Amy and I went to see Spider-Man 2 yesterday. Possible spoilers ahead, so I'll hide the rest, except for this link I found worthwhile (over at Touchstone)
I thought it was a great movie, but there were parts of the movie that bothered me a little bit. They laid it a bit thick with Peter Parker's irresponsibility and poverty early in the movie, and I felt like it dragged on and on there. On the other hand, I'm glad MJ got to see Spider-Man as Peter Parker. There was a lot of tension there with Parker unable to talk freely with Mary Jane about his feelings for her.
I noticed strong similarities to Superman 2, with the superhero retiring to find true love, only to be forced to put his suit back on to fight the evil that can only be fought by those with the power to do so. I had mixed feelings about that - I was happy that Parker was taking action to be a responsible person, yet I knew that he was still denying who he was, and the power and responsibility he was given. I just hope that in a subsequent movie, he'll find a way to pay the rent and hold a job.
The bit of the speech by Aunt Bea about heroism and giving up one's dreams was thought-provoking. Is it an American ideal to give up one's dreams? I'm not sure I know - America was founded by individuals and for individual rights, however, the Founders also gave up their dreams to achieve it. (And people who claim they were just rich white men trying to protect their property are flat out wrong - most of those men who were trying to protect their property lost it, along with their families, in the war). While it may or may not be an American ideal to give up my own dreams, it is however, a Christian ideal. As Oswald Chambers puts it, my priorities as a Christian are first to God, second to God, and third to God. There isn't any room in a Christian walk for personal ambition. This isn't to say that one can't be a success in business and still be a Christian, but I sincerely believe one should dedicate one's profession, and its fruits, to serving God. Aunt Bea's statement that there is a hero in all of us sounds good, but for the Christian, that hero is Christ, who redeemed us. "You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You" (Ps 16:2). That's not to say that people can't do good things from man's point of view, but from God's point of view, our best works are just filthy rags.
No thoughts on Dr. Octopus in particular, except that he was done real well. I wondered how they would do that and the special effects were entertaining there.