Published in: Major Film Reviews

**FILM REVIEW** “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

Author OneFilmFan

Published on: May 7, 2014

So…..once, far away, there was a magical land, filled with amazing stories, amazing characters, and amazing new directions these tales could go.  For in this land, adventures could be reborn and retold in a new, fresh way, much to delight of many a film goer……and this is how I felt about “The Amazing Spider-Man”.  But then a small, dark cloud appeared in the skies of the land of Reboots and Sequels, and from it a new story emerged.  While it was seen as good, it also faltered on many levels, and suddenly there was doubt in the land….that maybe…the end of a franchise MIGHT be dawning.  THIS is the way I ultimately felt about “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”.

Directed by Mark Webb (“The Amazing Spider-Man“,  “(500) Days of Summer“) and written by true master duo (who recently announced they were splitting up!) Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci, this sequel to the 2012 reboot begins with a harrowing flashback into the past and fills in the backstory of the ultimate fate of Peter Parker’s parents (Campbell Scott & Embeth Davidtz) after they first dropped him off with Uncle Ben and Aunt May in the initial movie.  With the revelations given here, the story immediately jumps into modern day as our intrepid web slinger (once again played by the very solid Andrew Garfield) is gracefully swinging through the air in New York City, saying his “Hellos” to pedestrians as he passes over the crowded streets and ultimately into one huge mess that includes a massive truck barreling down the middle of the main street while being pursued by an even MORE massive group of NYPD cop cars, sirens wailing.  As events progress, we see these are villains attempting to steal some type of formula from an Oscorp transport, and are being led by one Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti), a Russian thug with a major attitude problem, and who eventually, will be revealed as another of Spidey’s rogue gallery, the Rhino.  As chaos and mayhem ensue, Spidey works his magic to save the day, even as in the midst of it all we find out he is SUPPOSED to be somewhere else, as his lady love Gwen Stacy (the also returned Emma Stone) tried calling him, and upon hearing the noise in the background, knows he’s in action.  However, he DOES manage to make it to his final destination after cleaning things up downtown and all seems well for Peter Parker.  But, Peter is still a man obsessed with what got his father in trouble with Oscorp in the first place and has continued to try and dig into it, all while juggling his Spider-Man duties and being a boyfriend to Gwen, AND being there for Aunt May (Sally Field). Peter still battles with the memory of Gwen’s father and the promise he made to him as well, especially when any danger could possibly come to her because of Spider-Man’s enemies.  As the story continues, a chance incident with an employee of Oscorp, Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), and the return of his friend Harry Osborn (the effectively creepy Dane DeHaan) to New York to visit his dying father Norman, leads into secrets being revealed, lives being shattered, and new enemies being born with Dillon’s transformation into the highly dangerous Electro and Harry’s descent into illness and madness as the Green Goblin.  With his relationship with Gwen alone keeping him on edge and preoccupied, Peter starts to truly realize the price that comes with being Spider-Man, and initially appears to have hung up his red and blue tights. But as those sinister motives behind Oscorp’s experiments hinted at in the first movie continue to come to light and Harry finds a way to gain the trust of Electro to use him to his own ends against the wall crawler, events spiral even more out of control and Peter has to make the choice to go into battle against one foe who is the most menacing he’s faced yet, all while trying to protect Gwen, and then having to face a friend who’s gone insane.  Events unfold from there that are both filled with pathos, sadness, shock (yeah ok…Ha ha…using that word with Electro in the film…NOT intended!), and just plain bombastic grandeur you watch these films for.  To honestly say any more  DETAIL than this would be spoiler-filled and, as you all know by now, I refuse to do that.  And therefore…..I AIN’T GONNA CHANGE that  rule!  🙂

Visually, the film IS as you would expect….incredible, especially when you see it in its full on IMAX 3D glory.  PLENTY of things blow up, get tossed in the air, punched, kicked, webbed, the works.  Seeing a first hand view of Spider-Man swinging through New York at the beginning was also very cool on the big screen….there were moments I felt like I was right there with him.  The sequences involving Electro cutting loose are actually quite awe-inspiring to the point where I almost found myself rooting for HIM!  Just the sheer scope of his abilities and the way they chose to bring him into this modernized form visually really worked for me.  And it was VERY clear, this is a villain far more powerful than Spidey is used to handling.  Plus…it’s Jamie Foxx.  He had the right amount of character to play this role as first being the awkward Max Dillon, then transforming into the anger-driven bad guy. DeHaan’s Harry Osborn is truly creepy..there’s just no other way to put it.  The calculating looks he can give at one moment, then come off as completely normal in another moment, all leading up to HIS transformation into the Green Goblin, was just spot on.  Garfield remains a better overall choice to me in playing Peter Parker, as I just think he emotes better as the young, upstart kid that Peter still is, but can also bring across more realistically the range of emotional turmoil Peter is going through in facing the “growing pains” of both the life he WANTS to lead and the life he DOES lead.  Stone is also continually solid as Gwen, and the chemistry she has with Garfield is evident, even beyond the fact they ARE a real-life couple.  Her Gwen Stacy is vulnerable without being helpless and she also emotes a full range of the emotional spectrum as she too battles the life SHE wants WITH Peter, but also wants to be supportive of his being Spider-Man and accept the risks that come with that on her OWN terms and no one else’s.  Sally Field also does Aunt May a solid again, very much believable as an older woman still dealing with the loss of her husband, while also trying to raise Peter as her own, and wanting to help him in his struggles, even through even SHE has secrets herself.

But, for all that above that is a PLUS for the film, somehow for me OVERALL….the story fell flat.  The film clocks in at over 2hrs 23 min and, while I will be the first to admit I LOVE a WELL DONE long film that keeps me occupied the WHOLE time, for this one that was NOT the case.  I am all for character development and I didn’t even expect that this would be NON-STOP action….but it dragged for me in multiple places and it was enough to relinquish my opinion of it from being “WOW! THAT WAS GREAT!” to “Yeah, it was good”.  I guess maybe I am beginning to realize that event films like this CAN get a tad monotonous if there’s NOT that TOTAL “WOW!” factor involved.  I mean, the only other new super hero movie I had to compare it to as a film was the recent “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and THAT film kept me enthralled the WHOLE time, “slower” parts and all.  “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” just kind of made me feel like even though there WILL be a third entry, maybe it’s time to hang up the webs for a bit, as I really wonder if even the greater film going audience is starting to tire of Spidey a bit. I really cannot explain it beyond just that lingering sense that for all of the bravado and content you DID get invested in, there was that much more that simply had something missing from it to elevate the story to real greatness, like I DID feel about the first film.  So, a somewhat stilted beginning to the 2014 Summer movie season for this reviewer.

As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment.  Until next time, thank you for reading!