The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2014.
Directed by Marc Webb.
Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, B.J. Novak, Felicity Jones, Chris Cooper, Chris Zylka, and Denis Leary.
SYNOPSIS:
Peter Parker struggles with his past, trying to keep his future safe.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 begins right back where we started in the first film, in the home of Richard and Mary Parker before they leave their son to meet the fate we already know. Only unlike the first film (and the previous Spidey franchise) we delve deeper far deeper into their, and Peter’s, past than we have before.
We find Peter (Andrew Garfield) adjusting to his dual identity, fighting Russian mobsters one moment before heading off to high school graduation. He struggles with this but not as much as he struggles to keep his promise to the dying Captain Stacy. It is this struggle between keeping his promise and keeping Gwen (Emma Stone) safe and his love and desire to be with her that truly drives this movie.
Of course there are villains in this film; it’s a comic book film so they’re basically obligatory. Unlike most superhero films though it is not their plot that really drives the narrative, but it is driven by Peter’s mission of self discovery and his desire to keep Gwen safe at all costs.
Garfield and Stone have an excellent on-screen chemistry, unrivalled by the majority of other comic book couples; the audience is pulling for their relationship to work as it seems so good. We want the ghosts of Peter’s mistakes to stop haunting him so that this couple can have their deserved happy ending.
While it is Peter’s own mistakes that ultimately create his foes, both Electro (Jamie Foxx) and The Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan) feel like they exist to create set pieces and add any level of threat they can muster. Foxx does well making Max Dillon come across as a lonely, angry and deranged so we can believe his fall to villainy but when he finally transforms into his CGI monster he never feels interesting or threatening. His story drags down the pacing and is pretty forgettable.
The studio would have been better served paying more attention to Osborn/Goblin. DeHaan and Garfield create a genuine bond between the characters of Harry and Peter, united by tragedy and regret at time missed together. They come across as far more likely friends than Tobey Maguire and James Franco ever managed in three movies together and DeHaan’s Harry wears the mantle of the Goblin well, with a crazy desperation with promises of something far more sinister in the future.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has obvious flaws, with too much CGI dominating the action sequences as they did in the trailers and parts where too much story drags the rest of the film down. The score works well in places and seems ill placed in others, the dubstep heavy thoughts of Electro working very well when they occur.
That said this definitely feels like a movie that is taking the franchise forward, giving us a greater understanding and empathy for our hero than many others in this genre care to allow. It’s not going to change superhero films, but it will change how we view the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Spencer-Skeen
Originally published April 9, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
