Movie Review: ‘THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2’

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One scene that particularly jumps out to me when thinking back to the movie was a moving conversation between Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and Aunt May (Sally Field) in which Peter practically begs her to tell him about his parents who died mysteriously when he was a boy. The secrets that his father held close are crucial to revealing who Peter is and what he meant to him, but May insists that these secrets won’t lead to anything but hurt and that Peter is HER boy, her son, whom she raised to be the person that he is. Not only was this scene perfectly written and acted, this was a moment that all of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films failed miserably at. Instead of treating Aunt May as Peter’s batty, nagging old Grandma with lessons to further the narrative, the writers and director Marc Webb turned her into a caring, loving mother. This is one of many things that Webb and company have managed between The Amazing Spider­-Man and this sequel to do better the second time around. This sequel is great for the most part, and the horrible “too much for one film” juggling act, and contrived script that Raimi’s Spider­-Man 3 are but a distant memory. It’s just a shame that that Sony has a lot riding on this one; this time they decided to market the shit out of the movie and show you the whole thing before you even get to the theater.

It’s a tricky thing, that marketing. Show too little and you’re liable to alienate people who could have been enticed, and show too much and people feel like they’ve already seen the thing for free. The Amazing Spider­-Man 2 is the later, with countless, lengthy trailers. I know, you’re saying “don’t watch them”, right? Well, even the TV spots showcased too much. Who wouldn’t have gone crazy if they had no clue Rhino was a (brief) villain, or that Green Goblin shows up? Or the shots of Vulture’s wings and Doc Octopus’ tendrils that have literally been in every spot for the movie since day one? What happened to surprises, Sony??? What more, judging by the release in the UK and other territories two weeks earlier than here, there is no stinger after the credits. Our press screening also had nothing, but word online is that due to a deal between Sony and Fox, the US release has a tease for X­-Men: Days of Future Past…which a) had nothing to do with the movie you just saw, b) has nothing to do with future Spider­man productions, and c) is fucking stupid. I can’t wait to see this again and hear the collective fanboy ‘WHAT??” from the audience. But I digress…

In this installment, Peter is dealing with his demons: the death of his girlfriend Gwen (Emma Stone) Stacy’s Father, the promise he made Peter to stay away from her to avoid harm, and not truly knowing his parents as I mentioned above. He’s also learning that whole “power and responsibility” thing when he saves Max (Jamie Foxx) and tries to give the guy a self­-esteem boost. What he doesn’t know is that Max, an Oscorp employee, is really feeling down and invisible. Even on his birthday he’s forced to stay after hours and do maintenance work. While doing this work though, he’s electrocuted and drops into a vat of Eels. Now not only is he down, but he’s a freak of nature now…but he has power. Meanwhile, Peter’s boyhood bestie Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) has returned home from boarding school just in time to have a bitter farewell with his father Norman (Chris Cooper). There’s a rare genetic disease in their family, and Spider­man may be the only way to get a cure. Peter starts to learn about his father’s work with Oscorp and suddenly things start making more sense. Though obtained by accident, Peter has powers for a reason. Then worlds collide, and suddenly Peter is up against not only his biggest physical challenge, but his biggest mentally as well.

Love it or hate it, one thing is agreed on with The Amazing Spider­-Man 2: the chemistry is great. It’s even stronger this time around with Garfield and Stone having a real­life relationship to support their on screen love, and Garfield’s family time with Sally Field feels genuine. Foxx is the weakest link, hamming it up when he should be taking it a bit more seriously, but I liked the interaction between him and DeHaan as they discover how they can help each other out. DeHaan is essentially playing his character from Chronicle, which is a good thing mostly. We honestly don’t see much of his Green Goblin, saving him for summer 2016 instead of wasting his potential in a film that already has a powerful villain front and center. Spider­-Man 3 and their crappy Venom attempt is crying in a corner somewhere.

I also really liked Hans Zimmer’s score done with the “Magnificent Six” he assembled including The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr, singer/producer Pharrell Williams, and DJ Junkie XL. It doesn’t especially sound like any of Zimmer’s other work (no abundance of BWAAAAAAAAAAA brassy bass here) and the collaboration created some beautiful, haunting, thrilling pieces to accentuate the scenes. My favorite bit was during Electro’s first big showcase where layers of voices chant about lying, building up to a really aggressive electronic/dubstep beat when he unleashes his power. It’s the PERFECT use of electronic music in a film score, which hasn’t been done properly in a while.

There are moments that tonally don’t mesh. Most notable, a few lines given to Electro feel out of place and the delivery is a tad cheesy. There’s also a clever bit where Electro plays “Itsy Bitsy Spider” on tesla coils, but during a big battle it felt either out of place or not executed properly. Some pacing problems are the most frustrating as the movie starts off with two really good action sequences and then waits quite a while for another big one. It’s one thing to space the action between scenes of character and exposition, but it’s another to get the spacing of that correct. As a result there’s a rushed urgency off the bat and then it’s a while before the next big moment kicks in. The middle is stronger in story and development than the beginning, and the end suffers from “Return of the King” syndrome where the film has plenty of great spots to end…yet keeps going for some reason. But when it’s on, it’s on, and this is the best Spidey action on the big screen. The Amazing Spider­-Man suffered from action that felt too confined and small scale, while this one goes for broke in scope. Electro’s power is really felt in two main sequences of mass destruction, confusing as they may get in the chaos of all the light, shocks, sparks, and debris. No major complaints with the effects, the money is very clearly all on the screen this time.

I’ve decided that I have to separate my feelings towards the selling of the film and the film itself simply because maybe my case isn’t going to be everyone’s. The scores seen above reflect the film itself as viewed from as blind a perspective as I could put on it. It’s a solid film with some pacing issues and a little lack of focus. Webb nails both halves of the film well – the action and the story – he just doesn’t quite have a grasp on making them work well with each other. Regardless if you’ve seen too much footage, the stuff on screen is still really thrilling. This film is a nice set­up for Sony’s future of the franchise, with two more Spidey films and both Venom and Sinister Six films in pre­production now. I just hope that in the future Sony doesn’t show us everything before we get to see the finished product.