The sparkling jewel of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, helped by great performances, especially Alfred Molina's Doc Ock. The relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane has never been more annoying than in this one, but that is a weakness of all of these films.

Alfred Molina is absolutely fantastic in a heartfelt superhero movie that is totally sincere in its depiction of heroism. Raimi's Spider-Man is loyal to the comics, but only the very earliest comics where Peter Parker is a frustrating character at the best of times. Tobey Maguire nails exactly what he was told to nail, but good god why would I want to spend any time at all with this drip.

Now this, this is a superhero sequel done right.

Spider-Man 2 masterfully builds on the foundations of the previous film for a story with greater action, greater character writing, and an emotional climax that very few superhero films have matched in the two decades since its release. It's a film that's still often regarded as one of the best superhero films of all time, if not the best, and overall, it's hard to argue with that idea.

My favorite superhero movie of all time. Sam Raimi understands that Peter Parker's daily struggles are just important as Spider-Man is. A remarkable character study that features some of best action in comic book movie history. Could watch this every day and still be satisfied.