Sure, one could argue telling Peter Parker's (Andrew Garfield) "Spider-Man" origin story all over again in 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man was unnecessary, but it improved upon a few aspects of Raimi's 2002 feature that were starting to look a little dated. But this film goes sharply backwards in every way that matters. It picks up right from where we left off, trying to depict the balance Peter struggles to manage between crime-fighting as his alter ego and developing a meaningful relationship with his girlfriend, Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone). Worried that his relationship might mean putting her life in danger, the two eventually part ways as lovers but just....can't....get over...each other, you see. Eventually, Peter has a reunion of sorts with his childhood friend and head of Oscorp, Harry Osborne (Dane DeHaan), but friction develops when Harry requires Spider-Man's blood to cure him from a disease (seriously, I'm not making this up). And to add one more ingredient to this already overstuffed pot, we have the nerdy, disgruntled Oscorp employee Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), who falls prey to an accident involving electric eels and becomes a supervillain named Electro.
At nearly two-and-a-half hours (too long, by the way), it's astounding how many plot points The Amazing Spider-Man 2 whiffs on. Take the relationship between Peter and Harry, for example. The movie tells us these two are long-time friends, but with no scenes between the characters before their first meeting here, we have a hard time buying it, and the actors have nowhere near enough time to sell it. It pales in comparison to that of Captain America and Bucky Barnes from The Winter Solider, which had depth and weight. Ditto for the relationship between Peter and Gwen, where actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone at least give it a game try. Sadly, every one of their scenes, from the initial break-up to the reconciliation to the inevitable realization that they truly are right for one another, plays out on about the level of a daytime soap opera. Even the secondary relationships and sub-plots, like that of Aunt May (Sally Field), the and the mystery of what really happened to Peter's parents, are shoved in and resolved perfunctorily. And the social commentary of whether Spiderman is a hero or vigilante, such an important theme in Raimi's Spiderman films, is restricted to a few short, shoehorned-in radio clips.
But the film's biggest misfire, by far, is in its depiction the villains. Harry froths at the mouth like a cheap imitation of the late Heath Ledger's Joker; it's definitely not one of actor Dane DeHaan's (who played this sort of role far, far better in Chronicle) finest moments. It made me yearn for the much, much better repartee between Tobey McGuire and James Franco in Raimi's Spider-Man films. But Electro bears the brunt of the screenplay's wrath. The film paints Max as an extremely geeky, mentally unhinged, constantly crapped-on guy before having him undergo a personality transformation after developing his powers (complete with blue skin and booming bass voice). Fine in theory, but horrible in execution.
Bear with me here and picture the following scene that the filmmakers apparently thought was a good idea: the only Black character in the entire movie, who just so happens to be a misunderstood guy, dressed in a dark hoodie of all things, has a violent stand-off with police in a busy intersection. Certainly that's a great image to evoke in a summer action movie, am I right? What is the movie's attitude toward this character? Is he meant to be a villain with some sympathy, like Doc Ock in 2004's Spider-Man 2? Or is he an unstoppable, heartless beast? The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tries to have it both ways, creating a frustratingly incomplete and downright embarrassing bad guy who's out to..... plunge the city into darkness?
But at least the action scenes deliver the goods, right? Sort of. From a detached perspective, they're well-filmed and never confuse the viewer. But there's a deeper, more fundamental problem here. With such laughable bad guys and such underdeveloped good guys, the action sequences never achieve their true punch. Even the climax, which borrows a key element from Spider-Man lore, doesn't reach the emotional impact it strives for. On some level, I admire the filmmakers for taking this route, but by this point, it's too little too late. It's not worth sitting through the meandering mess that proceeds such a pivotal moment.
There's something depressing about watching what should be fun escapism like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 crash and burn so badly. Spidey deserves better than this. The whole experience feels like film as product, as if viewers are happy merely seeing their favorite characters depicted onscreen (and, sigh.... be accurate to the comics above all else) rather than brought to life with real zest. Again, it's a good-looking movie, but where is its soul? The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ends with an unbelievably awful and manipulative scene involving yet another supervillain and plucky little kid in a Spidey costume. Not to mention another "teaser" scene which hints at the formation of something I believe is called the Sinister Six. These scenes are reminders of what The Amazing Spider-Man 2 really is: just another cog in the cash cow machine.
Rating: *1/2 (out of ****)
Nice review Kenneth. Though there was a lot of everything going on here, I still had enough fun with it to where I didn't care all that much.
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