(SPOILER FILLED) The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) - Movie Review

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this film. It was my least anticipated Marvel movie for this year, and the trailers made the film look bloated and convoluted. The amount of marketing for this film was actually amazing, but it’s such a pity that the actual content they showed not only spoilt the film, but made it look like this bloated mess.

However, despite this – despite even the mediocre-ness (and rehash of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man) that was The Amazing Spider-Man – the film is actually pretty good. Don’t expect it to be of the same quality as most of Marvel Studios’ films. This is good for what it is. It certainly is very different to the original Sam Raimi movies, and to the Avengers and X-Men movies, so like it for what it is.

OK, introduction over – let’s review The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (the least creative sequel title known to mankind. The Amazing Spider-Man: Rise of Electro would have been much better).

The plot follows on from the last movie, with Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey trying to be together, but with Captain Stacey’s last words haunting Peter. Dennis Leary has a cameo role as the ghost of said Captain that appears every time Peter is putting Gwen in danger. This would work, but why does Dennis Leary’s facial expression look bored? He’s meant to be sinister but looks like he’s bored with Peter Parker! Strange...

Anyway, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone share fantastic chemistry with each other, and their complicated relationship is played out fairly well. Gwen is easily the heart of this movie if nothing else. Emma Stone is brilliant and likeable in the role, and her ultimate fate is heartbreaking because of this. While Andrew Garfield is good, Peter has some very odd moments and has strange behaviour patterns.

Also, Peter and Gwen graduate from High School in this movie. Well, there goes one difference between these and the Raimi movies.

Meanwhile, Max Dillon – an Oscorp worker – is having a hard time. He’s nobody, but one night he’s working and supposedly kills himself when he is bitten by hundreds of electric eels. This sounds stupid, but the scene is pretty darn scary, and this is nothing compared to Poison Ivy’s origins from Batman & Robin (the worst comic book movie to date), so it can be forgiven. However, Max Dillon is a cartoon character. Not in the sense of the original Spider-Man comics, but as in that he is stereotyped to death. His dialogue, his personality, appearance, story arc – it’s all clichéd and ridiculous. This is supposedly Spider-Man, Christopher Nolan style, but it fails at that. There’s one scene early on the film between him and his boss at Oscorp that is like a freakin’ comedy. It’s so stupid, and his obsession with Spider-Man is not only too weird but also slightly creepy! He’s talking to an imaginary Spider-Man while staring at a small Birthday cake for him. He has a picture of Spider-Man next to his shaving mirror (which must have something wrong with it, looking at his facial hair)!

Max wakes up and finds he has the ability to control electricity, and then the Time Square scene comes (yep, the slightly extended version of the bit from the trailers). He turns evil when he tries to show off his powers, but no one cares about him – they just all want to see Spider-Man! So, Max flips out and becomes Electro...then he actually says later in the film “I am Electro”. Uh, guys? We know...

Meanwhile, Harry Osborne returns home from boarding school to see his father die, but Norman Osborne explains that Harry too is dying, and gives him a small box. Harry soon learns that he can use the Spider venom from the cross-species Oscorp programme to heal himself, but when Spider-Man refuses to give up his blood, Harry takes matters into his own hands, teaming up with Electro along the way.

Harry’s actions could be seen as plain stupid, but Dane DeHaan shows a desperate and terminally ill Harry who doesn’t care about anything else but surviving. His hope is what drives him on, and that’s what makes him so dangerous. The scene just before his transformation shows his victory but also his fall, as DeHaan shows the quick transition perfectly. His anger fuels him as the Green Goblin. His life has been a nightmare, and now he sees himself as invincible.

If there is one thing that was disappointing, it was the lack of Norman Osborne. His brief appearance and death scene at the beginning is simply used to get Harry and Peter to become BFFs again, and the lack of actual love Norman has for his son is only really remarked. It’s essentially “I’m a horrible father, I know that and I don’t give a damn. You’re dying so, try and live sucker!” and “my father was a horrible person and ruined my life”. A great twist would be Norman hunting Harry down (instead of Oscorp lawyers who forgot to both wear their wigs and get away from a stereotype) and when Harry becomes the Green Goblin, he kills his father – because after all, the film portrays Norman as a horrible guy, so he might as well die like one. Anyway...

You can predict what happens to Harry next. The trailers ruin it, so of course you know what happens. Harry becomes the Green Goblin! But he looks freaky. Seriously, the dude looks a bit messed up. His teeth, hair, face...he looks terrifying! If only they didn’t reveal what he looked like on the posters or in the trailers though...

He actually wears a suit that is practically identical to the one in 2002’s Spider-Man, but his make-up looks brilliant. Dane DeHaan is mesmerising as the young Osborne, and his performance shines throughout. His friendship with Peter is barely explored though, so his ultimate fight with his BFF isn’t particularly emotional. DeHaan is brilliant; it’s just such a shame that Jaime Foxx is a bit hammy as Electro.

Electro and the Green Goblin go to Oscorpower to kill Spider-Man, and Electro uses New York’s electricity to attack his nemesis. Gwen goes to help, and overloads Electro with electricity, restoring New York and killing Max Dillon. While the sequence is good, Electro is creating music through the pillars around him (OK, I’ve got no idea what they actually are and I’m too lazy to look it up, probably much like the writers of this film). So, dubstep music is created by Electro to fight off Spider-Man – because Spider-Man’s not only terrified of small knives, but dubstep as well. Face-palm. Despite this, the sequence is quite cool, and the 3D or IMAX screening will make it a million times better. Electro’s ultimate defeat makes sense on paper, work on a script, but somehow doesn’t quite work in the film. It’s actually a slightly intelligent send-off for Max Dillon, but somehow it doesn’t build to a dramatic enough ending, therefore making it anticlimactic, so when Green Goblin shows up, not only can you see where this is going but you can also sigh because you knew he would show up.

Spider-Man has a quick fight with Osborne (you see all but Spidey winning in the trailers) and goes to save Gwen but...too late. Gwen Stacey is dead – ‘cos no one thought that was coming from the not-so-subtle foreshadowing at the beginning of the film. It’s worse than The Dark Knight, when Harvey Dent says “you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain”.

As I said before, Gwen is the heart of this movie, so her death is the right sort of tragic we needed it to be. Andrew Garfield has his best moment I have ever seen mourning over her, but the sequence is heart wrenching. Gwen is easily my favourite character, and I much prefer her to MJ from the Raimi films. The music is very subtle, but perhaps slightly too subtle at this point. It doesn’t quite inflict the tragedy of it, and perhaps a flashback to Captain Stacey would have been necessary at this point more than others. Her speech being repeated at the end simply added to Peter’s loss. I’m upset about it really because she was such a great character, and I simply don’t want to see a replacement any time soon. For those who have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier, you’ll know that a love interest isn’t necessary in a comic book movie. I hope this means we’ll see a darker side to Peter Parker in future, and less of the wise-cracks he usually makes. This would be a massive point in character growth for him.

Then the ending comes. Five minutes of funeral, Peter morning, people missing Spider-Man, Harry and the Gentleman starting up the Sinister Six, recruiting the Rhino, Rhino beginning his rampage, Spidey’s return and Spider-Man just about to beat the living smeg out of the incredibly OTT Paul Giamatti (seriously, the performance is worthy of the Adam West Batmans!) and then...it ends. No after credits scene. Nothing. The groaning from the lack of that was quite funny actually.

Here is how the ending should have gone:

Peter seeks vengeance on Harry for killing Gwen and goes after him, but the Green Goblin is nowhere to be found. Struck by grief, Peter stops being Spider-Man for a year. However, a year later, the Green Goblin resurfaces and Peter puts the mask back on and goes to fight his nemesis. Green Goblin makes some threat and the two are just about to fight and...The credits come, without the rubbish music.

After the main credits are over, the Gentleman is seen walking down the corridor with all the Sinister Six costumes. He activates a recorder a simply says “the assembly has begun. One down, five to go” and – that’s it! Similar to Thor: The Dark World, but hey-ho, it’s a similar concept. There you go Sony, alternate – and better – ending for you to have. It’s free of charge, just as long as you make a good third film. Pretty darn good deal to me.

The cinematography was stellar and there were some great action sequences. The actual revelation about Peter’s parents is so predictable and ‘meh’ that I won’t bother mentioning it, despite the awesome opening sequence showing what happened to them. I’m glad they tied-up the plot thread, and it all came together quite well.

The score from Hans Zimmer and the Magnificent Six grows on you through the film but ultimately is ruined by the music in the end credits. The pop music used in the film, much like the first film, is annoying but oh well.

The screenplay is...decent, to say the least. It seems to work well with the Peter and Gwen aspect, and for the most part creates some great scenes, but it suffers from a lack of structure. It wants to get from one scene to another. Max Dillon’s background feels added in the second draft, when suddenly the writers said “who the hell is the Max Dillon guy anyway? Right, we’ve got to tie this into the plot, to cover up this rubbish, by making him meet both Peter and Gwen. We could then add the files of Elector’s interrogation to Harry’s memory card-thing (despite it not being there when Norman gives the device to his son) so that Harry and Electro can team-up.” The rushed ending, clichéd characters, twists and good screenplay but with poor structure and slightly bloated reminds me of another movie script from these guys...

...One that was called ‘Star Trek into Darkness’. Star Trek into Darkness for those who don’t know was the worst film I sat through at the cinema last year. It showed great potential but somehow messed up a perfectly good storyline. However, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is actually better, with a lead that is actually relatable and is played excellently compared to the works of Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk and with a much more interesting storyline, as well as being entertaining. I almost fell asleep in Star Trek into Darkness, but in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 I was far from that. There’s always something going on that is worth watching for, but I could see kid’s getting bored by many elements that aren’t the fight scenes.

Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a definitely flawed movie. It has pros and cons, but ultimately is entertaining, and worth the 3D or IMAX ticket. With a ‘meh’ score, stellar action and some great moments (the Green Goblin transformation sequence is a definite highlight), I give the film a: 7/10