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In a summer that’s already seen Captain America, and is about to see X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ninja Turtles, and the long-delayed Sin City sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had better live up to that title in order to secure a place in the memory. It only does so by half, and just proves rather frustrating. Instead of correcting the problems of the first film, it makes them worse. This is a shame because within The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are some of the best character moments and action sequences to be in any Spider-Man film. Pity that the other half of it is a half-baked mess of poorly thought characterizations/motivations and rushed story developments.
Much like the first film, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 excels at making us believe in the romantic coupling at the center of the film. In fact, character interactions with Peter Parker are a strong point. The romance between Parker and Gwen Stacy is one of the few in a comic book movie that feels real and authentic. It helps that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are dating in real life, but it’s rare that chemistry off camera translates to on-camera. But Stone makes for a tough, smart Girl Friday to Garfield’s caustic Spider-Man, and it’s nice to see a female character in a big budget franchise display some agency and not just be a damsel-in-distress.
Another high point is Sally Field’s motherly, tender Aunt May. There’s a scene between Parker and May where he pleads for her to tell him about his parents, and she tells him that she’s always thought of him as her son. It’s a nice quiet moment in-between very loud and long action scenes. Field’s anxiety and stress of trying to keep it all together was a touch that was missing from Raimi’s depiction of the character.
Marc Webb is good at detailing Parker’s immediate circle, and many of the fight scenes come complete with gorgeous special effects and blessedly clean rhythms. At every moment it’s clear to see which character is where and what they’re trying to do. But Webb and his writers never fixed a major problem from the first film – half-formed villains. So while these scenes are dynamic and exciting, they rarely matter because character motivations are opaque at best.
The worst offender is Jamie Foxx’s Electro. Much like the preceding film’s Lizard, Electro is one of the few classic rogues that Raimi never touched upon. Unlike the Lizard though, Electro has always been a cooler power than a terribly interesting back-story. Sure enough, many scenes with Electro seem engineered due to what cool stuff the writers could do with his powers and never bothering to give him a clear motivation or reason for becoming villainous. Also confusing – he develops a costume out of nowhere, again it looks cool, but it doesn’t add up to much. Foxx, while game, is given nothing to do, tries valiantly to give his character some pathos, but cannot overcome the bumpy writing and eventually just coasts on hammy acting.
Rhino and Green Goblin also have half-formed personalities. Rhino, another classic rogue that Raimi never got around to, is particularly embarrassing. Paul Giamatti is an actor I normally admire, but he’s so over-the-top here that it becomes cringe-worthy. He’s also wasted in a role that amounts to a glorified cameo that doesn’t make any use of Giamatti’s talents. Once more, it feels as if the film-makers came up with an interesting idea (Rhino’s mech-suit), but didn’t bother developing or investing any interest in anything else. Dane DeHaan isn’t bad, but he’s lost amid everything going on. His scenes with Garfield have a pleasing ease of two old friends reuniting, but can’t seem to grasp Harry once he breaks bad. Chris Cooper, on paper a perfect choice for a comic book bad guy, amounts to a cameo appearance in a five-minute scene. Why an actor of Cooper’s tremendous gifts have been used in such a way is a question I kept asking numerous times.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also suffers from bloat. Too many needless characters, too many subplots, not a clear focus on what I should or shouldn’t truly invest my attention in. In addition to appearances from named villains – that’s Rhino, Electro, Norman Osborne and Green Goblin for those keeping score – Felicity Jones and BJ Novak cameo as Felicia Hardy and Alistair Smythe, respectively, not to mention visual references to Vulture and Dr. Octopus, and an audio ones for Venom and Lizard. That equals about ten villains totally, not even counting shady executives and doctor’s who feel transported from an entirely different film. There’s just way too much going on, and the movie is two and a half hours long. I haven’t even mentioned anything concerning Peter’s parents, which is awkwardly handled and features the stupidest hidden laboratory I think I’ve ever seen.
While the first film was never necessary, at least it was fun and focused in on a small group of characters for us to cheer on. The sequel takes the mindset of more is more, and more is always better. This is a shame, because the first one pointed in a different direction. It pointed towards a franchise that was more personal. I’m fairly astounded that it went straight into Joel Schumacher’s campy neon aesthetic so rapidly. Oh well, at least they have the perfect Spider-Man in Andrew Garfield.
