The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a film i have been waiting to see ever since the first movie came out. I really did like the first movie, but the more i watch it the more i dislike it, noticing a lot of times that just screamed we did this to keep the rights. But now that the cat is out of the bag and we have the sequel they can really let loose. How does the sequel hold up? Lets fine out, but once again i will warn you this review will be filled to the brim with spoilers, so please, read at your own risk.
Story:
This is one of the things the movie is sort of mixed with. The story has a lot going on in it. Some would argue a bit to much, but i felt it was just enough for me to never feel like i was wasting time. The story of the movie is about Peter trying to fully discover what happened to his parents as well as him trying to come to grips with the decision he made at the end of the last movie to ignore Gwens fathers promise to keep Gwen away. Peter can't decide to either do what was asked of him which was the responsible thing by Gwens father, or do what he really wants and have Gwen in his life, as he can't see her not in his life. By the end of the film both of these problems are resolved quite nicely although i did feel that the story with peters parents was more fitting to be in the first movie rather then this one, especially with all the
Untold Story advertising done for the last movie, but it was nice to have some closure. Im happy that the movie plays with Peters descion on whether or not to stay away from Gwen like her father wanted and how in the end it causes her death, making her death be more his fault then it even was in the comics meaning peter finally learns the lesson that people can't be close to spider-man, and as long as he is Spider-Man people will pay the price for it. i will agree with some people that what was done with Electro was a bit rushed and i do think he should have been in the story more, but ill get more into that when i get into character. I will disagree that harrys arc was rushed however, i felt it moved at a very good pace, Harry being desperate to survive and not become his father. Although there is a plot hole of him claiming there is no time for him when it took his father to the age of at least 60 to die from the same disease, ill just assume the disease becomes incurable at some point. Over all while i didn't find the story very orignal it was very well done.
Characters:
Peter Parker/Spider-Man:
Ive always felt that Andrew Garfield was perfect for this role and he really shows it this time. As Peter Parker he is slowly becoming a more responsible man, but he is still a teenager, so he isn't able to fully make up his mind on what he want. Does he want to do the right thing and respect Gwens fathers wishes? Or does he want to take Gwen as he can't see a life without her? Garfield does this beautifully in the movie, you can see what he is going through based on his expressions alone. You can really tell how hard this is for him to either break a promise he made to a man he respects, or keep Gwen, the woman he loves out of his life forever. And he make it really engaging to watch in the film. However, Garfield truly shines as Spider-Man, he was close in the first movie but here he has it down perfectly, his delievery combined with the great jokes makes his Spider-Man a blast to watch, and Andrew is able to make both Spider-Man and Peter Parker seem like different people this time.
Gwen Stacy:
Gwen was one of the best thing about the last film. Her character here is just as good, Emma stone was probably the best possible choice to play this role. She plays it just as well as last time. Her chemistry with Garfield being one of the reasons she is fun to see on screen, she's proactive, unlike other girlfriends from these superhero movies, not only does she help Peter with his webshooters to make them not short curcuit against Electro, she also hits Electro with a police car to save Peter. Unless you don't know the comics at all you see her death coming from a mile away, but the way she is potrayed in this movie her death is one of the saddest death scenes i have seen in movies. You end up loving her like peter did and its all the more sad when shes gone. I don't know how The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will be as good without her in it.
Max Dillon/Electro
People seem to have a general opinion on Max Dillon for this movie. That Max himself before his transformation into Electro is laughably bad. Reminisicent of Jim Carrys Batman Forever character. I could see why it bothered some people but it didn't bother me at all. Unlike Edward Nigma who seemed to adore Bruce Wayne just because the plot says so, Max here feels a bit more genuine, He's a bit unbalanced sure, but i found him sympathetic enough to even want to step up for him in a couple of scenes. There is a scene where Allistar Smythe forces Max to work overtime on his birthday to get something fixed that really wouldn't be his department to begin with. Everyone treated him like crap and he tried to be nice to everyone. No one noticed him, everone just saw him as a loser. Then he finally feels he has a friend in Spider-Man, All he wanted his life was to be noticed, to be appreciated and Spider-Man brings that to him. And i found his character quite tragic. But also creepy at the same time, there is a scene where he is talking to himself in his room, acting like spider-man came to visit him for his birthday, and it is really uneasy to watch, you can tell he is unbalanced at that point. Of course there is also when he is Electro, and this is something i do feel was a bit of a problem. Despite Electro being the main villain he doesn't appear until an hour into the movie and is put away in a prision for a 3rd of it. He didn't really feel like the main bad guy of the film, he should have been in the film as Electro more in my opinion. However the actual character of Electro i do find to be quite good. Mainly due to Jaimie Foxxs performance. In the time Square scene you see how Electro is scared of the police trying to shoot at him, but then he notices himself on the big screen, finally being happy and having people see him. And when spider-man comes in and forgets who max is its almost heart breaking. In Maxs head he finally got the power he deserved and he wanted to use it to be with Spider-Man who he deemd to be his Best friend. But he sees that Spider-Mans face takes over where maxs face was on the video screen, he sees spider-man taking the attention away, throwing max aside like everyone else did, making them enemies forever. There is one scene that truly setteled Electro for me as a good villain was when Harry came to Electro to take down Spider-Man. Electro of course doesn' t trust him due to him being apart of oscorp. However its when Harry says the words
I Need You. When Harry says this, thats what finally strikes a cord with Electro. Him finding a friend in Hary where Spider-Man used to be. Sure he had a cheesy line or two. But i do personally consider Electro to be one of the best parts of the movie.
Harry Osborn/Green Goblin:
Harry Osborn is a character i was really excited to see in this movie. I did like James Francos Harry, but i do like this Harry a lot more. There was something really Sinister about him in this film. He always gave me this vibe to keep my distance away from him. But he like Electro was also sympathetic, i saw where he was coming from. But the main reason this character is done so well here is because of Dane Dehann. He is able to bring real depth to this character. Whenever there is an emotional scene he really brings his A game, you can tell he is running out of options and he is getting desperate to survive, and he will do anything he can to get it. Even ask for the impossible from Peter. You really do root for Harry to survive, especially when Oscorp is taken away from him, however Harry becomes too desperate, and won't let himself die under any circumstances, allowing himself to become the Green Goblin, due to him injecting himself with the venom of the spider that bit Peter. Dehann also has a great goblin, despite him not being on screen for very long. I can see why some people can't get passed the suit but it didn't bother me, he had enough of a presence for me to love his presence on screen, although his voice, while accurate to other green goblins was a bit silly. Ill go into something with both villains i love here. I love that both villains, Harry and Electro are created due to Peter doing opposite things. With Electro, Spider-Man was careless, he was irresponsible. That caused Electro to cling to Spider-Man and it shows that Peter is partially responsible for Maxs turn to villainy, due to Peter forgetting Max later and Max feeling Spider-Man betrayed him. Harry is sort of the same thing, he feels Peter betrayed him, however this was caused by Peter doing the responsible thing. He had valid reasons on why to not give Harry his blood but Harry wouldn't listen to reason. Thus putting him and Peter on a separate path, becoming rivals for the rest of there lives.
Action:
The action is something that I feel is a positive and negative to the film. What action is here is great. Its colorful, Spidey does plenty of acrobatics and the scenes with Electo and Spider-Man fighting, mainly the final fight were excellent. However it is a hinderince to the film due to there being very little action. The big action scenes are few and far between, Electro and Spider-Man only fighting twice in the entire movie, and both fights lasting undr a total of 8 minutes. I do understand there would be budget constraints with a character like Electro, but in an action movie like this you expect more action. I was still satisfied however as what action there was was mind blowing, keeping me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The 3d really adds to it as well, Spideys webs flying out of the screen when he's swinging.
Verdict
This is the Spider-Man movie i have wanted for a while. A Spider-Man movie that delves into Peter Parker as a character, while having one of my favorite comic stories "The Death Of Gwen Stacy" finally being shown on the big screen. A movie with little but specacular action, great characters, an interesting if unoriginal story, and a climax that will make you feel like a little kid again watching Spider-Man for the first time. So this is a movie i would definitly recomend to the public.