'Amazing Spider-Man 2' Review: An Entertaining Mess of Thrilling Action With Great Romance
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is certainly a step in the right direction in comparison to "Spider-Man 3" and "The Amazing Spider-Man."
Marc Webb's take on the web crawler doesn't have that magical feel that the Raimi trilogy had which turned Spider-Man into a larger than life super hero in the early 2000s. Instead, he and Garfield together deliver something closer to what the hero would be like in today's world as opposed to who he is in the comics.
"All I can do is show up and bring my own heart and soul to [the character] and my own interpretation and work with Marc and create together," said Garfield to The Christian Post. "The way I see it, we are part of a larger legacy. I celebrate what Tobey (McGuire) did, what Avi (Arad) did with the cartoon series, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and all these other great artists and writers that have given different incarnations to this character. All I hope to do is just be another part of that longer much greater legacy."
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This approach creates a Spider-Man movie that feels modern. Where Tobey's Spider-Man could have fit in any era, Garfield's version only works in 2014. Other characters follow this same format as Dane Dehaan's Harry Osborne/Green Goblin compliments Garfield's Peter Parker/Spider-Man perfectly. His performance as Harry was spot on for a modern day adaptation, but with little screen time as the Goblin, it's hard to tell how bad of a villain Dehaan could really be.
Speaking of villains, you also have Jamie Foxx as Electro and Paul Giamatti as Rhino. Some might write these two off as not being important enough to the actual story, but both of them did a great job at adding to the overall Spider-Man universe.
Foxx's Electro was very much like the comics, because during his early days as Oscorp employee Max Dillon he was portrayed as campy. Thats positive thing, however, because that's actually how these comic book villains are portrayed in their source material. Electro's look was modernized and seemed to work better than the lighting both mask worn by the original Electro, though.
Rhino in the film was fairly simple, but that's the kind of villain he is. Electro's powers also created some great action sequences with Spider-Man such as the thrilling battle that takes place in Times Square.
"With Electro, his agenda is about being seen. We tried to think of something that would accommodate that idea. And for Spider-Man, we tried to think of the least convenient place that you could put Electro, a guy that thrives on electricity, said Amazing Spider-Man director Mark Webb to The Christian Post. "We thought of two places, a power plant and Times Square."
Electro sucking all the power out of the giant screens in Times Square helped to sell this villain as an actual threat to the city, and Spider-Man had to think outside the box to take him down. Peter Parker has a scientific mind, Webb did a great job showing this off in the film. Spidey uses his web shooters in ways that we have never seen before in previous iterations. Garfield's wiry look adds to the character as well.
Emma Stone reprises her role as Gwen Stacy and makes for a very engaging love interest. She ditches the damsel in distress role and becomes a hands-on companion for her boyfriend Spider-Man, which reflects a much more complex relationship. It's hard not to fall for her version of Gwen as her and Garfield's chemistry looks authentic on-screen.
Though there is improved action, a better costume, and good character development, "Amazing Spider-Man 2" definitely has its flaws. Glossing over Norman Osborne was a huge misstep which will definitely disappoint Spider-Man enthusiasts. This is the hero's arch-nemesis, but wasn't deemed important enough to give him significant screen time.
The film also starts out a bit choppy with an attempt to weave various storylines together, including the origin of Peter's parents. Some elements work, but others drag. However, the slow pacing speeds up throughout the film and finishes with a bang in the gripping final battle.
"ASM2" has been criticized for setting up the third installment too much, but that's not what the film is about. It's the story of a vulnerable superhero with amazing power that must still face the consequences of reality.
