Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Rating: 9/10 (A-)

Release Date: May 2nd 2014 (US Release)

Directed by: Marc Webb

Produced by: Avi Arad & Matt Tolmach

Starring: 

Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Sally Field, and Paul Giamatti

Synopsis: 

We've always known that Spider-Man's most important conflict has been within himself: the struggle between the ordinary obligations of Peter Parker and the extraordinary responsibilities of Spider-Man. But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker finds that his greatest battle is about to begin. It's great to be Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield). For Peter Parker, there's no feeling quite like swinging between skyscrapers, embracing being the hero, and spending time with Gwen (Emma Stone). But being Spider-Man comes at a price: only Spider-Man can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter must confront a foe far more powerful than he. And as his old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, Peter comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: Oscorp.

Review:

After viewing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 twice, I now feel like I have a complete grasp on how I feel about the film and can actually write a decent review. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a film that knows exactly what it is and takes what we all know and love about Spider-Man and applies it to a new adaptation of some of the most iconic scenes in spider-man history. This film is fun, cartoony, exciting and beautifully depressing all at the same time. The tone changes throughout the entire film, which makes you feel like you're apart of the same universe and makes you feel like this could be real life. The first act of the film is fun, fast, energetic, and exciting. Spider-Man is Spider-Man! He's kicking butt, cracking jokes and having an amazing time being Spider-Man, the second act is a little more serious and takes us inside the complicated relationship of Gwen and Peter, and the third act is where this film is beautifully depressing(see spoiler section for more info.)

The performances we get out of the talent in The Amazing Spider-Man, is probably some of the most top notch performances we've gotten out of a comic book movie in some time. The chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone is perfect throughout the whole film, and really helps carry the entire film, though it's a pretty light load seeing how must of this film was very strong on it's own. Jamie Foxx gave us a character that was at the same time funny, but also someone we could feel sorry for. Max Dillion's story is not a happy one. He's a lost soul looking for someone to save him. In my opinion the star of this film is Dan DeHaan. With people already having a pre-conceived notion of who Harry Osborne is on the big screen (Rami Trilogy), Dane gives us a terrifying performance of a kid who is forced to take over the family business after his father who has been absent almost all of his life passes away. From the moment we meet Harry in the first scene with a dying Norman Osborne, we're struck with the idea that this is a kid who has been thrown away like yesterday's garbage, and by his own father at that. After Harry's transformation into the Goblin, you will feel terrified, he's a sadistic maniac with selfish motives. It's safe to say that the acting was the best part of this entire film, and that all four of the main leads (Garfield, Stone, Foxx and DeHaan) deserve some sort of recognition for their performances. 

The story/writing in this film was painfully average in my opinion with a few spurts of greatness. The dialogue between Peter and Gwen seemed to flow perfectly, while the dialogue between other characters, most notably the lines given to Aunt May (Sally Field) when she was on her own, were so dry and so typical that it almost takes you a little bit out of the scene at hand. Possibly my biggest issue with this film was that I felt like the plot wasn't completely fleshed out before going into production on the film. At times I found myself feeling like some things were just thrown into the film to be thrown in there. Other than that, I felt like everything else in relation to the film's writing was average at best. 

There has been the notion/fear that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has too many villains and is over crowded very much like the atrocity that is Spider-Man 3. That is not the case here at all. Paul Giamatti who plays Aleksei Sytsevich, or better known as "The Rhino", was in the movie probably for a total of 5-10 minutes, and for those 5-10 minutes he was perfect. Being a "throw away" villain, Giamatti was an over the top "stereotypical" Russian mobster, which is absolutely PERFECT for this film. The main antagonist of this movie is Electro, played by Jamie Foxx. Out of all three villains, Electro get's the most screen time and is really the main focus when it comes to the bad guys, but was almost "left out" of the entire second act of the film. Since the film breaks away during the second half to focus on Peter and Gwen's relationship, we only get one scene of Electro in the entire second act, which left me wanting to see more of him. The Green Goblin, played by Dan DeHaan was literally in 15 minutes of the film. That's it. Anyone who says there are too many villains in this movie, obviously weren't watching the same movie that I was. 

Directing wise, Marc Webb completely shined with the love scenes between Gwen and Peter and showed that, that is where he is truly comfortable. The performance Webb was able to get out of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield is as I said, something we have been yet to see in a comic book movie. The way Webb directed the action scenes was a bit expected and didn't really bring anything new to the table when it comes to directing action. But as they say, it's better to stay stagnate in one area then it is to fail or go down. The visual effects in this film were stunning as well, though during the final battle scene between Spidey and Electro, we get a pretty video gamey looking Electro. Other than that, Spider-Man's suit looked like it jumped right off of the comic panel's and onto the big screen. The visual/CG department did an amazing job of touching up all of the practical suits in Post Production, and did a great job of making the VFX look like they were happening for real. A scene where the VFX department truly shines is when Electro destroy's Times Square.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a film that understands when it needs to be goofy, and when it needs to be serious, the shift in tone throughout the films three acts really help convy what the film is trying to get across. With outstanding acting, above average directing, and average writing, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a film that deserves nothing but praise and is head over heels better than it's predecessors. I will now go into spoilers for this movie so if you haven't seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2 yet, go out and see it, then come back here and finishing reading! 

SPOILERS:

This film ultimately to me felt like the set up film for bigger things. With all the references to the sinister six, and future Spider-Man projects, one can't help but feel excited for what the future holds for the web head. Some notable things in TASM2 that set up for future projects are most notably the ock arms and vulture wings, shown at the end when The Man in the Shadows, now known to be Mr. Fierce, is walking through a hallway at the Oscorp secret lap known as "Secret Projects." This was a nice little nod to what fans can expect in the future installments and made me really excited for what could be coming up.

The only other "spoiler" I'm going to talk about right now is the ending of the film and possibly one of the most beautifully depressing sequences I have ever seen on film. The Death of Gwen Stacy.. The entire sequence when she is falling was so beautifully shot, and beautifully made, that one can't help but cry and let it all out. Gwen has arguably been the most beloved character in the entire TASM franchise, and we all had to sit and watch while she plumitated to her inevitable demise. Though I knew that the death of Gwen was coming either sooner or later, I never expected it to be done in the fashion that it was. The change from Spidey catching her by the ankle(in the classic ASM #121), to him catching her by the chest and having her hit the back of her head on the concrete below is something that is going to sit and stay with people for a long time to come. This entire scene is really what makes this movie great. If the beautiful visuals, and compelling character's weren't enough, this scene will rip your heart out regardless of whether or not you enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man 2.The acting in this sequence from Garfield is a force to be reckoned with and really makes you feel Pete's sense of despair, pain, and tragedy. A nice little nod to Comic Fans is something that if you blink, you will miss. As the scene at the clock tower ends we see a wide shot of the clock, that has the time of 1:21 AM on it, which is a nice homage to the Amazing Spider-Man #121 comic issue in which Gwen dies. The only thing I absolutely hate about having Gwen dead is the fact that we won't get to see the beautiful chemistry between Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield on screen, with the exception of any flashbacks they may use.. One thing I do hope though is that with future installments they really play up the whole "Peter will always love Gwen" idea and have it be that Peter will still talk to her when he needs guidance, or is feeling overwhelmed just like in the comic series. 

As I said above, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is an absolutely beautiful film that deserves much more praise than it has been getting and really deserves to be seen more than once on the big screen.

PROS: Amazing acting, beautiful story telling, beautiful visuals, amazing chemistry, heart wrenching moments, and above average directing

CONS: Painfully average writing, some sloppy VFX(at times), plot needed to be fleshed out more, and the pacing seemed a bit rushed

Rating: 9/10 (A-)

Written by Matt Skajem