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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2
As far as sequels go, there is a lot worse stuff out there than 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and it scores in terms of intentions, but it suffers due to an overly intricate screenplay that doesn't really address everything it should.
The film opens as expected with Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) easing into his role as a crime fighter despite media speculation about his motives (something that should have been addressed in the first film) while finally coming to learn the truth about his father (Campbell Scott) and why his work led to his eventual death and how his work is connected to an unexpected villain in this piece that we really don't see initially, other than the geeky, desperately needy Oscorp electrician (Oscar winner Jamie Foxx) whose accident turns him into what appears to be the villain, but really isn't at all. We also see Peter haunted by the words of Captain Stacy (Denis Leary), who he promised that he would stay away from daughter Gwen (Oscar winner Emma Stone) in order to keep her safe.
The screenplay by Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci is the source of everything that is right with this movie and everything that is wrong. I like that it addresses things from the first film, like Spidey's promise to Captain Stacy and I also like the way it separates this franchise from the Sam Raimi franchise by re-thinking relationships established by Raimi and company and still keeping them viable, primarily the relationship between Peter and Harry Osborn, which was a prominent part of the Raimi franchise, but it is approached from a different angle for this movie which is equally as compelling. On the other hand, the story is slowed to distraction with Peter's relationship with Aunt May, which is lovely on the surface, and the little she reveals about Peter's parents became unnecessary when Peter finally sees the tape of his father. Not to mention...this guy is a superhero, why is he still living with his aunt? That scene arguing over him or her doing his laundry was a silly waste of screentime. I also like the way the screenplay really established Oscorp as the villain, not Electro.
Director Marc Webb still knows how to mount viable action sequences, but the problematic screenplay made some of it seem superfluous. Some of the production values also de-valued the work of some of the actors' work as well. Jamie Foxx was initially fun as Max, but his performance gets buried under CGI technique when the character becomes Electro, though the sequence where he undergoes the change was absolutely spectacular. Garfield and Stone still delivered chemistry as Peter and Gwen, but Foxx was wasted and Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn didn't work for me either, but there is entertainment value here, even if you have to mine for it a little.
As far as sequels go, there is a lot worse stuff out there than 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and it scores in terms of intentions, but it suffers due to an overly intricate screenplay that doesn't really address everything it should.
The film opens as expected with Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) easing into his role as a crime fighter despite media speculation about his motives (something that should have been addressed in the first film) while finally coming to learn the truth about his father (Campbell Scott) and why his work led to his eventual death and how his work is connected to an unexpected villain in this piece that we really don't see initially, other than the geeky, desperately needy Oscorp electrician (Oscar winner Jamie Foxx) whose accident turns him into what appears to be the villain, but really isn't at all. We also see Peter haunted by the words of Captain Stacy (Denis Leary), who he promised that he would stay away from daughter Gwen (Oscar winner Emma Stone) in order to keep her safe.
The screenplay by Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci is the source of everything that is right with this movie and everything that is wrong. I like that it addresses things from the first film, like Spidey's promise to Captain Stacy and I also like the way it separates this franchise from the Sam Raimi franchise by re-thinking relationships established by Raimi and company and still keeping them viable, primarily the relationship between Peter and Harry Osborn, which was a prominent part of the Raimi franchise, but it is approached from a different angle for this movie which is equally as compelling. On the other hand, the story is slowed to distraction with Peter's relationship with Aunt May, which is lovely on the surface, and the little she reveals about Peter's parents became unnecessary when Peter finally sees the tape of his father. Not to mention...this guy is a superhero, why is he still living with his aunt? That scene arguing over him or her doing his laundry was a silly waste of screentime. I also like the way the screenplay really established Oscorp as the villain, not Electro.
Director Marc Webb still knows how to mount viable action sequences, but the problematic screenplay made some of it seem superfluous. Some of the production values also de-valued the work of some of the actors' work as well. Jamie Foxx was initially fun as Max, but his performance gets buried under CGI technique when the character becomes Electro, though the sequence where he undergoes the change was absolutely spectacular. Garfield and Stone still delivered chemistry as Peter and Gwen, but Foxx was wasted and Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn didn't work for me either, but there is entertainment value here, even if you have to mine for it a little.