10 Films That Prove The Middle Entry In A Trilogy Is Always The Best

4. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

With previous big budget comic book adaptations, Blade and X-Men, giving audiences a glimpse of what was possible, Sam Raimi's version of Spider-Man (2002) actually delivered. Here was a fully realised comic book superhero jumping straight from the page onto the screen with the action shifted towards Peter Parker rather than Spiderman with pitch-perfect casting in Tobey Maguire and J K Simmons. Two years later, Raimi improved on all the weaknesses of the first film whilst keeping everything that worked. Alfred Molina's excellent Doc Ock, incredible action set pieces, fully realised relationships and even more J Jonah Jameson make Spider-Man 2 not just a great superhero film, but a great film in its own right. The trilogy was brought to a close three years later with Spider-Man 3. The film found a big audience, becoming a box office juggernaut, but failed to find the love due to differences between what the director wanted to do and what the studio thought should be included. Still, it's not all bad, Thomas Haden Church's Flint Marko stands out with his surprisingly sympathetic turn as the Sandman. Trilogy Low Point: Lack of focus, villain overload, that dance and a meme-inspiring and (unintentionally) hilarious Peter Parker crying his little eyes out make it unanimous; Spider-Man 3. Did you Know?... No MaGuffins were used in the making of Spider-Man 2. The substance Doc Ock uses to power his machine, Tritium, is actually real. Take that €˜Unobtanium€™€