The Amazing Spider Man 2 continued to build on Spider Man and the cost of being a hero along with giving us even more back story on Peter Parker and what happened to his parents. To reboot Spider Man so soon after the previous trilogy seemed like it was too soon yet with the first installment it showed how the Spider Man story could be told. I looked forward to seeing how the story would continue and where the villains could take Spider MAn as they could stretch and make Spider Man question various things throughout his entire life. While I have seen a lot of critics pan this sequel it always makes me wonder what the criteria is that they have when they go to see these various superhero movies.
Andrew Garfield reprises his role of Spider Man/Peter Parker and continues building a strong hero for the audience to root for and care greatly about. Garfield is another example of what the correct casting choice for a superhero can do. He is precisely what I picture Spider Man to be, he is not a big bulked up superhero, but instead is long, toned and super smart to outsmart whoever he is going up against. Emma Stone shows her amazing acting ability once again in the role of Gwen Stacy. Stone practically, stole the show for me as she is able to not only give the audience so many simple emotions effortless and coming across as genuine, but I loved that unlike most love interests she was not a helpless female character, but is instead a strong character that Spider Man could rely on even though he wanted to keep her away from any possible danger. The chemistry between Garfield and Stone is so perfect as they brought out the best in each other and really strengthened the entire movie as a whole. Dane Dehan in the role of Harry Osborn/Goblin countered Garfield with a perfect match. The limited interaction he has on screen he is able to make the most of his time and I really would have preferred him to be the primary villain as I felt Electro played by Jamie Foxx was kind of weird and came across a little campy/cartoonish due to the feeling that he was over computer generated that made him less intimidating and underwhelming.
The story for the Amazing Spider Man 2 was quite the improvement from the first. In this go around the story was more about Peter/Spidey and Gwen, rather then the villains. While this may have irked some movie goers and not been what they wanted in a superhero movie, it is what Spider Man is truly about. Peter is trying to be a regular guy and balance that with being Spider Man and this comes across through the clever use of a montage showing him trying to handle both aspects and that Spider Man is not immune to a cold. Yet the regular problems he has in his life seem to cause him as much pain as his work as Spider Man. From this Spider Man has an easier time dealing with the physical pain caused in his confrontations with the villains and fighting, he is more comfortable with then handling the personal relationships in his life. The story to me through was one that relied heavily on the relationships in his life whether that be Gwen and the guilt he feels in regards to him not being able to save her father or focusing to finding out what really happened to his parents and what his father had done in trying to protect Peter. For some reason this focusing on in particular Peter and Gwen's relationship worked in a superhero movie which I honestly did not expect. Gwen in the story was a key figure as it ends up being because of her that we see more of Peter and Spider Man as characters as she adds a great depth to them. Which only connected Spider Man even more emotionally to the audience. It truly was unique to have the storyline involving Electro and even Goblin with Spider Man to play second fiddle to the love interest relationship. It may have been this that kind of made the roles of Electro lacking and Goblin feeling a little rushed.
The action sequences for The Amazing Spider Man 2 worked well and I felt in many ways worked better then in the previous installment. One of the best aspects used in the film was the "Spidey sense." I loved how it showed what Spider Man saw was going to happen then went back and showed how he counter acted in that split second of needing a decision to prevent that from happening. The rest of the action sequences were done well and I liked how the direction of Marc Webb actually allowed the audience to see and follow what was going on during the fights. The only bad aspect to me of the action sequences was I felt that they had to rush the whole confrontation between Spider Man and the Goblin. I wanted more build and I would have loved to have seen him be the only villain and not have had to deal with Electro. Also, while most of the CGI was seamless and spot on, I had a hard time with the CGI used for Electro. For me it was overdone and made his character overly comical. While that can work and be okay in a comic book movie, that will only work if the entire feel of the movie has the same comic book feel. The feel for The Amazing Spider Man 2 though has a mixture of somber, seriousness and even a slight darkness. So the character of Electro needed to match that feel and not have the comical feel, but instead needed a darkness to him.
The Amazing Spider Man 2 built really well from the first Amazing Spider Man. The chemistry that Emma Stone shared with Andrew Garfield worked perfectly for this sequel and really strengthened each character and was a unique twist for the strongest plot of a superhero movie. The action worked for this movie and I am intrigued to see how the narrative and the action for Spider Man evolve in the next movie. I am giving The Amazing Spider Man 2 three and three quarter buckets of popcorn out of five. This is a film that is well worth the price of a movie ticket and is one that I will be adding to the movie collection. I also, loved the teasing for "The Sinister Six" movie.
-The Movie Man
