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The two reboots in the Spider-Man franchise have been released too quickly, after less than a decade since the first theatrical trilogy. The 2012 film took a new turn for Spidey as we witnessed a darker tone yet felt somewhat empty in terms of execution. Two years later, Sony and Marvel released its sequel and although it is better regarding characters and visual experience, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 still falls flat through plot contents and irrelevant references to future films. So, it does not necessarily stand out as an individual feature, let alone a sequel, and still doesn’t quite become the convincing return for Spider-Man and co which we are still waiting for.
Marc Webb returns to direct The Amazing Spider-Man 2 after the predecessor and he practically recycles contents from the first film. On a visual and technical level, Webb edges closer to the original comics’ tone than Raimi’s trilogy did. The film was impressive in that sense but the concepts of plot and characters still feel flat, even Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The first reboot in 2012 was practically a remake of Raimi’s first instalment in 2002, with the involvement and motives of both Gwen and Connors/Lizard being identical to Norman and Mary Jane, and while we are introduced to Electro and Rhino, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is identical to the second Raimi film. The two reboots have perhaps been made too soon and unfortunately due to this, it is utilising pieces from Raimi’s trilogy and lacking originality to the comics. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 also strangely aims to provide hints for future Marvel projects. In fact, a lot of the footage, particularly on Rhino’s part and specific images, felt like a trailer for a third installment. Webb’s Spider-Man series is still not impressive but at the same time, could have been worse.
As two different franchises from opposing directors, we have seen two different types of Peter Parker. While Tobey Maguire had a nerdier approach to the character like in the original comics, Andrew Garfield attempts to add more raw emotion. However, the problem with Garfield as Parker is this - he still doesn’t show the audience what type of guy he is. Is he a geek, a skater, a heart throb or a combination of all three? This may add more complexity on Garfield’s part in the role and does enhance more emotion than Maguire did. Furthermore, when an actor plays a superhero or supervillain, they either stand out as that alias or as their human alter-ego. Garfield has more the youthful physicality for Spider-Man whereas Maguire had more for Peter Parker. Therefore, Garfield is perhaps a stronger Spider-Man. One problem with Garfield as Spider-Man, however, is the needless implementation of humour during action sequences. It works with Iron Man as Tony Stark is a smug character with a dark sense of humour but Garfield is too serious in the role of Peter Parker to throw in humour as Spider-Man.
Meanwhile, Emma Stone delivers another fine performance as Gwen Stacy. She delivers the intelligence and innocence of Gwen at a more superior level than Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3 and other than Peter, she is the heart of the film with heartfelt chemistry with him. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had multiple rumours during production regarding the amount of villains. The central antagonist of the film was Jamie Foxx in the role of Max Dillon/Electro. Having closer resemblance to the Ultimate version of Electro, Foxx was impressive in the role; however, Max’s motives to become evil in the form of Electro were rather weak. Dane DeHaan becomes the new Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with a fine performance. Although DeHaan’s role is perhaps influenced from his breakthrough performance in Chronicle and that it is difficult to touch or come close to James Franco’s version of the character, DeHaan is on par with convincing psychological issues, particularly following the transformation into Green Goblin. Sally Field makes an appearance as Aunt May Parker with a genuinely heartfelt performance and Paul Giamatti provides hints for forthcoming instalments with a decent cameo as Aleksei Sytesvich/Rhino.
Although The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is more superior than its predecessor, its weak spots still has not make it an entirely promising rebooted series. Marvel seem to be trying too hard by bloating in too many subplots and too many characters. This sequel did not quite suffer in that respect like Spider-Man 3 but even so with its closer resemblance to the original comics, it could finally reach its full potential with The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and hinted Sinister Six feature.
6/10
