Spider-Man 2

It's not too surprising that Spider-Man 2 is such a good film, considering all the great people involved. Those talented folks include co-writer Michael Chabon, whose "The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay" is a must-read; Alex Ross, whose stunning paintings depict the first film's events in the opening montage/recap (and will now have no reason to complain about not being involved, like he did when I saw him at WizardWorld Chicago); composer Danny Elfman, whose soundtracks are second only to John Williams (and whose Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban soundtrack sounded remarkably like one from Elfman); Tobey Maguire, who brought real emotion to the role of Peter Parker; the surprisingly effective James Franco as Harry Osborne; and director Sam Raimi, who still managed to provide amusing cameos for Ted Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee.

My only real complaint is that the truly excellent new rendition of the "Spider-Man Theme" by Michael Bublé (who Megan and I had the pleasure of seeing open for Chris Isaak in Sacramento) was cut in half and pushed to the tail end of the credits in favor of Dashboard Confessional's "Vindicated."

My ranking of Best 10 Comic Book Superhero Movies is now adjusted as follows:

1. Superman: The Movie/Superman 2
   
2. Batman
   
3. The Rocketeer
   
4. Spider-Man 2
   
5. X2: X-Men United
   
6. Hellboy
   
7. The Crow
   
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
   
9. Spider-Man
   
10. The Mask

Comments are welcome...