'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' Review
Reflection- I can recall around the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that the idea of Spider-Man swinging over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed like a pipe dream. Sony seemed hell-bent on establishing their own shared universe with the characters at their disposal and the likelihood of Spider-Man appearing alongside the Avengers was a long shot. With that in mind, I thought The Amazing Spider-Man movies were the closest Spidey would get to swinging straight out of his source material. However, a lot has happened since then and fast forwarding to today you'll find an unprecedented deal was struck between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures allowing shared control of the character and we now have two MCU flicks featuring the wall-crawler in some capacity. Since then, I've watched The Amazing Spider-Man 2 a few times and I've gotta say my tune has changed over time but you'll hear more on that in a moment. I feel the best way for me to elaborate on my opinion will be if I include spoiler-heavy plot points though, so this review will include spoilers.
Review- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swings forward into the life of Peter Parker as he graduates high school and fights crime on the side. Meanwhile, Peter's conflicted about his promise to Captain Stacy as he begins to realize the severity of the dangers that accompany his double life. However, his greatest battle is just beginning as a new adversary Electro emerges, his old friend Harry Osborn returns to New York, and Peter recognizes Oscorp to be the thread tying everything together.
Marc Webb returned to sheppard the web-slinger's sequel but the film feels devoid of distinct direction. Like Spider-Man 3, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where Sony interfered but The Amazing Spider-Man 2 reeks of studio interference. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swung all over the place in search of a reliant anchor point but it never stays in one place long enough to find its footing. Nevertheless, the finished product suffered from an over-reliance of setting up the franchise's future and it's just sad revisiting The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with the foresight none of those plans will ever materialize.
The script penned by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, and James Vanderbilt is jumbled across the board. The characters sprawled throughout The Amazing Spider-Man 2 seem to belong in drastically different movies, while the film itself is tonally inconsistent from start-to-finish. In one moment the film is downright dour, but in the next it'll crank the campiness all the way up. The film never sticks to the realistic portrayal Webb swung out with in The Amazing Spider-Man, but it can't commit to the camp that accompanies New York's friendly, neighborhood web-head either. The screenplay juggled about four major threads that seldom intersected with one another, if at all. These being the mystery of Peter's parents, Harry Osborn's sickness, Max Dillon's rampant wrongdoing as Electro, and the romance between Peter and Gwen and the consequences of such.
First off, Peter's investigation into the disappearance of his parents is suddenly abandoned about two-thirds of the way through but it almost had to be addressed simply because The Amazing Spider-Man introduced that story arc. However, these scenes were largely pointless in regards to furthering the story overall and even progressing that specific storyline in a meaningful way. It's understandable that Peter would want to know what happened to his parents since the viewers are in the same boat but it almost goes without saying that every time I revisit The Amazing Spider-Man 2, I'm irritated by its inclusion for drawing attention away from other interesting events and going nowhere.
Secondly, there's all the drama with Harry Osborn that carries no weight because the audience has absolutely no pre-existing connection to Dane DeHaan's self-loathing Harry. Harry comes off as a irritable, whiny nuisance who faces an ill-conceived sickness that can magically be cured with Spider-Man's blood?... His transformation into the Green Goblin feels contrived for the sake of including a rather revolting rendition of the Green Goblin. At least, Raimi realized he needed to carry Harry's descent into villainy across three movies and Harry's arc to becoming the Hobgoblin occurs naturally throughout the trilogy. However, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 introduces Harry to viewers, hoping audiences will grasp the connection between him and Peter despite their cold scenes together and it definitely doesn't work.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also incorporates side-antagonists Electro and Rhino, to which many like to point out doomed this project from the get-go, but I think it has more to do with the abundance of plot points and Sony's over-insistence to jump-start a new shared universe no-one really wanted. Sure, the use of three different evil-doers naturally handicaps the narrative because it takes focus away from the other two but it's not the primary problem. Would the movie have been better if Sony and Webb agreed to only concentrate on one villain? Maybe, but in reality there's essentially two threats.
Paul Giamatti's Aleksei Sytsevich (aka the Rhino) is only in two sequences book-ending The Amazing Spider-Man 2 so you'd be hard-pressed to really call him one of Spider-Man's foremost foes in this movie. That leaves you with Electro and the Green Goblin, who never really fight Peter together even though they join forces to break into Oscorp for about five minutes. The film's a mess and that's without mentioning the drab dubstep dragged together by Hans Zimmer, The Magnificent Six (Junkie XL and Michael Einzinger), Johnny Marr, and Pharrell Williams. The more character-resonant orchestral compositions are striking because they completely contradict the rest of the score by enhancing the onscreen events. These themes are greatly appreciated in comparison though because they sound epic and befitting to the character of Spider-Man rather than included for the sake of popularity.
Despite all the storytelling shortcomings, there are actually redeeming qualities that enhance The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and are the reason I ever enjoyed it to begin with. Most notably, Andrew Garfield's take on the wall-crawler. Over the course of the movie, Peter demonstrates his heroism in many ways but there's one sweet scene where he swings down to help a young boy who was being bullied that has always stuck out to me. He not only helps rebuild the boy's windmill but escorts him home and actually engages in comforting conversation with the boy. I've always felt it's moments like these that define Peter as the friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man and drew me to the character in the first place so seeing a feature length, effects heavy blockbuster take the time to interject a scene like this is heartwarming to say the least.
On the other hand, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 features numerous slick action sequences for Spidey to shine including a mad scramble through the city involving Plutonium, the Electro's antics in Time Square, a shocking sequence at a power plant and then a ticking, terrifying fight in a clock tower. All of these set-pieces utilize a plethora of visual effects and I've got to say they hold up remarkably well as Electro looks like he zipped right out of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. I believe credit is also due to the costuming department for weaving an outfit for Spidey that bears the resemblance of his trademark tights with the well-known webbing and eminent engorging eyes.
The stand-out sequence though is undeniably the clocktower fight depicting the death of Gwen Stacy. Upon rewatch, I watched a majority of the film with little-to-no reaction but this scene still mangled to elicit an emotional response from me because it's so heart-wrenching. This carries the story significance of following through on Peter's worst fears and invokes the realization that those closest to him will always be in jeopardy due to his super-heroics. Sorry for that morbid detour but I felt Gwen's death is such a key part of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that it couldn't be avoided in this discussion.
Of course, the shining stars of The Amazing Spider-Man movies were Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone due to their illustrious pairing and how well they fit their respective roles. I always felt their relationship seemed infinitely more believable than the pairing of Maguire and Dunst because the sparks never stop flying between the two. While I've found his Peter Parker to exhibit some creepy characteristics upon subsequent revisits, there's no denying that Garfield knocks it out of the park when he puts on the mask and Stone charms your socks off as Gwen Stacy. Sally Field is also deserving of recognition for her hefty contribution in the dramatic department as Aunt May.
I touched on each of the villains to some degree earlier in my review but DeHaan's Osborn is cold and calculating, Jamie Fox's rendition of Max Dilon is kooky and unsettling and Paul Giamatti's Rhino is nothing more than a thinly sketched Russian caricature. There's no assistance from the supporting ensemble who do little more than progress the plot so it's ironically entirely up to Garfield, Stone, and Field to save the day.
In summary, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 undoubtedly has its merits with outstanding leads and memorable moments scattered throughout, but it ultimately gets dragged down from gleefully swinging about New York by Sony's overcrowded ambition.
