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Bob Mondello Review: 'Spider-Man 2'

By Bob Mondello

Published June 26, 2004 at 9:00 PM PDT

The parade of summer blockbusters continues this week, with the most eagerly awaited sequel of the year. Spider-Man 2 swings onto thousands of screens on Wednesday.

According to NPR's Bob Mondello, the movie's special effects -- from web-spinning through Manhattan to the robotically armed Doctor Octopus -- only partly explain the movie's appeal. Mondello says that what makes audiences root for Spider-Man is the frazzled charm of the hero's alter-ego, played by Tobey Maguire.

Bob Mondello

Bob Mondello, who jokes that he was a jinx at the beginning of his critical career — hired to write for every small paper that ever folded in Washington, just as it was about to collapse — saw that jinx broken in 1984 when he came to NPR.

See stories by Bob Mondello