Courtesy of Sony Pictures
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the 2014 sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man and once again was directed by Marc Webb. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, and Paul Giamatti. The film continues Peter Parker learning more about his parents and dealing with new villains including Electro, Green Goblin, and Rhino. He also decides on what to do about his relationship with Gwen Stacey. Based on the trailers, I thought this film would be better than the first film. Jamie Foxx and Dan DeHaan are great actors to add to the cast. Hans Zimmer is doing the score. The Spider-Man costume was better. The first time I saw this film, I thought it was good. The more I rewatched it, the more I realized it was not good.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a mess. The story at times never makes sense. For example, Norman Osborn, played by Chris Cooper, dies of a disease he had for many years. Harry Osborn gets the disease and right away, the film makes it seem like he is dying. Certain things like coins in a calculator to find a secret lab Peter’s dad had felt lazy and out of place. The off and on-again romance of Peter and Gwen gets annoying despite the great chemistry. It makes the ending of The Amazing Spider-Man, where Peter decides to not honor Captain Stacy’s wish of staying away from Gwen, pointless.
None of the film’s villains stand out in a positively. Electro feels like a combination of Riddler from Batman Forever and Mr. Freeze from Batman & Robin. Dane DeHaan gives a meh performance as Harry Osborn. When he becomes Green Goblin in the third act, it feels more forced than Venom was in Spider-Man 3. The Green Goblin in this film looks like a terrible fusion of Ultimate comics Green Goblin and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin from Spider-Man. Paul Giamatti’s Rhino is nothing more than a dumb villain meant for comic relief. It is disappointing because all three of these actors are great, and with a better script and direction, they could have done something special with these characters.
Another frustrating thing with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is it sacrifices making a good movie for the sake of making a movie more focused on setting up a film universe, hoping fans will want more. These kinds of movies frustrate me because the best way to get an audience excited for more movies is to make a good movie. They make it very apparent they wanted a Sinister Six movie. Before Venom came out and started a Sony Marvel series of films, it was these Spider-Man movies that were meant to start it, but because this film unperformed at the box office and fans were more mixed on this than Spider-Man 3, plans changed.
Is everything in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 bad? No, it has some very good and promising moments. Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Sally Field give great performances again. Hans Zimmer does a very good job with the film score. I think the theme for Electro worked well. The film has some very good emotional moments. Some of the scenes like Spider-Man helping a kid with bullies and his first fight with Electro felt like pure Spider-Man. All of the good things feel wasted on a film that Sony used to build up their own Marvel universe that ultimately no one wanted.
All in all, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the weakest of the Spider-Man movies to have ever come out. The performances of Garfield, Stone, and Field are not enough to save this movie. Hopefully, Garfield has a chance to play the character again in Spider-Man: No Way Home as the rumors have hinted. I am glad Jamie Foxx is getting a second chance as Electro, and based on the trailers, it looks like he will be a lot better.
If you enjoy this movie, that is fine. What did you think about The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Let us know in the comments down below.
Here's my video review:
Final Grade: C
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