Spider-Man 2 Revisited: 5 Criticisms Nobody Ever Admits
2. Doc Ock Is Too Nice
In the comic books, Doctor Octopus is a bad dude. He's one of Spider-Man's defining villains for a reason; he's a ruthless, merciless antagonist whose view on life perfectly contrasts that of Spider-Man's own.
In this iteration? Not so much.
Raimi always looks for the humanity in his antagonists which sometimes works to great effect (see: the dueling sides of Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin) and sometimes doesn't (see: the conclusion of Sandman's arc in Spider-Man 3). Here, that desire ultimately dilutes Doctor Octopus into a nice guy who's just possessed by some evil A.I. that happens to live in his metal arms.
This all culminates in a final battle that sees Peter finding the 'good' in Doc Ock and convincing him to destroy the fusion reactor that's tearing the city apart. And sure, Doc Ock dies in the process, but the film seems more than happy to just kind of instantly forgive/forget all of the terrible things he's done and people that he's killed.
Ultimately, he isn't nearly as compelling of a villain in the film as he is on the pages of the comics because of these wavering commitments to good and evil.