When it was originally announced, The Amazing Spider-Man was considered by many to have been made by Sony to prevent the rights to the franchise from going back to Marvel. Whatever the ultimate motivation was, Marc Webb created a worthy reboot to the series. Though it had a poor villain and seemed to be cut rather hastily to tell a slightly different story, The Amazing Spider-Man delivered what I feel the previous trilogy lacked – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. I am happy to report that in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Webb once again gives us the quippy, fun version of the character – but the same issues from TASM arise again too.
• Director: Marc Webb
• Exhibition: 2D/3D
• Rating: 12A
• Run Time: 142 mins
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 reunites us with Peter Parker (Garfield) soon after his adventures on top of the Oscorp tower. He has become more accustomed to his powers and the city he inhabits; his good deeds finally seem to be being recognised by the public and the vast majority like him. Some adore him – specifically Max Dillon (Foxx), a troubled outcast who nobody really notices. When Spider-Man saves him, Dillon develops an unhealthy obsession with the web-slinger. Things take a turn for the worse when Max is unwittingly transformed into a man-sized electrical battery, Electro, and comes to prefer his power to that of Spider-Man’s.
The sequel is a step up from the original in terms of story as we actually get a tale we have not heard yet. The first movie retold Spider-Man’s origin story: here, we jump straight in and get to spend more time with Peter and Gwen (Stone), the two best things about the franchise so far. After the events of The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter is continuously conflicted about his continued relationship with Gwen and the inevitable danger it puts her in. Garfield and Stone are superb together, trading witticisms and dramatic blows.
The opening action set-piece, involving a heist and car chase, is one of the best in the web slinger’s history – right up there with the train scene in Spider-Man 2. The reliance on stunt work and physical effects is a nice change to what unfortunately seems to have become the norm nowadays. Webb continues this trend as much as he can throughout, making some interesting choices, in terms of camera positions and pace. There are a few moments, for instance, where we get to go inside Spider-Man’s head, see what he sees and follow his thinking, all before the scenes pick up speed again and his actions are executed in the blink of an eye. This puts the ‘spider sense’ scenes in Raimi’s movies to shame.
While many feared that we were walking the same path as Spider-Man 3 with the multiple villains, the focus on Foxx’s Electro helps to keep the movie rolling. Paul Giamatti’s Rhino is basically a cameo and Dane DeHann’s turn as Harry Osborn seems to be split off into Peter’s world, rather than Spider-Man’s. Unfortunately, this does not mean that we get fleshed-out characters. Max Dillon is given one or two scenes to establish his motivations while Harry and Peter’s rekindled friendship is given all of one measly exposition chat. Despite some early signs that these relationships will be given time to become real for the audience, the writers appear to jettison this aim to fit in more set-pieces.
One aspect of the movie that feels markedly improved on over the first is the score. Electro’s theme contains a set of distant voices repeatedly talking to him, telling him how alone he is. As his insanity increases, the voices become louder and louder until they are hard to ignore – a simple but ingenious idea that works wonders in creating a sense of unease.
Though some issues remain, I like the progress being made in the franchise and I am looking forward to the next iteration. If rumours that the Sinister Six will appear prove true, I think the trend of poor villain motivations may crop up again. Regardless, I enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man 2 more than I did the first – let’s just hope they hire some better writers next time around.
Tags: Andrew Garfield, Dane DeHaan, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Marc Webb, Marvel, Paul Giamatti, Sony Pictures, The Amazing Spiderman 2
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This movie is what any comic aficionado of the web slinger has been waiting for a long time. Visually astonishing, emotional and exciting. The world building will keep them high on their seat when realizing the possibilities in which this franchise can go. I have to applaud the film score of this movie that is of extreme high quality, memorable.