The Amazing Spiderman 2
Grade: B-
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan and Sally Field
Premise: Peter Parker’s love and loyalty are tested by his guilt-ridden conscience, the strain of his double life, a close friend’s illness, and a savage new supervillain.
Rated PG-13 for intense action violence and some disturbing images
I know angst is supposed to be part of the deal with Peter Parker/Spiderman, Marvel’s moodiest and most conflicted teen superhero, but too much angst can weight a movie down and make it feel melodramatic. That’s what too much angst does to The Amazing Spiderman 2, the first sequel to the gritty 2012 reboot—it weighs it down. The movie’s got some spectacular, eye-popping action, but, of course, it’s all about the characters, so we’re treated to a lot about the characters, all of whom are angsty: Angsty hero Peter Parker, Peter Parker’s angsty girlfriend, Peter Parker’s angsty best friend, Peter Parker’s angsty some-time-acquaintance-turned-archrival, Peter Parker’s angsty aunt, and, seen in flashback and fuzzy clips of aged video, Peter Parker’s angsty father. The combined angst largely sucks the joy and energy out of the film, and almost forgets to leave room for our hero’s epic showdown with the two main villains, thus leaving it squeezed into a too-quick, really-that-was-it? finale. The result is a movie that’s not without its great moments but dares you to consider whether the cheesier but breezier Tobey Maguire Spiderman films did this whole thing a little better.
Plot
Needless to say, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is haunted by his past. He’s haunted by the fact that his parents left him with his aunt and uncle and then disappeared, he’s haunted by the fact that he still lives in the same house his deceased uncle used to inhabit, and he’s haunted by the promise he made to the dying police chief Captain Stacy (Denis Leary), that he would stay away from the captain’s daughter—adorable Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone)—in order to keep her safe. The latter haunt is most pre-eminent on his mind, as Gwen openly loves him (even while knowing about his super alter ego), and he pines for her, but he can’t forget what he said to the dying police chief. When Gwen, tired of his two-faced act, dumps him, he’s offered a brief respite by the homecoming of his childhood best friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), heir of multi-billion dollar corporation Oscorp. But Harry, who’s now in charge of Oscorp after the death of his long-sick father (Chris Cooper), has more on his mind than their friendship.
Peter/Spiderman soon has more on his mind as well, when a lowly Oscorp employee (Jamie Foxx) suffers a catastrophic accident that literally turns him into a sparkplug. At first, he just seems misunderstood, but when he becomes aware of the power he wields, he goes power-hungry (again, literally), to the detriment of the city around him. Calling himself Electro, he’s briefly entombed into the high-tech bowels of Oscorp, but he’s sprung from his entrapment by Harry Osborn, who’s been stabbed in the back by money-grubbing Oscorp executives and is out for revenge. Soon, the two form an alliance, and after avenging themselves on some Oscorp gray-hairs, they decide to take on Spiderman, who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and could learn, and spill, their secrets. Peter doesn’t want to cause any problems, but Gwen, who still has his heart, works at Oscorp, and the conflicting interests within the company could have deadly consequences for an idealistic high-riser like her.
What Works?
Amazing 2 opens with a bang, thanks to a fascinating sequence showing what became of Peter’s parents—Richard and Mary Parker (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz, respectively)—it’s the kind of eye-opening, bar-raising, high-quality opener expected from James Bond movies. I don’t know that I’d call it the movie’s unmatched pinnacle, but it gives you an idea that the proceedings will be solid, which they mostly are. Garfield
It’s also worth pointing out that Spiderman looks completely believable soaring through the sky between buildings, doing all manner of acrobatics—the shaky CGI that affected some of the older Spiderman films has been unquestionably improved.
What Doesn’t Work?
To me, though a lot of the big things are done right, a lot of other aspects just don’t work. DeHaan’s portrayal of Osborn is one of them—the actor’s performance is weirdly-strained, which makes him seem really awkward when he’s supposed to be a regular, old nice guy BFF for Peter, and then sends the character through the roof once he undergoes a villainous transformation. Watching him, I got the odd sensation that I was watching the actor trying hard to act the part, rather than watching the character or even the actor playing the character. Another "off" feature of the movie are some of the lighter touches thrown into the movie to try and combat the moodiness, to try and remind everyone this movie’s based on a comic. A scene where he befriends a bullied little boy is nice, but the script has Peter yammering relentlessly when he’s in the spider suit, even while in the midst of pell-mell action—it just seems ridiculous in an early scene where he babbles and gabbles at a Russian heavy driving a stolen tractor trailer when he could just be throttling the guy. And, of course, the big-time action climax feels rushed—too much plot means both main villains have a go at Spidey one after another, which we can see coming so we know one will get defeated pretty easily…the movie also chokes on a promising third villain, shoehorning a great Oscar-nominated actor into a barely-there cameo and cutting short what promises to be a pretty sweet shootout.
*It’s also clear that Oscorp has the worst security people ever. When a whiny kid can take out too heavily-armed and suited guards at the front gate of one of the most high-tech, secure secret laboratories in the world? Yeeeeahhh….
**Fans also need to know there are no bonus scenes during the credits other than a brief teaser for the upcoming Marvel flick X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Content
There’s not much blood or anything, but Amazing 2 brings the action pretty heavily, with a lot of damage and explosions caused by Spidey/Electro’s dust-ups. Kiddies might be unnerved by Electro’s shocking plight (that hilarious punt was intended, FYI), which includes some experimental work in Oscorp’s basement. You may know this by now: people’s transformations into Spiderman super-villains are rarely pleasant experiences. There are also a few brief smooches between Peter and Gwen, but nothing to worry about.
Bottom Line
The main actors do some fine work, and supercool new villain Electro gives this film a big-time jolt of energy (I know, I know: I’m a comic genius), but Amazing 2 feels undeniably forced, with way too much melodrama and perhaps too many plot threads. There’s some neat-o action, but Amazing does nothing to make me want to see Amazing 3, which is sure to come--in fact, I could care less about it at this point--and that’s probably some of the worst criticism a movie like this can get.
The Amazing Spiderman 2
Directed by Marc Webb
Written for the Screen by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner
Based on the Comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Rated PG-13
Length: 142 minutes
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