The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
 The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Released 5/2/14

It's now here!  The start of the 2014 Summer movie season officially begins this weekend with the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the sequel to the somewhat maligned 2012 reboot of the Spider-Man franchise.  Marc Webb returns as director.  Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Sally Field reprise their roles from the first film with some notable additions to the cast, including Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Dane Dehaan.  Reviews I've read of the movie have been very mixed to this point.  Then again, they were mixed for the first Amazing Spider-Man (to a lesser extent) which I loved.  As a lifelong Spidey fan, this is one I've anticipated since the beginning of 2014, especially after seeing the insanely action-packed trailers.  In this Avengers-laden movie world, can anything capture the imagination of moviegoers quite like Marvel Studios has in recent years? 

Let's get this out of the way early.  ASM 2 is not the near masterpiece that Captain America:  The Winter Soldier was, but, it's pretty...spectacular (thought I was going to say "amazing" didn't you).  It's a nice blend of comedy, action, and sadness.  If you're a longtime Spider-Man fan, you probably already know what I'm alluding to with that last word.  But, more on that later.

In ASM 2, we find Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) becoming more comfortable in his role as the amazing wall crawler and defying the promise he made to his girlfriend's, Gwen Stacy's (Emma Stone), dying father to keep his distance from her.  It's a promise the responsibility-conscious Peter finds to be a heavy burden as he does secretly agree with Captain Stacy despite his love for Gwen.  Add to this his continued bewilderment of his parents' abandonment many years earlier and Peter is an emotional mess despite the happy-go-lucky visage he has as Spider-Man.

Peter's emotional well-being isn't destined to improve as an old friend has returned to New York.  Harry Osborn (Dane Dehaan), who has been stashed away in boarding schools abroad for a decade, has come back to New York to pay his respects to his dying father, Norman (Chris Cooper), the CEO of the infamous Oscorp Corporation.  Never any love lost between father and son, Norman advises the same disease that is killing him is genetic and will also kill Harry unless he continues to develop the experimental research at Oscorp.  Part of that research is experimentation started by Peter's late father, Richard.  Despite past friendships, Peter and Harry will reunite in a deadly way. 

Meanwhile, an electric engineer at Oscorp, Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), has grown an unhealthy attachment to Spidey after the web slinger saved his life.   Dillon's fragile mental health is taxed even more when an accident at Oscorp transforms his body into pure electric energy.  Hero worship turns to hatred after a misunderstanding between Dillon and his idol in Times Square which gives Spider-Man a new, powerful enemy and gives Harry an instrument of destruction that can be used to his advantage. 

I think the best way to complete this review is to separate what worked as opposed to what didn't (or maybe could have been done better).  Let's start with the negative.  This is the one thing that worried me when I first knew of the reported cast of ASM 2.  Multiple villains in movies such as this rarely work.  The inherent problem is that each character's motivations aren't clearly defined and origin story seems rushed.  Although Webb handles this issue better than most I've seen, the same problem still exists.  I wish movie studios would learn this lesson.  Super Hero movies are better when you focus on one protagonist vs. one antagonist.  The only time multiple combatants don't feel contrived is when there is supposed to be a team concept behind the characters as with the Avengers.  Another reason Avengers worked so well is because Joss Whedon didn't have to deal with origin stories.  Marvel Studios had already taken care of those in previous movies so he could devote adequate screen time to each character.  I think this would work with villain team-ups that aren't naturally reliant on a group setting.  Introduce them in one movie and then bring them back in later ones as fully realized characters whose evil shenanigans can be focused on. 

Max's/Electro's transformation from lonely hero worshipper to murderous villain seems rushed.  It may not be as off-putting as Anakin Skywalker's harsh transformation into Darth Vader, but there wasn't much chance for development of Electro's character to make the transition very meaningful. His rage seems like a tantrum from a petulant child more than truly being angry at Spider-Man.   Ol' Max has just about the neediest personality in reality or fiction.

Harry Osborn is a more fully realized character whose motivations are clearer and more understandable as a desperate young man driven to insanity by internal and external factors.  Yet, even his transformation deserved a little more than the three minute screen time it received (anyone remember Venom from Spider-Man 3).  What makes this transformation memorable is the impact it delivers.  Harry maybe should have just been the mastermind behind Electro in this film or should have been the only villain.  His villainy could have been more fully developed in either of these scenarios. 

There is a small segment featuring the Rhino where Paul Giamatti is chewing up the scenery in a mechanized battle suit.  Fortunately, this segment is very brief and exists only to see some great scenes of Spider-Man in action.  The suit doesn't work as it's just a big, loud clanky thing.  It's a bit of a waste of a classic, if minor, villain.

As for what the film gets right, there's much to be excited about.  ASM 2 is first of the five Spider-Man films made where I can say Spidey felt completely like Spidey.  On the one side, you have Peter's vaunted sense of responsibility on display which causes as misery to him as any beatdown he may receive from the villain of the week.  It's no different here as defying his promise to Gwen's father weighs heavily on him and he denies himself happiness out of his desire to protect those he loves. 

This time, however, Spider-Man is back to his old wisecracking self.  Attempts at this have been made before, but this time, it's fully realized.  Even Webb's first ASM depicted Peter as more of an angry, smart-ass teenager than the funny wise guy he normally is. What Webhead fan wouldn't have a mile-wide smile when he refers to Electro as "Sparkles?"  Some of Peter's interactions with his Aunt May (Sally Field) are the funniest in the film.  The whole chimney scene is short, but packs an amazing comedic punch.

While I do wish that someone could figure a way to give the audience a more classic Green Goblin look, I will admit that Marc Webb handling the issue as a physical transformation for Harry was far better than the silly bodysuit and mask from Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film (boy that thing was awful).   The transformation was creepy and a full representation of Harry's descent into madness.

Speaking of the Goblin, I would be remiss in not mentioning Dane Dehaan's performance as Harry Osborn.  Dehaan plays Harry with charm and smarminess at the same time.  You feel for his plight, yet you are always aware of an underlying maliciousness inside of him.  It's an intricate mix that Dehaan pulls off quite well.  He's a very good young actor who can definitely do justice to angst-ridden characters (see Chronicle if you haven't).

The movie's heart comes from the relationship between Peter and Gwen.  A problem with most super hero films is the lack of chemistry between hero and love interest.  Think about it for a minute.  Have any of the Batman movies had a strong leading lady as the hero's love interest outside of Catwoman who really is an antagonist in those movies?  Jane Foster in the Thor movies?  Not really.  Mary Jane in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies? Meh.  Pepper Potts from Iron Man?  OK, but not spectacular.  Any of the Lois Lanes?  Margot Kidder maybe.  Kate Bosworth not at all.  Amy Adams, too early to tell.  Garfield and Stone have an easiness and timing with each other that is unparalleled in this movie genre.  It probably helps that they are a real-life couple, but, it's a refreshing change to see two actors that do act like they should be together.  And, without trying to give too much away, makes the climax all the more gut-wrenching. 

The action scenes which is the meat of any super hero movie are absolutely insane.  Again, Spider-Man's movements, while always handled very well previously, felt more like Spider-Man with all the inhuman movements a character like this should have.  Webb also added a very nice touch in the Times Square scene with Electro where the wallcrawler detected all the potential dangers in his immediate area in a slow-motion sequence.  For someone who can move as fast as he can, I'd imagine that's how the world would look much of the time. 

While there are some weaknesses to ASM 2, the good far outweighs the mediocre.  While not my favorite Spider-Man film overall, it deserves more than a dismissive look.  In addition, you're introduced to the first stages of a contained Spider-Man universe that Sony is attempting to create, a la Marvel Studios' Avengers universe.  You're going to see some familiar objects when Oscorp opens its "Special Projects" vault.  There's also an allusion to something very "Sinister" coming Spidey's way in the future.

ASM 2 was a great way to kick off the Summer.  I hope it has a good fate at the box office.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says: 

*** 1/4 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.