ramavalanche
06-05-14, 10:05 PM
Back in 2012, director Marc Webb treated audiences around the world with The Amazing Spider-Man, a film that many people deemed an unnecessary reboot of a franchise that had abruptly ended just five years earlier with the disaster that was Spider-Man 3. Yes, the third film in Sam Raimi’s superhero trilogy did not exude greatness in any possible way, but it was a weak link in what was otherwise a pretty darn good film series. I never felt that the Spider-Man character needed a reboot, and especially not so soon. Yet, I found The Amazing Spider-Man to be a refreshing jump-start to the floundering series. As good as the original trilogy was, lead actor Tobey Maguire was growing a little stale in the role, but that may have just been the shoddy characterization and writing apparent in Spider-Man 3. Here, Andrew Garfield brought a lot of personality to the role, and the origin story in of itself came as off as far more compelling than the one given to us in the original Spider-Man. As such, despite the minor missteps in the previous installment, I was anxiously awaiting this sequel, hoping it would improve on the already pretty-good prequel, effectively setting the stage for what could easily become a pretty formidable film franchise. Unfortunately, my wishes ultimately did not come to fruition, as my hopes quickly got dashed upon viewing this particular film.
Yes, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had a lot of potential, but it was needlessly squandered quite disappointingly. Right off the bat, I must mention that the film is overcrowded with villains, a flaw that doomed Spider-Man 3. It is kind of ironic that, even years later, the people behind the character of Spider-Man do not really know what to do with the story beyond creating dazzling yet unneeded spectacle. Here, the visual effects are quite good, but the basis for those effects (e. g. the characters) are woefully lacking. Actor Jamie Foxx is painfully miscast as supervillain Electro, which is unfortunate to witness after seeing his career come back alive when cast as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. I know that this particular film series never claimed to possess realism, but, with every known villain becoming a villain due to an unfortunate science experiment, its campy tone is doing a disservice to this film series. But those are not the only faults. No, there are just conceptual issues I have with the storyline and the execution of that storyline as well. Not every comic book film has to be The Dark Knight, but a more realistic tone could have caused The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to be a little more fluid, and not as rushed, as, at times, it seemed like everyone behind the production wanted to jam pack as much stuff into the movie as possible, thereby creating a jumbled and scattered mess of a film.
But, that is not to say that this movie had nothing going for it, which is just not true. Just like in the previous installment, this series has cast a very talented group of actors, and they have continued to be successful in this movie. Newbies to the series such as Chris Cooper (as Norman Osborn) and Dane DeHaan (as Harry Osborn) add a lot to the production. However, more important than anything else, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a film that rests solely on the shoulders of actors Andrew Garfield (as Peter Parker / Spider-Man) and Emma Stone (as Gwen Stacy). Their on-again-off-again romance is what fuels the film and makes it compelling to the point where I, as a viewer, was more captivated by the character of Peter Parker than I was with his superhero persona Spider-Man. Regardless, Garfield and Stone continued to show their immense chemistry, which made the climax of the movie all the more heartbreaking to witness.
All in all, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was an entertaining flick, but I would not even dare to define it as a good movie. To me, it just was not good, which is sad, considering the fact that director Marc Webb’s superhero franchise has me thinking back to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy in a much more positive light than I originally viewed it in. Again, there is a lot of potential to be had in this particular franchise, but the director and the various writers need to make a more smooth production. And if that happens, I will be happy to see another sequel. If not, I am not sure if I want to even bother giving this series the time of day. But we shall see.
Cast:
Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
Jamie Foxx as Electro / Max Dillon
Dane DeHaan as Green Goblin / Harry Osborn
Colm Feore as Donald Menken
Felicity Jones as Felicia Hardy
Paul Giamatti as Rhino / Aleksei Sytsevich
Sally Field as Aunt May
Campbell Scott as Richard Parker
Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker
Marton Csokas as Dr. Ashley Kafka
Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn
B. J. Novak as Alistair Smythe
Denis Leary as George Stacy
Michael Massee as Gustav Fiers / The Gentleman
Story:
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), a photographer for the Daily Bugle, continues his crusade against crime in New York City while posing as the infamous Spider-Man, a figure that has given hope to the city. So, while Peter tries to balance his romantic difficulties with girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and his superhero persona, OsCorp engineer and Spider-Man fanatic Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) transforms into the super-powered Electro after a science experiment goes horribly wrong, quickly becoming a nemesis to Spider-Man in the process. Meanwhile, Peter’s childhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) returns to town to take over control of OsCorp in the wake of his father, Norman (Chris Cooper), getting extremely ill. Also, Peter continues his mission to uncover the truth behind the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his two parents, Richard (Campbell Scott) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz), which ultimately leads to some interesting truths.
Pros:
Just like in the previous film, Peter’s investigation into the disappearance of his parents becomes very intriguing, especially when it begins to explain how the spiders affected Peter the way they did
Here, actor Dane DeHaan (who was memorable in the film Chronicle) inherits the role of Harry Osborn from the character’s former portrayer from the Sam Raimi trilogy, James Franco. Undoubtedly, DeHaan brings a lot more to the role, exuding a personality deserving of my sympathy while also coming across as a tad bit creepy, which is by no means a bad thing. DeHaan easily took a weak character from the Sam Raimi films and made him immensely compelling the process. Well, at least until the film’s final act…
By the far the most engaging aspect of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. I do not know if the great chemistry between the two characters was due to the real-life romance between actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, but all I can say is that it worked within the context of the film. The on-again-off-again aspect of the romance became a little tiresome after a while, but, for the most part, Peter’s connection with Gwen made the film a lot more compelling than it was previously
Although an easter egg, I thought it was really clever for the writers to feature a brief snippet of the famous “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” song during the climactic battle between Spider-Man and Electro
If you take out some of the major annoyances present, the climax of this movie was pretty spectacular. Yes, the Spider-Man versus Green Goblin battle was top-notch, especially when Gwen’s life hanged in the balance, effectively leading to some terrific suspense, which was rare for the film. Now, if Harry’s role as a villain had been developed a little better, this sequence of events would have been even greater. Regardless, this was still great stuff that could legitimately lead to some great things for the series (if handled correctly) in the wake of Gwen’s tragic death at the hands of the Goblin. This should have been an iconic moment, but due to everything that preceded it being a little lackluster, it was just a great moment that was aided beautifully by a haunting emotional portrayal by lead actor Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. This was great stuff. It is just a shame that the rest of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 could not live up to it
Cons:
I do not know if Jamie Foxx was miscast, but I can definitely say that his talent as an actor was obviously wasted as lead villain Max Dillon / Electro. Max’s transformation into a supervillain due to being attacked by genetically-modified electric eels was just plain silly. The same can be said for Max’s initial fascination and obsession with Spider-Man, which bordered on cringe-worthy. Plus, I believe Electro’s motivation to kill Spider-Man is just about as lame as a villain can be. Feeling spurned by the fact that Spider-Man forgot his name? Or was it the sense that Spider-Man betrayed him when he really did not? I do not know, but it is readily apparent that Electro was not a compelling villain in any possible way, especially when you take into consideration that his electricity puns were only slightly better than the ice-related puns given to the audience by Mr. Freeze way back in the terrible Batman & Robin, which was the film the derailed that particular film franchise
I did not know if I would, but I really enjoyed Dane DeHaan’s Harry Osborn in the movie. With that being said, his introduction was iffy at best. In Sam Raimi’s trilogy, the character was there from the very beginning. There was an established relationship between Peter and Harry, and, while Spider-Man 3, kind of went south when it came to Harry going evil, at least it was a tad bit believable. Here, the audience is told that Peter and Harry were childhood friends. There was no development to it at all, and, as a result, it did not feel earned. As such, that very lack of development made it really hard to care about Harry. Moreover, their so-called friendship never felt like one due to the fact that it went bad pretty quickly. If introduced a film earlier, Harry’s transformation into a villain may have been more compelling. Instead, he became more of an afterthought, especially when his role as the villain was shoehorned into the final act of the film, resulting in a mess that was not aided one bit by the character’s underwhelming Green Goblin persona
With Norman Osborn being one of Spider-Man greatest enemies from both the comics and film, I really hope that this is not the last we see of actor Chris Cooper as the aforementioned character. I know Norman “died”, but, with an Oscar-winning actor portraying the future nemesis, it would be extremely disappointing if he just abruptly perished like that without taking on the mantle of the Green Goblin. Plus, actor Willem Dafoe was so darn memorable as the character in Sam Raimi’s original trilogy. It would be cool to see Chris Cooper get close to that level of villainy, right?
Harry’s sudden transformation into the Green Goblin at the very end of the film is another variation of what I call the “Obadiah Stane Syndrome”. Basically, this happens when a character, specifically a villain, masters a sophisticated piece of machinery at lightning speeds in order to fulfill the requisite battle scenes needed. For instance, back in 2008′s Iron Man, Tony Stark as Iron Man had to undergo a lot of patience and training in order to master his “iron suit”. At the end of the film, without having never used a suit before, lead villain Obadiah Stane steps into his own suit and goes toe to toe with Iron Man without undergoing any semblance of training whatsoever. Now, fast-forward to this film, and Harry as the Green Goblin is essentially the same thing. Without ever training, Harry skillfully flies around on OsCorp gadgets with extreme ease, which kind of took me out of the scene. I know that this particular film series has never been a huge proponent of realism, but I was turned off by the ridiculousness of the situation nonetheless
I know Spider-Man in the comic books clearly has a sense of humor, but I believe the character in this film was a little too “jokey”, bordering on being an annoyance. Overall, it just felt out of place, especially when you take into consideration the fact that Peter was brooding for half the film
Paul Giamatti as Rhino was easily the worst of the trio of villains, which saying a lot considering my utter disdain for Electro. Nonetheless, Rhino’s Russian accent was over-the-top hammy, as he was more a joke than a legitimate threat. It may not matter so much for this film, but, if Rhino returns in the next installment, it will be extremely difficult to find him formidable, especially after his underwhelming introduction here
My Rating: ★★ (Poor)
Yes, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had a lot of potential, but it was needlessly squandered quite disappointingly. Right off the bat, I must mention that the film is overcrowded with villains, a flaw that doomed Spider-Man 3. It is kind of ironic that, even years later, the people behind the character of Spider-Man do not really know what to do with the story beyond creating dazzling yet unneeded spectacle. Here, the visual effects are quite good, but the basis for those effects (e. g. the characters) are woefully lacking. Actor Jamie Foxx is painfully miscast as supervillain Electro, which is unfortunate to witness after seeing his career come back alive when cast as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. I know that this particular film series never claimed to possess realism, but, with every known villain becoming a villain due to an unfortunate science experiment, its campy tone is doing a disservice to this film series. But those are not the only faults. No, there are just conceptual issues I have with the storyline and the execution of that storyline as well. Not every comic book film has to be The Dark Knight, but a more realistic tone could have caused The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to be a little more fluid, and not as rushed, as, at times, it seemed like everyone behind the production wanted to jam pack as much stuff into the movie as possible, thereby creating a jumbled and scattered mess of a film.
But, that is not to say that this movie had nothing going for it, which is just not true. Just like in the previous installment, this series has cast a very talented group of actors, and they have continued to be successful in this movie. Newbies to the series such as Chris Cooper (as Norman Osborn) and Dane DeHaan (as Harry Osborn) add a lot to the production. However, more important than anything else, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a film that rests solely on the shoulders of actors Andrew Garfield (as Peter Parker / Spider-Man) and Emma Stone (as Gwen Stacy). Their on-again-off-again romance is what fuels the film and makes it compelling to the point where I, as a viewer, was more captivated by the character of Peter Parker than I was with his superhero persona Spider-Man. Regardless, Garfield and Stone continued to show their immense chemistry, which made the climax of the movie all the more heartbreaking to witness.
All in all, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was an entertaining flick, but I would not even dare to define it as a good movie. To me, it just was not good, which is sad, considering the fact that director Marc Webb’s superhero franchise has me thinking back to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy in a much more positive light than I originally viewed it in. Again, there is a lot of potential to be had in this particular franchise, but the director and the various writers need to make a more smooth production. And if that happens, I will be happy to see another sequel. If not, I am not sure if I want to even bother giving this series the time of day. But we shall see.
Cast:
Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
Jamie Foxx as Electro / Max Dillon
Dane DeHaan as Green Goblin / Harry Osborn
Colm Feore as Donald Menken
Felicity Jones as Felicia Hardy
Paul Giamatti as Rhino / Aleksei Sytsevich
Sally Field as Aunt May
Campbell Scott as Richard Parker
Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker
Marton Csokas as Dr. Ashley Kafka
Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn
B. J. Novak as Alistair Smythe
Denis Leary as George Stacy
Michael Massee as Gustav Fiers / The Gentleman
Story:
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), a photographer for the Daily Bugle, continues his crusade against crime in New York City while posing as the infamous Spider-Man, a figure that has given hope to the city. So, while Peter tries to balance his romantic difficulties with girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and his superhero persona, OsCorp engineer and Spider-Man fanatic Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) transforms into the super-powered Electro after a science experiment goes horribly wrong, quickly becoming a nemesis to Spider-Man in the process. Meanwhile, Peter’s childhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) returns to town to take over control of OsCorp in the wake of his father, Norman (Chris Cooper), getting extremely ill. Also, Peter continues his mission to uncover the truth behind the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his two parents, Richard (Campbell Scott) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz), which ultimately leads to some interesting truths.
Pros:
Just like in the previous film, Peter’s investigation into the disappearance of his parents becomes very intriguing, especially when it begins to explain how the spiders affected Peter the way they did
Here, actor Dane DeHaan (who was memorable in the film Chronicle) inherits the role of Harry Osborn from the character’s former portrayer from the Sam Raimi trilogy, James Franco. Undoubtedly, DeHaan brings a lot more to the role, exuding a personality deserving of my sympathy while also coming across as a tad bit creepy, which is by no means a bad thing. DeHaan easily took a weak character from the Sam Raimi films and made him immensely compelling the process. Well, at least until the film’s final act…
By the far the most engaging aspect of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. I do not know if the great chemistry between the two characters was due to the real-life romance between actors Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, but all I can say is that it worked within the context of the film. The on-again-off-again aspect of the romance became a little tiresome after a while, but, for the most part, Peter’s connection with Gwen made the film a lot more compelling than it was previously
Although an easter egg, I thought it was really clever for the writers to feature a brief snippet of the famous “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” song during the climactic battle between Spider-Man and Electro
If you take out some of the major annoyances present, the climax of this movie was pretty spectacular. Yes, the Spider-Man versus Green Goblin battle was top-notch, especially when Gwen’s life hanged in the balance, effectively leading to some terrific suspense, which was rare for the film. Now, if Harry’s role as a villain had been developed a little better, this sequence of events would have been even greater. Regardless, this was still great stuff that could legitimately lead to some great things for the series (if handled correctly) in the wake of Gwen’s tragic death at the hands of the Goblin. This should have been an iconic moment, but due to everything that preceded it being a little lackluster, it was just a great moment that was aided beautifully by a haunting emotional portrayal by lead actor Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. This was great stuff. It is just a shame that the rest of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 could not live up to it
Cons:
I do not know if Jamie Foxx was miscast, but I can definitely say that his talent as an actor was obviously wasted as lead villain Max Dillon / Electro. Max’s transformation into a supervillain due to being attacked by genetically-modified electric eels was just plain silly. The same can be said for Max’s initial fascination and obsession with Spider-Man, which bordered on cringe-worthy. Plus, I believe Electro’s motivation to kill Spider-Man is just about as lame as a villain can be. Feeling spurned by the fact that Spider-Man forgot his name? Or was it the sense that Spider-Man betrayed him when he really did not? I do not know, but it is readily apparent that Electro was not a compelling villain in any possible way, especially when you take into consideration that his electricity puns were only slightly better than the ice-related puns given to the audience by Mr. Freeze way back in the terrible Batman & Robin, which was the film the derailed that particular film franchise
I did not know if I would, but I really enjoyed Dane DeHaan’s Harry Osborn in the movie. With that being said, his introduction was iffy at best. In Sam Raimi’s trilogy, the character was there from the very beginning. There was an established relationship between Peter and Harry, and, while Spider-Man 3, kind of went south when it came to Harry going evil, at least it was a tad bit believable. Here, the audience is told that Peter and Harry were childhood friends. There was no development to it at all, and, as a result, it did not feel earned. As such, that very lack of development made it really hard to care about Harry. Moreover, their so-called friendship never felt like one due to the fact that it went bad pretty quickly. If introduced a film earlier, Harry’s transformation into a villain may have been more compelling. Instead, he became more of an afterthought, especially when his role as the villain was shoehorned into the final act of the film, resulting in a mess that was not aided one bit by the character’s underwhelming Green Goblin persona
With Norman Osborn being one of Spider-Man greatest enemies from both the comics and film, I really hope that this is not the last we see of actor Chris Cooper as the aforementioned character. I know Norman “died”, but, with an Oscar-winning actor portraying the future nemesis, it would be extremely disappointing if he just abruptly perished like that without taking on the mantle of the Green Goblin. Plus, actor Willem Dafoe was so darn memorable as the character in Sam Raimi’s original trilogy. It would be cool to see Chris Cooper get close to that level of villainy, right?
Harry’s sudden transformation into the Green Goblin at the very end of the film is another variation of what I call the “Obadiah Stane Syndrome”. Basically, this happens when a character, specifically a villain, masters a sophisticated piece of machinery at lightning speeds in order to fulfill the requisite battle scenes needed. For instance, back in 2008′s Iron Man, Tony Stark as Iron Man had to undergo a lot of patience and training in order to master his “iron suit”. At the end of the film, without having never used a suit before, lead villain Obadiah Stane steps into his own suit and goes toe to toe with Iron Man without undergoing any semblance of training whatsoever. Now, fast-forward to this film, and Harry as the Green Goblin is essentially the same thing. Without ever training, Harry skillfully flies around on OsCorp gadgets with extreme ease, which kind of took me out of the scene. I know that this particular film series has never been a huge proponent of realism, but I was turned off by the ridiculousness of the situation nonetheless
I know Spider-Man in the comic books clearly has a sense of humor, but I believe the character in this film was a little too “jokey”, bordering on being an annoyance. Overall, it just felt out of place, especially when you take into consideration the fact that Peter was brooding for half the film
Paul Giamatti as Rhino was easily the worst of the trio of villains, which saying a lot considering my utter disdain for Electro. Nonetheless, Rhino’s Russian accent was over-the-top hammy, as he was more a joke than a legitimate threat. It may not matter so much for this film, but, if Rhino returns in the next installment, it will be extremely difficult to find him formidable, especially after his underwhelming introduction here
My Rating: ★★ (Poor)