Spiderman 2 Premier and After Party (7/04)

Review of the premiere and party
Brief synopsis:
Peter Parker is beset with numerous personal problems while Spider-Man confronts the brilliant Dr. Otto Octavius, who has been transformed into "Doctor Octopus" (aka, "Doc Ock"), a multi-tentacle menace.
 
Cast overview, first billed only:
Tobey Maguire
….
Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Kirsten Dunst
….
Mary Jane Watson
James Franco
….
Harry Osborn
Alfred Molina
….
Doc Ock/Dr. Otto Octavius
Rosemary Harris
….
May Parker
J.K. Simmons
….
J. Jonah Jameson
Donna Murphy
….
Rosalie Octavius
Daniel Gillies
….
John Jameson
Dylan Baker
….
Dr. Curt Connors
Bill Nunn
….
Joseph ‘Robbie’ Robertson
Vanessa Ferlito
….
Louise
Aasif Mandvi
….
Mr. Aziz
Willem Dafoe
….
Green Goblin/Norman Osborn
Cliff Robertson
….
Ben Parker
Ted Raimi
….
Hoffman
  (more)
 
Also Known As:
Amazing Spider-Man, The (2003) (USA) (working title)
Spiderman 2 (2004) (USA) (alternative spelling)
 
Now, on to the Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday night at 7:00PM.   When we arrived, I could not believe the scene. There were people all the way down the street, behind barricades. I hopped onto the red carpet, camera in hand. There were so many people! The first of the Spider-Man 2 stars to arrive was Rosemary Harris, and Cliff Robertson. Next was James Franco, and girls were screaming his name. After him was Willem Dafoe and I saw J.K. Simmons. Then Tobey Maguire came (no not on high wire ropes as one might hope for) and he went across the street to sign autographs. After him, Kirsten came wearing a really gorgeous dress. Some other stars I saw were Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tim Allen, and all of Maroon 5 and Dashboard Confessional. After 45 minutes on the red carpet and a spent camera battery we went inside the theater.

There were 2 theaters set aside for this movie right next to each other.   The lobby was really nice, and they were giving out free popcorn and drinks with Spider-Man pictures on the cups and bags. When we went in, I got to keep my movie ticket which was really great!  We were the third row from the front in the center. Talk about being right on top of the action! They were playing the Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack of course, and then the movie came on.

I am not going to give away the movie, but just to tell you that it was amazing, and in my view, a lot better than the first. It was just funnier, more action packed and more romantic. There were a lot of times I gasped because of all the surprises that kept happening. I’ve seen a lot of the trailers, and the movie was a lot more different then I expected. I mean I’ve waited about a year for this movie, and I was really satisfied.

After that I went down to the Santa Monica pier, where the after party was. While going up the stairs to the entrance there were people standing watching. As I went in, they were playing the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack at first. There were tables with red and blue everywhere, and the 4 main posters in the back of everything. There were buffet tables around, and there was a dance floor in the middle. Next to the dance floor there was the DJ, inside claws that looked like Doc Ock’s fusion experiment. Next to the DJ there were 2 of Doc Ock’s claws grabbing both sides of a buffet table. They were made of ice, and there was a thin sheet of ice in front of the table in which you could see Spider-Man through it. This was just the main lobby area.

The food at the buffet was really great. They had chocolate covered bananas, caramel apples, and lots of treats. There were red twizzlers and rice crispy treats covered with red and blue frosting. There were also brownies and cookies with spider webs on them. They had hot dogs and pretzels, and of course, Tobey’s favorite food: macaroni and cheese. There were a lot of other great foods, but there was so much I can’t remember it all.

Next to this main entrance area there was the rest of the pier with rides and games. In the entrance, there was an arcade, and a place where you could bring a voucher they gave to you for a roll of $10.00 in quarters. Not that this mattered, because even when you lost they still gave you prizes. There was so much merchandise being given out!!!

They had large Spider-Man dolls, I got one of them. They were also giving out Spider-Man jerseys, which were dark and light blue T-shirts with a spider on the front and Spider-Man 2 on top of that, and I got 2 of those. They also gave out Spider-Man bobble-heads, I got 2 of those. They also had Spider-Man watches, in 2 styles. One was all black with a little bit of red and Spidey on the face of it with the time. The other one was more yellow in color with Spidey also on top. They were both digital, I got 2 of each. They had Spider-Man towels, with Spidey on the front and all blue in the back, and I got 2 of those. They gave out Spider-Man hats with the name on the front and a red Spidey head on the back, and I received about 1 of those. They also had these Spidey hands in the web position, which were made of foam. You could put your hand in them, and I got 6 of those. They also had Spider-Man skateboards and some other things. The reason for the numbers was to show you how much free merchandise they gave out! I had to get a bag from one of the guys who ran one of the stands.

They had many rides there, one of them being a giant Ferris wheel with red and blue lights. They had something like a scrambler, and they had a purple roller coaster that went around the entire party. There was a ride where they brought you up in your seat and dropped you. They had a ride with planes that went in circles for smaller kids, and also a small boat that swung back and forth. The coolest part was all the rides had unique Spider-Man and Doc Ock names given to all of them.
 
At the after party, I was lucky enough that I got a picture with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. I saw a lot of the other stars, and ended up leaving at about 12:00 AM. Because of the time difference, it was really like 3:00 AM for me, I was really exhausted but I had the time of my life.