at least a third installment. Stay tuned.

Matt Parks (7.17.04)