The Amazing Spider-Man 2 picks up right where its predecessor left off. It stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, and he is struggling with trying to balance both of his lives – as Peter Parker, soon-to-be high school graduate and boyfriend to Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone); and as the masked web-crawling vigilante known as “Spider-Man”. I am sure that some people will automatically complain about this because they saw similar story arcs in the earlier “Spider-Man” trilogy, and they will probably feel like it’s nothing new. But to be honest, that is a rather stupid complaint because it is just being accurate to canon. You see these story arcs in the comics, as well as the animated series. So again, yeah, stupid complaint.
Despite what I am sure has been a problem for a lot of people, this was actually one of the stronger aspects of the movie for me. We have seen “Spider-Man” and we know what he can do, and it is awesome to watch him in action – however, you show him to much, and it “devalues the currency” if you will (like how I sneaked econ into this review?). The point is, this film shows a ton of Peter Parker, which I really liked. In doing this, it better develops the character by adding further layers to him. One of the minor aspects that still remains relevant and important to his relationship with Gwen, is that you see him dealing with a sort of survivor’s guilt. And he feels like he is also betraying her father, whom he made a promise to just before he (oops! Spoiler alert to anyone who hasn’t seen the first film) dies that he will not see Gwen anymore, which her father believes will protect her. That adds to the struggles Peter and Gwen share in this film, and I actually kind of enjoyed seeing that. Their relationship was up and down like a toilet seat, but it worked for film. And yeah, you can dismiss it as high school, teenage drama but hey! it’s the guy’s life; and I would imagine it would be a lot like this for any teenager who moon lights as a crime-fighting superhero. It is certainly far more interesting, and just done better than the Tobey Maguire version with Kirsten Dunst. Garfield and Stone have amazing chemistry, and I would bet it certainly helps that they are actually boyfriend and girlfriend in real life. Needless to say, they are great together, and Stone plays one of those seemingly few girlfriends in movies, who does not absolutely annoy the sh*t out of you – so that’s always a huge plus! Even the dialog between the two is wonderful – in fact, some of the best dialog in the film is in their scenes together.
I need to touch on Andrew Garfield because the guy kills it as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. He makes Tobey Maguire a distant memory, and in my mind, he is the definitive Peter Parker and Spider-Man. I do not want to see anyone else. He is everything I imagine Peter Parker being. The kid just acts his ass off, and it shows with great results. This is perhaps most noticeable when portraying Peter’s alter-ego, Spider-Man. He is acts how a teenager would act (I’d imagine) when given that kind of power. When he fights crime, he is cocky, and loves to talk crap to his opponents and humiliate them. It is so fun and absurdly gratifying to watch. What can I say? Garfield owns this role like Daniel Craig owns James Bond: There will never be another like him.
Now, as I said, throughout the film we see Peter struggle with balance in his life. And much of that struggle comes from his “other life” as his alter-ego. This doesn’t necessarily mean when he is in his Spidey suit, however. There is much time where he, as Peter Parker, does further investigating into what happened with his parents, which is revealed in the film and it is both really cool, and interesting. I will say that this dynamic actually reminded me a lot of “Iron Man 2″; but do not write that off as a negative, because it really works for the film. It is really cool to see him piece the puzzles together and do his own investigating as merely a human being relying on his intellect, and it actually provided some sentimental moments.
There are a couple of villains in this film, and when I initially noticed this in the trailer and the casting on IMDB, I cringed because I immediately thought of “Spider-Man 3.” Thankfully, it did not make the film a convoluted mess, which was a huge relief. There really is one main villain, which is Electro. The other two characters are more relevant due to their setting up future films, and if you are a fan of the comics, when you realize what I mean about setting up future films you are going to probably pee your pants with glee. It was really awesome. But back on Electro, played by the brilliant Jamie Foxx. I loved him, and thought he was a big step up from the Lizard in the last film. This wasn’t necessarily because one character was better than the other (though Electro was certainly cooler); it was because they made this character relevant, and gave him motive. In the previous film, I felt like the Lizard was kind of shoe horned in because they needed a villain, and they never really took the time to give him motivation for his crimes or even some humanity that made you care.
With Max Dillon aka “Electro,” I honestly felt bad for the guy. Yeah, he was crazy, and anyone who saw the trailers should have realized this what with his absurd obsession with Spider-Man. But really, he is just a guy who has gone his whole life unnoticed, and unappreciated. He reminded me of the cute blonde girl in “What Women Want” who contemplates suicide – yeah, he is like that. And it actually provides a good, relevant message. Showing people you care and appreciate them and what they do can have a huge impact on their lives; random acts of kindness, stuff like that. It was conveyed very well. And when Max Dillon becomes Electro the super-villain and shows off his superpowers, it is one of the most bad-ass spectacles I have seen in awhile. The more powerful he gets, the more awesome stuff he does, and the action scenes and special effects that comes with all of this are pretty righteous. You certainly will not forget them. Also, it may not sound all that important or relevant, but I just have to say that the Electro theme music that comes on in his scenes is pretty awesome as well. I found myself wanting him to come back on screen, even briefly, if only so I could hear that music. It was a good track, to say the very least.
Now one person I really want to touch on is Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn, who eventually becomes the Green Goblin. I had never seen this actor before in my life but wow, he can act. He was one of the most memorable parts of this film. He is a rather tragic character, and although there are going to be those who dismiss him as a rich kid with daddy issues, I mean again, it is canon. Thus, it is just being accurate. But again, this film does it better than the earlier trilogy, by far. And DeHaan makes you forget all about James Franco, who was rather forgetful anyways. I cannot praise DeHaan enough. I loved his acting, I loved his portrayal, and as a result, I loved the character Harry Osborn.
As for the Green Goblin, you do not get to see all that much of him, but what I can say is that DeHaan killed it as the Goblin with what little time he had as him. And as much as I love Willem Defoe, I prefer DeHaan’s depiction; though perhaps part of that is because he doesn’t wear that ridiculous shiny green suit with matching shiny green goblin helmet like Defoe had to in the first one. In this film, the Green Goblin is pretty creepy, if not scary looking. When it shows Harry transform into the Goblin, I was really surprised at how dark the sequence was. It reminded me of Smeagol’s transformation into Gollum in the beginning of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Maybe not as dark as that, but damn close.
In conclusion, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ was everything I wanted it to be, and more. It was darker than I expected. The acting was fantastic. The special effects were amazing. The villains were awesome, the main villain most importantly. The action was a wonder to behold. The dialog was great. The music was good (and I don’t usually talk about the soundtrack in a film, but I really dug this one). And the film itself sets up sequel and spin-off possibilities in a really cool way. It is very rare to find a superhero movie that can have all of these things in it, but “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ does it effortlessly.
- Rated: PG-13
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Marvel, Superhero
- Release Date: 5/2/2014
- Directed by: Marc Webb
- Starring: Andrew Garfield, Dane DeHaan, Emma Stone, Felicity Jones, Jamie Foxx, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field
- Written by: Alex Kurtzman, James Vanderbilt, Jeff Pinkner, Roberto Orci, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
- Studio: Marvel
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