the quarterly spider-man 2 discourse has arrived and while i'd usually refrain from Weighing In, a truly cursed endeavor, i saw a few folks talking about how it actually hasn't aged all that well which I think speaks to a fundamental misunderstanding of why folks still love it

sincerity is an increasingly nonexistent thing in superhero movies, and often what passes for sincerity today (Shazam!, etc) more qualifies as a calculated tonal decision. spider-man 2 is pure sincerity, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, and that never ages

spider-man 2 is simultaneously *tremendously* indebted to the Lee/Ditko run (i think tobey is a fine peter if only because he looks like a weird ditko drawing) and also raimi broaching themes that genuinely stretch beyond superhero storytelling. it feels personal in a way these

movies are actively deterred from being today. sometimes that sincerity and reverence for its source material results in moments that might veer into cliche - namely the Hero monologue - but is it cliche if you mean every fucking word with all your heart and soul?

there have been two dozen versions of that speech over the last twenty years. i can't speak for everyone but the only time it makes me cry is when rosemary harris is delivering it.

that's important. that means something.

it's not an accident or calculated cross-marketing that Vindicated plays over the closing credits. that song *is* spider-man 2. sometimes you find someone in front of you that you don't think, nay, you know in your heart you don't deserve. and sometimes that someone sees

something in you that you never considered was there. you don't know if you're ever going to see it yourself and you may tell them you're wrong but god, just hearing them say they see it in you makes you want to reach for it. to be better, to be worthy, to grow.

that's why people like spider-man 2

additionally it features jk simmons as j jonah jameson which means it's already better than.....75% of movies?

anyways heres wonderwall

AND ANOTHER THING i think there's something to be said for looking at the entire run of spidey comics beginning to end, seeing the countless quippier, more modernized versions of the character, and saying no, we are doing the Lee/Ditko run. we will update the aesthetics to suit

a modern day setting but everything we do is in pursuit of that tone and that tone alone.