Spider-Man 2 is one of the most-hyped (and certainly the most advertised) movies of the year. I didn't really care for the original Spider-Man, but I had great expectations for the sequel. Early word and reviews were extremely positive, the villain looked excellent, and the trailers showed off some great action moments. After viewing the film on Thursday, I was sure I was disappointed, but I couldn't quite decide whether or not I like the movie.

What Worked:

The Comedy. The laughs are more abundant and funnier than they were in the original. For example, when Peter complains to Mr. Jameson about something, Jameson calls an assistant and demands a violin so he can play sad music for Peter. Later, after Peter takes a nasty fall from the sky, he gets up and stumbles away, leaning on a car and setting off its anti-theft alarm. The comedic timing was perfect on all occasions.

The Action. 'Doc Ock' battling Spider-Man, the spectacular train sequence (ripped straight from a 1942 Max Fleisher Superman short), a steel structure being ripped apart - all of it was intense and spectacular.

The Effects. The movie cost a reported $200 million to make, and it looks it.

The Story. A great story about the struggles of actually being Spider-Man and Peter Parker at the same time. Too bad it just didn't quite work for the following reasons:

What Didn't Work:

The drama. Ugh. Every other scene was a melodramatic soap-opera bit. People just don't talk like that. Boring, ridiculously emotional, and far too common. This factor alone nearly brought the film to its knees.

The Direction. The first film was obviously Sam Raimi with his hands tied by Sony: a purely mass-audience flick. The second film runs back and forth between pandering to 'Evil Dead' fans and mass-audience appeal. The result is a highly inconsistent mix of 'hokey' moments (a surgical 'chainsaw,' overdramatic cutting on an approach by Doc Ock, various cut transitions) and classic Hollywood 'careful' filmmaking. Perhaps the third film will complete the transition from Sony to Raimi's hands and we'll get a $250 million Evil Dead sequel starring Spider-Man and Venom. One can hope.

Consistency. Supposedly, Doc Ock is a normal human who happens to have super-strong tentacles attached to his spine. And yet, his human body takes more than a dozen fatal hits throughout the movie and gets nary a bruise. And, Spider-Man is supposed to be stronger and more resilient than a normal person, but can he really lift 10 tons of steel and throw it? Can he survive multiple free-falls from 300 feet in the air? At one point, Spider-Man swings into two children at what appears to be 60 MPH - faster than the truck threatening to hit them was traveling. Good job, Spider-Man - they made it past the truck but they're dying of internal bleeding.

Talking to the Audience. The filmmakers didn't trust that character's thoughts and feelings could be communicated by the actors, so they spelled out every thought and emotion for the audience. Characters talk at length to no one at all. The most 'clever' device used for this was Peter talking for minutes into a phone he knew was disconnected. Cheating! Cheating!

Harry. Once again, Harry is a terribly inconsistent character. Early on, he is very friendly to Peter, but hates Peter for the rest of the movie because Peter is a friend of Spider-Man, who killed Harry's father. Wasn't that the case from the beginning of the movie?

This is a movie that struggles to find its own identity. A spectacular action flick with a good story is ruined by frequent, awful melodrama and inconsistent direction. It's not a terrible movie, but it's not as good as I had hoped. Being able to skip the melodrama on the DVD will improve quality of the film by 50%. If Batman Begins disappoints this badly, I may weep for weeks.