The Amazing Spider-man 2
By Hervé St-Louis
May 10, 2014 - 08:34
Studios: Marvel Enterprises, Avi Arad Productions, Columbia Pictures, Matt Tolmach Productions
Writer(s): Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, James Vanderbilt
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti Paul Giamatti, Sally Field
Directed by: Marc Webb
Produced by: Avi Arad
Running Time: 142 minutes
Release Date: May 2 2014
Rating: PG13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
Distributors: Columbia Pictures
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The first Amazing Spider-man movie was dark and moody. Many of the secret plot points introduced there, related to Peter’s disappearing parents, had no resolution. In Amazing Spider-man 2, most of these subplots become clear. Peter’s father created the genetic bugs that gave him his powers. Because he shares his father’s DNA, he only he could receive super powers from a spider bite. One problem with this movie is that the director dragged many older plot points from the first movie. They become complicated if one does not recall the movie. I saw the first movie, but did not bother to watch the Blu-Ray just before watching the sequel. If you still haven’t seen the second film, it will help to watch the first one first. This is a problem because the film cannot stand on its own. It’s more an episode rather than a full movie.
Electro as a villain is dumb and easily manipulated. Of course Jamie Foxx renders the character well. That’s what he does. Andrew Garfield feels like the real Peter Parker to me. He incarnates a different Peter Parker than Toby Maguire. He is less geeky, less awkward. Emma Stone is competent and enthusiastic. She steals the spotlight from Garfield several times in the film. Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborne was emo and annoying. Sally Field, of course, gets her silly dramatic moment where she can break down in front of audiences over and over again. I find Fields irritating and I wish we could see less of her. Her dialogues in this film seemed unrealistic for an older woman working in a diner. She is miscast as Aunt May.
No matter how good the other actors were in this film, it was a train wreck. There are too many things happening at once. The epilogue after the fight with Electro and the Green Goblin was too long. I understand that there were many plot points the director wanted to resolve. But instead, the epilogue felt like a giant commercial and prologue for the next Spider-man movie. When Spider-man 2 came out in 2003, it was magical. Amazing Spider-man 2 was a poutine. It was a mess of digitally rendered Spider-man prowess and a gigantic video game soap opera.
The secret lair of Peter Parker’s father was ridiculous. When it appeared, the film lost any credibility for me. There was not enough of Spider-man on screen. When he did appear, it was the digital clone of Garfield, not a real actor. He looked like he was in plastic, like and action figure. He moved so fast that I could not be dazzle with his acrobatics. This the second attempt with the Spider-man reboot. If the character had been Hulk or Daredevil, critics would call this movie a disaster. So far, the Toby Maguire’s Spider-man is just better.
Rating: 6.5/10
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