From the opening scene and for a good 90+ minutes thereafter, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had a stop and go feel to it. ASM2 is as much a love story with a sprinkle of a villain or two or three than simply a good versus evil comic book flick. Director Marc Webb tries to weave a love story while establishing his villains all the while having Peter Parker figure out what really happened to his parents. Whew! Even for a film that runs just under 2 1/2 hours, its just too much. Which renders the tagline “His Greatest Battle Begins”, a severe understatement.
The best part of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the obvious chemistry that exist between Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker. They are quite good together on screen. And the banter they share feels real and genuine. I’ll even go as far as saying that their relationship is more complimentary than that of Tobey Maguire and Kristin Dunst in the Sam Raimi films.
As for the villains themselves, if you’re a Paul Giamatti fan, don’t blink. That’s all I’ll say about that. Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon AKA Electro does a good enough job but is hardly a standout. He’s a classic case of a good guy turned bad due to extreme circumstances. In his case, it was being accidentally super-charged by an electrical malfunction at Oscorp.
Then there is Harry Osborne played by Dane DeHann. Harry is a childhood friend of Peter who returns to New York
The final act saves the film from being a disappointment. Even though at times I thought I was watching a video game, it was still engaging, action filled and suspenseful. Watching Spidey zip through the New York skyline is incredible and the best I’ve seen from any Spider-Man film to date. I left the theater wanting more and wishing that it didn’t take as long as it did to get us, the audience, fully vested in the action. As frustrating as it was, Webb did enough at the end to hook me for a third film. If you thought Peter had a lot to overcome from the first film, it’ll be that much more interesting to see how he overcomes the second.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 **1/2 (out of 4)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
