‘Spider-Man 2’ smart, exciting

In theaters

SPIDER-MAN 2, directed by Sam Raimi, written by Michael Chabon, Miles Millar, Alfred Gough and Alvin Sargent, 125 minutes, rated PG-13.

Legs down, “Spider-Man 2” is a winner, a smart, often exciting movie that deepens the franchise while giving audiences an exhilarating kick in the process.

Its presence in theaters confirms that this is the summer in which blockbuster heroes must grow up. First, Harry Potter had to do so in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” Now, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, must do the same in “Spider-Man 2.” Like Harry, he must come to terms with who he is before he can move forward with his life – whatever shape that might take.

As directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by Michael Chabon, Miles Millar, Alfred Gough and Alvin Sargent, “Spider-Man 2” finds Raimi and company doing a super job in launching the story forward without compromising the crowd-pleasing elements fans want and expect.

Just as in the last film, the film soars when Spider-Man takes flight through the concrete canyons of Manhattan, spinning his tangled webs and swinging high through the sky like ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev on Ecstasy. But fans should know that this movie isn’t as giddy as what came before it. It’s a film about personal responsibility and destiny, a complex character study of one young man’s struggle to find himself within his new self.

And what a blast.

After a clever title sequence that neatly recaps the first film, we learn a few things:

. Peter is still hopelessly in love with Mary Jane Watson (Kirstin Dunst), who is now a successful stage actress engaged to an astronaut.

. He’s so depressed about the unwanted responsibility of being Spider-Man, his powers are failing.

. He has a new villain to conquer in one Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), a scientist who works for Harry Osborn (James Franco), the young man whose father Spider-Man killed in the first film.

After a fusion experiment gone wrong, Otto becomes the superhuman Dr. Octopus, a vicious beast with enormous steel tentacles uncoiling from his back and hissing like serpents. Soon he’s on a rampage, with only Spider-Man able to stop him. But will he? Can he? Will Peter step up to the boilerplate and save Manhattan?

As if he won’t.

The sheer artistry of the special effects are something to behold, particularly in a scene involving a runaway train and another in which Spider-Man battles Octopus high above a skyscraper, where they scrabble, often in midair.

Also strong are the performances, particularly from Rosemary Harris as Peter’s Aunt May, who has an expanded role, and from the 28-year-old Maguire, who still looks young enough to be believable in the part.

What makes Maguire such a perfect fit for Peter, a young man learning that “with great power comes great responsibility,” are the very qualities that made him so appealing in “The Ice Storm” and “Wonder Boys” – the shrewd intellect simmering beneath his bemused detachment and bashful charm. Raimi leans hard on those traits, but he also pulls something deeper from Maguire – the sense of isolation, doubt and sadness that have crept into Peter’s soul.

With the ending beautifully setting us up for the summer 2007 release of “Spider-Man 3,” “Spider-Man 2” is an arachnid achievement that can’t be missed.

Grade: A

On video and DVD

PIECES OF APRIL, written and directed by Peter Hedges, 80 minutes, rated PG-13.

Peter Hedges’ “Pieces of April” is set during Thanksgiving, a time when Hollywood’s most dysfunctional families tend to come together to carve the turkey and, you expect, each other’s throats.

That’s just the case in “April,” a slight, quirky film filled with just enough familial woes to make it interesting even though it occasionally falls short of expectations.

The movie scores for one good reason – Patricia Clarkson’s sharp, Academy Award-nominated performance as Joy Burns, the beleaguered mother of three fighting the last stages of cancer. Joy is losing the battle, but what she hasn’t lost are her sense of humor and biting wit, which are exactly what keep “Pieces of April” together even when it threatens to fall apart.

In the movie, Joy agrees to embark on a road trip with her husband, Jim (Oliver Platt), son, Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.), daughter Beth (Alison Pill), and failing mother, Dottie (Alice Drummond), so they can be in Manhattan with eldest daughter, April (Katie Holmes), for Thanksgiving dinner. The problem is that nobody here especially likes April, a tattooed mess who lives in an East Side slum with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke), and who has long been the family disappointment.

From Hedges’ own script, the movie overcomes the undercurrent of death tugging at its periphery thanks to Clarkson’s Joy, whose prickly observations keep the laughs coming and the sap at bay. Too many ancillary side trips pull you out of the core story. Still, those moments are tolerably brief, and the film’s climactic moments, caught in snapshot repose, are indelible, with a lasting power that comes from all that’s not said as this damaged family tentatively reconnects.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 Bangor and WCSH 6 Portland, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He may be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.