The Spider-Man 2 Mastered in 4k Blu-ray release looks good but is it worth the price of an upgrade (around $15)? I don’t think so especially since, as with the other 4k releases none of the features were ported over. Still, if you own the proper equipment and have made the determination to dive into the field, this is a top title worth having in your collection.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Comedy
Sony | PG13 – 127 min. – $19.99 | July 16, 2013
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Writer(s): Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (comic book); Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Michael Chabon (story), Alvin Sargent (screenplay)
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, Dylan Baker
Theatrical Release Date: June 30, 2004
DISC INFO:
Features: UltraViolet Digital Copy
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (DTS-HD MA 5.1)\
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.40
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Disc Size: 39.2 GB
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A, B, C
THE MOVIE – 4.0/5
Plot Outline: When being Spider-Man becomes too much for Peter Parker (TOBEY MAGUIRE) to handle, he makes a drastic decision to hang up his Spider-Man suit and stop being a crime-fighter. But a new enemy has arisen. A brilliant scientist (ALFRED MOLINA) has been accidentally transformed into a raging monster known as Doc Ock. With super-intelligent robot tentacles welded to his spine, he’s become an unstoppable criminal. When Doc Ock kidnaps MJ (KIRSTEN DUNST) to get to Spider-Man, Peter Parker must again take up the mask of the hero, and he does it with a vengeance. Meanwhile, Spider-Man has another villain on his tail in best friend Harry Osborne (JAMES FRANCO) who blames the web-slinger for his father’s death.
Quick Hit Review: Spider-Man 2 has been considered one of the best superhero movies made, right up there with Superman, The Dark Knight and X2: X-Men United. However, upon my latest viewing after many years, and numerous additional superhero films, it didn’t quite hold up as well. No doubt, this is a well made movie with good performances particularly by Tobey Maguire and Alfred Molina and story-wise, takes a unique look at the psyche of a superhero leading dual lives without the money or resources compared with others (like Batman).
That being said, I couldn’t help but to notice some of the same flaws that premeditated director Sam Raimi’s other two Spider-Man films including a incredibly lackluster performance by Kirsten Dunst and some laughably cheesy lines delivered from unseasoned extras (“Go Spidey, Go!” comes to mind). I know there’s no such thing as the perfect movie, even The Dark Knight has its fair share, but unfortunately Spider-Man 2, albeit still a good piece of filmmaking, has not held up especially well in the 9 years since its release. In fact, and this is controversial, I actually kind of prefer the reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man as it does a better job setting up future storylines and by comparison has a far better cast.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5
Due to disc space, or lack thereof, none of the features from the original Blu-ray were ported over. However, there is an UltraViolet Digital Copy download code. This release does have a sleek, and glossy, slip cover.
VIDEO – 4.75/5
Spider-Man 2 joins the first film in arriving on Mastered 4k Blu-ray release. The picture is crystal clear with excellent detail levels, nice color array – although it seems muted in places – but compared with its standard 1080p Blu-ray release, it’s not a huge difference given that one looked pretty damn good to begin with.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The disc comes with what I can only assume is the same 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The track isn’t anything outstanding which is disappointing given the movie, but it has some good depth with crisp and clear dialogue coming from the center channel while the action elements help provide a solid home theater experience between the central action and the idle sounds making use of the front and rear channels. Also coming out nicely is Danny Elfman’s souring score.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Overall, the Spider-Man 2 Mastered in 4k Blu-ray release looks good but is it worth the price of an upgrade (around $15)? I don’t think so especially since, as with the other 4k releases none of the features were ported over. Still, if you own the proper equipment and have made the determination to dive into the field, this is a top title worth having in your collection.
Published: 07/20/2013
“I actually kind of prefer the reboot”
I just stopped reading after that.
As they say, to each their own, though Spider-Man 2 is a better movie (easily top 5 of comic book films), I do like the other components of the reboot (i.e Emma Stone vs. Kirsten Dunst) and it provided a background for Peter and the death of his parents where it was, from my recollection, barely touched upon in any of the three Raimi movies.