Thank God for Sam Raimi.

His direction in “Spiderman 2” might be the saving grace of the film. Having grown up reading comics, he was able to include aspects from the books that others may have ignored – including a scene in which Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) ignores a man getting mugged as well as Mary Jane’s (Kirsten Dunst) catch line, “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”

Peter is still living his double life as Spiderman, but also juggling college, looming financial burdens and taking care of his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris). Not to mention his constant infatuation with Mary Jane, who has gone on to Broadway.

His constant stress has caused his powers to falter, and after his super-hero duties cause a fight between him and Mary Jane, he decides to hang up his web.

Meanwhile, Peter’s friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), has taken over the family business and still blames Spiderman for the death of his father.

When a business endeavor Harry is funding goes wrong, the world-renowned Dr. Otto Octavious (Alfred Molina) winds up with four free-thinking tentacles welded onto his back. The formerly good-natured Octavious is taken under the maniacal influence of the artificial intelligence and assumes the role as Doc Ock.

In an attempt to rebuild the experiment, Ock strikes a deal with Harry: He will bring him Spiderman if Harry provides the element to fuel the machine.

“Spiderman 2” fails in areas that the first succeeded. The CGI, most specifically for Doc Ock, resembles a video game. And though Molina steals every scene he is in, the CGI version of Doc Ock is blatantly obvious.

The dialogue is laugh-out-loud overly dramatic. The best example is Aunt May’s diatribe about what a hero should be.

The Jesus symbolism is also over-the-top. One scene finds Spiderman in a crucifixion pose while saving a speeding train; he is then passed overhead from passenger to passenger while unconscious.

In another scene, Peter imagines his late Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). The two are talking in heaven, which is complete with a white cloud background.

By now, you should be tossing your arms up and yelling, “Lighten up, it’s just a comic book movie.” Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean it can be poorly done.