When Sony Pictures announced in 2010 that they would be rebooting their Spider-Man film franchise after a fourth movie in Sam Raimi's series just couldn't get made, the response was mixed. Fans just didn't want to see the story start over. And that reboot, titled The Amazing Spider-Man, still managed to be a big hit in spite of some lukewarm reviews. But I enjoyed the movie and anticipated where the story could go. And two years later, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has arrived to more lukewarm reviews, and I still had to see it anyway.
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is having the time of his life being Spider-Man. He gets to help people, much of New York City loves him, and even the cops have began to mellow out in regards to his presence. The catch, though, is that it's started to strain his relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). They're madly in love with one another, but Peter is troubled by the promise he made to Gwen's father as he died, a promise to stay away from her before she too incurs the wrath of Spider-Man's enemies. This causes more and more tension between them despite their affection for one another, with Gwen growing more and more frustrated by the feeling that Peter is keeping her at arm's length.
But as is the case in most superhero movies, things quickly get more complicated than the protagonists would prefer. It begins with Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), a nerdy, socially awkward electrical engineer at Oscorp Industries. The frequently mistreated Max idolizes Spider-Man after the friendly neighborhood web-slinger saved him from being hit by a car. But Spider-Man can't save him from another accident, one that sees Max slip while repairing a damaged power line in an Oscorp laboratory and fall into a tank of genetically-altered electric eels. Now imbued with the ability to absorb, discharge, and manipulate electricity, an increasingly paranoid Max ― now answering to the name "Electro" ― now has an outlet with which to strike back against all those who have wronged him... including Spider-Man.
The arrival of Electro in Spider-Man's life is mirrored by the return of a childhood friend into Peter Parker's. With the recent death of his estranged father, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) has inherited the position of CEO of Oscorp. But he has also inherited the rare, strange disease that killed his father, and Harry believes that the experiments with spiders that led to Spider-Man gaining his powers could also cure him. Those spiders were thought destroyed after a number of lawsuits against Oscorp, so the only way to acquire the necessary elements to create a cure would be through Spider-Man's blood. But Spidey shoots him down, claiming that nobody's certain if that would work at all. The further bad news that Oscorp's board of directors has framed him for several acts of corporate malfeasance and voted to have him ejected from the company drives Harry over the breaking point. His anger with both Spider-Man and Oscorp lead him to seek an alliance with Electro and bring their enemies to their knees.
I'll admit to entering The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with a wee bit of trepidation. I enjoyed the first one for what it was worth, but still left the theater thinking it was okay but not great. And I fully expected the sequel to be more of the same without bothering to improve or anything like that. Basically, I thought it might get hit with a devastating case of "sequelitis." But much like its predecessor, I was actually rather surprised by how well The Amazing Spider-Man 2 turned out. It's got its fair share of flaws and imperfections that keep it from being all that it could be, but I still thought it was entertaining. And sometimes, isn't that really all you can ask for?
Returning to the franchise is director Marc Webb, who once again makes the movie feel like everything that happens is a grand adventure. He finds a nice balance between the slower, character-driven scenes and the fast-paced action sequences that allows both to have a bigger-than-life scope. Everything feels grander than it probably really is. And those action sequences, oh my goodness. They're exciting, fun, and engaging, and while the movie doesn't really match the intensity of last month's superhero epic Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Webb still hits the right notes when it comes to putting together something cool.
Webb also tries to duplicate his success from the previous movie in regards to the 3D effects, but here, the whole effort just seems pointless. There are some moments that look really cool in 3D, but it never really strikes me as something that contributes to the movie. I just came away with the feeling that the movie was only in 3D because the first one was, so they might as well keep going. Besides, every summer blockbuster nowadays has to be in 3D, right? That's how it works, isn't it?
But that's easily overcome by just watching the 2D version instead. Where the movie really starts falling apart, however, is its script. Credited to Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner, the script gets bogged down because way too much is going on than needs to be. It gets exhausting after a while because there are a few too many plot threads being strung along. We've got Peter and Gwen's love story, Peter learning more about how and why his parents died, the genesis of Electro, and the downfall of Harry Osborn. All we needed was to bring back the whole subplot of Peter trying to find Uncle Ben's murderer from the first movie and we'd have been set. It never really seems focused on telling one succinct story and suffers because of it.
I also thought the introduction of Harry and his quick evolution into the Green Goblin was handled all wrong. The character feels like he was added into the movie as an afterthought, as if Kurtzman, Orci, and Pinkner were told they had to include him by the studio and/or Marvel Comics. He and Peter never really feel like they're old friends at all, and the decision to rush him into villainy so quickly rather than build any relationships with the characters outside of "good guy vs. bad guy" makers the whole thing feel like a waste. Did your movie absolutely need to have two villains? I know Sony wants to make a movie based on the "Sinister Six" gang of villains sooner rather than later so they'd want to start introducing its members as quickly as possible, but come on now.
But the movie at least benefits from some very good acting. The weakest of the cast is Dane DeHaan, who I didn't think was particularly bad, but just okay at best. I actually didn't think he had a believable chemistry with Andrew Garfield at first, but upon further reflection, that awkwardness in their scenes actually fit how the relationship between the characters was supposed to be. On second thought, DeHaan's performance might not have been as weak as I believed at first. Perhaps those weaknesses could be more easily blamed on how poor the script is and what DeHaan had to work with.
Moving along to the movie's other villain, I really liked Jamie Foxx's performance. The whole "tread-upon nerdy guy is corrupted by power" thing is kind of a cliché (DeHaan actually played a similar character in Chronicle two years ago), but Foxx still pulls it off with gusto. He's obviously having a great time playing the character, and his sympathetic portrayal of Electro both before and after he acquires his superpowers makes one want to follow his every move.
But the true highlights of the movie are Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Both are immensely likable and engaging, and they have a cute, believable chemistry together. Individually, they're great as well. Stone gives Gwen a bravery, strength, and intelligence that are really great to see from a love interest in a superhero movie. Gwen is no damsel in distress, and it's through Stone's performance that one could understand why Peter would love her so much.
Garfield, meanwhile, is fantastic as Spider-Man. He's very charismatic in the role, effortlessly balancing the movie's action, drama, and humor. Garfield approaches Peter in a way that makes him feel like the character's actually stepped out of the comics, always making jokes to throw his enemies off-guard and diffuse tense situations while struggling with a rocky personal life. He plays it very well, like he was born to be Spider-Man. And no matter what flaws this movie or its predecessor may have, they're both far better for having Garfield and Stone in front of the camera.
I won't lie, I did enjoy much of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I thought it was really entertaining for the most part. But the problems I had with its script held it back from being the wondrous spectacle I thought it could have been. I guess I've been spoiled by Sam Raimi's first two Spidey movies, but it just feels like there's something lacking here. There's slick direction and some fantastic acting to be found here, but at the end of the day, I thought it was just another sequel that felt like more of the same. The movie could have been more than just "not bad." It could have been great. I can settle for not bad, but I shouldn't have to. I do look forward to seeing where the franchise goes from here, especially considering how this movie ended, but all I can do with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is just shrug and say, "Eh, it's alright, I guess." And as much as I hate to say it, sometimes that's the best you can ask for.
Final Rating: ***
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