The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Review
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.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve been kind of on the fence on how good I thought this web slinging sequel was going to be. As details started to emerge the more nervous I got and yet my curiosity started to grow and grow. It grew so much that it started to evolve into excitement and now the movie is here and it’s time to see if it lives up to the hype. I immediately liked the fact that it didn’t fast forward too much as far as the story was and picked up not too long after the first one. The story seems to have evolved a bit from the first film with it being more about the Gwen and Peter story more than Peter’s transition to being an established hero. With that being said I think it was the only direction that they could’ve gone in with the story. The build up of their relationship was great but not something I understood completely why they were doing it but in the end it was so that we could really CARE about Gwen and ultimately feel the pain of the Peter’s life crumbling down. I really dug Electro and what they did with him. The character design was done in a way that didn’t make him look silly. The only thing that I didn’t like about Electro was the way he was before he became a villain. His demeanor was almost exactly like that of The Riddler from Batman Forever which kind of made me cringe a bit but other than that he quickly developed into quite the adversary. I wasn’t thrilled with the Green Goblin part of the story. DeHaan was great in the role, don’t get me wrong, but it was the way that the story was told that I wasn’t a fan of. They kind of just brought in Norman and Harry Osborn with Peter suddenly being friends with him then they just throw the fact that the Osborns’ carry a genetic disease that ends up making Harry the Goblin. To me it was just a “Let’s throw this at the wall and see if it sticks” moment that could’ve been developed a bit better. I did on the other hand like that the suit was the thing that triggered a healing process for Harry which actually gave a reason for him wearing it. The 3 villain aspect wasn’t entirely what they advertised it to be which is a thing to be happy about. Sure we did get to see 3 villains but Electro was the one with the most screen time. The Green Goblin was only in a small part (yet a very important part) and Rhino was basically in the beginning and end so they really didn’t overshadow each other like I feared. The aerial shots and fight scenes were a big step up from the last film and those I really liked a lot. They were able to capture the exact feel of Spider-man and it was just like he jumped right out of the comics. His mannerisms and attitude were pure Spider-man and that was comforting to know that they got that down pretty good. There are parts of the score and soundtrack that didn’t seem appropriate for their respective scenes and that was kind of strange to me. There was a moment when Electro is introduced and is in New York City and the score that goes along with it was light hearted and almost comedic but there are some great moments with the score as well. I particularly liked when Electro shuts off all the power in Times Square and it goes quiet……then kicks back in with a powerful pulsating sound that was very fitting for the scene. There are plenty of pros and cons to the film but really there are only two questions that should be asked. Is the film the best comic book movie ever made? Most definitely not. Was it entertaining? It was. I thought it was better than the first one and established the beginning to an even bigger story arc. I say everyone should check this out and make your own decision on the film because of the hits and misses but bottom line is that if you like superhero movies then you’ll dig it.
Side Note: Be sure to use you Shazam phone app during the music in the credits to get a cool little surprise sent to your phone.
