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		Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker is a bit of a head-case in the early scenes of Spider-Man 2.
		Columbia Pictures

Like 2002's original, this is an uncommonly entertaining movie for one whose principals' near-morbid hang-ups are as messy as Spidey's projectile goo. And when a web-spinning spinoff ends up being even better than its predecessor, its potential box office has — to steal a claim from the film's villain — the power of the sun in the palm of its hand.

Dr. Otto Octavius (a super Alfred Molina) makes that declaration about the energy stockpile he has at his disposal. And by the time it goes haywire and kills his wife, just for starters, New York City needs sun-screen protection "Number Infinity." Enter brooding Peter Parker/Spider-Man, again perfectly played by Tobey Maguire.

Overworked Peter is still working out problems with sad-eyed Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). He fails to catch her Broadway triumph (yes, she's an actress now) in The Importance of Being Earnest. So, defeated, she elects to wed an astronaut who has "played football on the moon." Though for all the wondrous aerial trajectories, runaway trains and reptilian "Doc Ock" tentacles the movie offers, this nonentity might as well be punching a time clock.

Director Sam Raimi is back, working a screenplay by Tony veteran Alvin Sargent (Julia and Ordinary People). They expertly modulate the action by juggling personal introspection (from Peter, Mary Jane and James Franco's now on-the-sauce Harry Osborn), no introspection (from J.K. Simmons' still funny daily-rag editor) and showstoppers that include an airborne doozy with Rosemary Harris' Aunt May.

Just a month ago, the special effects in The Day After Tomorrow seemed like an Oscar lock, yet Spider-Man 2's marathon skyscraper ping-pong is just as dazzling. Moreover, Spider-Man's sturdy script knows just when and how much to call on the dazzling effects — ultimately humiliating the comparably overblown and destined-for-obscurity Tomorrow and Van Helsing.

How great it is to see that even in a summer blockbuster, someone has remembered the importance of being good. (Opens midnight tonight in select cities and worldwide Wednesday. PG-13 for stylized action violence.)