Whenever a popular film franchise crashes and burns, and Hollywood is desperate to keep it going as long as possible, it seems that the easiest and most frequently used business decision is to start again from square one. The reboot has become a familiar and conventional trope for summer blockbusters – particularly in comic-book movies, which besides Spider-Man has already gone through reboots of Superman, Batman and the Fantastic Four in an upcoming movie. The Amazing Spider-Man was essentially the result of both the disastrous Spider-Man 3 and Columbia Pictures trying to restore audiences’ faith in the beloved web-slinger, especially considering how much of a huge financial property Spider-Man is to the studio. The first movie is not as memorable as Sam Raimi’s earlier Spider-Man films and much of the film treaded on familiar territory, but that was just the building blocks to a greater foundation in the form of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While this franchise still has the potential to do something new and exciting with the license, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is an unfortunate chaotic mess that provides more thrills and characters at the cost of a focused narrative.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 picks up where the first movie left off, with Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) continuing crime-fighting as the vigilante superhero Spider-Man. Peter still juggles living a normal life with his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), though he grows more conflicted over whether he can protect her from his enemies as Spider-Man. Unfortunately, Peter is still conflicted about the mysterious disappearance of his father, Ben Parker, which prompts Peter to investigate further into the unanswered questions left by his late father. He discovers that Oscorp - the company from the first movie that featured genetic-experimentation – was planning to use his research for an ulterior motive. Conflicts unravel even further with the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx) – an Oscorp electrical engineer who accidentally obtains electrical powers during maintenance – and Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), an old friend of Peter who has now inherited the title of CEO from his father. With powerful enemies all seemingly emerging from Oscorp, Peter will have to face his greatest challenge as Spider-Man by stopping the threats posed by Oscorp while also uncovering the hidden secrets it holds.
As probably evident by reading that plot description, there is a lot going on in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – too much. While this installment wants to raise the stakes higher from its predecessor and create a more complex story to both Peter and Ben Parker, there are far too many subplots happening all at once to make the story balanced and satisfying. That is not to say these characters and plot points – save for the Rhino whose existence in the film is incredibly superfluous – are not thrown into the story with no context; there are certain themes present in the story that thinly tie all of these components together. The major issue is the fact that none of these elements are able to be properly explored on their own. Any of these characters or subplots could form a solid basis for their own separate movies, and with all of them shoved together in an overlong 142-minute running time, the whole movie feels like a competition between what story elements get the most screen-time. Characters frequently drop in and out of the movie depending on when their presence is convenient to the overall story, pivotal developments are rushed, the tone is inconsistent and the overall narrative feels unfocused and unbalanced.
Despite the issues with the conflicting subplots and overabundance of characters, there are great aspects to the execution of the story that are a notable improvement over the first film. Director Marc Webb has an excellent eye for developing believable relationships and convincing characters – which was especially evident in his directorial debut, (500) Days of Summer – and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 takes the relationships a step further from its predecessor. Despite how much the characters have to battle for screen-time in the story, all of the characters are well-written and have subtle depth to their personalities that add more to their relationships when given closer examination. The romance between Peter and Gwen is especially memorable, both due to Webb’s previous experience directing a romantic comedy and because of Garfield and Stone’s sizzling chemistry which makes all of their scenes together engaging. Speaking of which, all of the actors are well-cast and excellent in their roles. Returning actors from the first film such as Garfield, Stone and the great Sally Field shine in their roles once again, but newcomers Foxx and DeHaan also deliver great performances as well. While the converging characters and plot points prevent all of these story elements from reaching their full potential, there are great aspects to the performances and characters that are at the very least more memorable and interesting than in the first movie.
At the very least, while the film does not fully succeed at telling a properly-developed narrative, the action sequences of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are a notable improvement over its predecessor. The first film only scratched the surface of Spider-Man’s potential, and in this installment, it has been fully realized. While nothing in the action scenes is anything new to those who have seen Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, all of the fights are just as fast-paced, creative and exciting as it was in those movies. The CGI is unfortunately still a bit too obvious and the effects used to create Electro look off at times, but nonetheless there is a lot of detail thrown onto the screen and the CGI dazzles enough to overlook the faults in it. While the 3D in the first movie was mostly flat outside of the action scenes, the implementation of the format is much better in this installment, creating a solid sense of depth and dimension in story-centric scenes while adding a great sense of motion to Spider-Man’s web-slinging and objects that occasionally pop out of the screen during fights. While the film’s story is disappointing, its action never ceases to entertain and dazzle.
One more notably aspect to note about The Amazing Spider-Man is the excellent music. Composed by Hans Zimmer and a band of six artists known as The Magnificent Six (which consists of Pharrell Williams, Johnny Marr, Tom Holkenborg, Mike Einzinger, Andrew Kawczynski and Steve Mazzaro), the score is incredibly striking and filled with personality compared to most comic-book movie scores. From the web-slinger’s theme “I’m Spider-Man” which combines modern electric guitars with triumphant trumpets to create the exhilarating freedom of a young vigilante ready to save the day, the movie exudes a perfect grounding in the contemporary world of today. One of the most striking compositions in the film is “My Enemy” – the theme of Max Dillon/Electro – which has an initially quirky tone that matches Max’s character (though one subtlety filled with twisted words quietly-spoken in the background like a contained inner rage) before his transformation into Electro fills the theme with dark, electric beats and a stronger emphasis on the dark lyrics. The soundtrack in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a surprising highlight to the film, and is perhaps one of the most distinct and enjoyable comic-book movie soundtracks in recent memory.
When watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2, one cannot help but think that the filmmakers took everything learned from the mistakes of Spider-Man 3 and threw it out the window. While thankfully The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is devoid of any painfully bad scenes such as the tonally-inconsistent and baffling dancing sequence in Spider-Man 3, it does share many of the same problems that Raimi’s third installment did. There are just too many characters and subplots competing for development to the point that none of them are able to be fleshed-out enough, and the story struggles to carry the weight of its large cast. As a result, the film boils down to a tangled web of rushed plot points that all feel stretched too thin. The efforts of the director and actors thankfully manage to redeem the story from being a complete disappointments; there are great scenes of emotion, character development and intrigue that manage to keep the film interesting even at its worst, and the action is enjoyable enough to maintain excitement as to what will happen next. The Amazing Spider-Man is a mess of a film – an enjoyable one, sure, but a mess nonetheless, and a far cry from the surname of its iconic web-slinger. There is still potential for Marc Webb to do something special with The Amazing Spider-Man 3, and this installment does leave some interesting possibilities for the future, but until then, there is nothing truly amazing in this rebooted series to reinvigorate this iconic yet well-worn superhero.
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The Good:
Marc Webb’s direction is solid and manages to get great character development and interactions between the characters of the story
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has much more energy and personality in this film compared to its predecessor which seemed to be going through the motions more
The cast is excellent, most notably between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone whose chemistry once again makes the romance between their characters great
The action sequences are thrilling and creative, the CGI is flashy and energetic, and the 3D adds a great sense of depth and pop to the fights
The music – courtesy of Hans Zimmer and The Legendary Six – is excellent, delivering a fun and memorable score that combines old-school comic-book exhilaration with a modern, contemporary twist
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The Bad:
The overabundance of subplots and characters makes the story too unfocused, overlong and tonally inconsistent to deliver a satisfying narrative
Occasional moments that rehash from both the Sam Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man movies and Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man
The CGI still looks too obvious, particularly in the effects for Electro which can look awkward at times
An unnecessary, unsatisfying and awkward teaser for X-Men: Days of Future Past integrated in the end credits
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Overall: 6/10 (Decent)