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That's Gwen Stacey's love proclamation to boyfriend/superhero Peter (Andrew Garfield) during the first half of this film. Following up Marc Webb's 2012 film, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 follows Parker as he struggles with his superhero "duties", as well as the burden of trying and wanting to protect those around him; from Stacey (Emma Stone) to his childhood friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). Oh, and there's also the geek-turned-supervillain Electro (Jamie Foxx) and the Russian criminal that turns into Rhino (Paul Giamatti).
If that sounds like a lot, it's because it is. For some reason, Marc Webb decides to cram as much as he can into the 2+ hours runtime and the results are, to say the least, a mess. The abrupt and clumsy introduction of Harry into the story is one of the worst offenders. If I complained that the first film felt like "going through a list of Spider-Man checkboxes to cover", this one amps that up to the max. Most people know what will happen with Harry, and most people probably know what will happen with Gwen, so it's all a matter of rushing through these checkpoints just because.
But then there's also Electro, who is the main villain for the first half of the film and whose motivations are as flimsy as the film's script, and finally Rhino, who I honestly don't know what the hell is doing here (spoiler, he's only in the last 5 minutes). Then there are some corporate machinations surrounding Oscorp and it's VP (Colm Feore), and also their connections to Peter's father, I tell you, it's a lot and just like the first film, it all feels like moving pieces for potential sequels, instead of actual characters and stories.
The saving grace once again is in the performances of Garfield and Stone. Once again, their chemistry shines and their relationship serves as an anchor to the messy story. Same can be said about some solid moments between Peter and Aunt May (Sally Field). It is in these personal and intimate moments that the film and its actors excel. Moments when they are allowed to be humans and not indestructible superheroes, ciphers, or plot devices.
That is until they're dragged again into another convoluted CGI bash-a-thon with the villain of the moment, whether it is Electro, Green Goblin, or Rhino. In these moments, I can't help but feel like Gwen, pleading to his love, i.e. Peter/Garfield: You're Spider-Man... but I love Peter Parker more.
Grade:
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2
(2014, Webb)
(2014, Webb)
"You're Spider-Man, and I love that. But I love Peter Parker more."
That's Gwen Stacey's love proclamation to boyfriend/superhero Peter (Andrew Garfield) during the first half of this film. Following up Marc Webb's 2012 film, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 follows Parker as he struggles with his superhero "duties", as well as the burden of trying and wanting to protect those around him; from Stacey (Emma Stone) to his childhood friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). Oh, and there's also the geek-turned-supervillain Electro (Jamie Foxx) and the Russian criminal that turns into Rhino (Paul Giamatti).
If that sounds like a lot, it's because it is. For some reason, Marc Webb decides to cram as much as he can into the 2+ hours runtime and the results are, to say the least, a mess. The abrupt and clumsy introduction of Harry into the story is one of the worst offenders. If I complained that the first film felt like "going through a list of Spider-Man checkboxes to cover", this one amps that up to the max. Most people know what will happen with Harry, and most people probably know what will happen with Gwen, so it's all a matter of rushing through these checkpoints just because.
But then there's also Electro, who is the main villain for the first half of the film and whose motivations are as flimsy as the film's script, and finally Rhino, who I honestly don't know what the hell is doing here (spoiler, he's only in the last 5 minutes). Then there are some corporate machinations surrounding Oscorp and it's VP (Colm Feore), and also their connections to Peter's father, I tell you, it's a lot and just like the first film, it all feels like moving pieces for potential sequels, instead of actual characters and stories.
The saving grace once again is in the performances of Garfield and Stone. Once again, their chemistry shines and their relationship serves as an anchor to the messy story. Same can be said about some solid moments between Peter and Aunt May (Sally Field). It is in these personal and intimate moments that the film and its actors excel. Moments when they are allowed to be humans and not indestructible superheroes, ciphers, or plot devices.
That is until they're dragged again into another convoluted CGI bash-a-thon with the villain of the moment, whether it is Electro, Green Goblin, or Rhino. In these moments, I can't help but feel like Gwen, pleading to his love, i.e. Peter/Garfield: You're Spider-Man... but I love Peter Parker more.
Grade: