Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Andrew Garfield is thrown into another whirlwind of complicated relationships, overwhelming responsibilities and notorious villains in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

By Lydia Tan

PHOTO: SONY PICTURES

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Action, Adventure, Fantasy [PG]
Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx
142 minutes

In an attempt to recreate the comic-book world of Spider-Man, director of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marc Webb packs the movie’s plot to the brim, leaving less room for the development of important characters.

Two years after The Amazing Spider-Man series kicked off, Andrew Garfield is back as the well-loved hero, Peter Parker, and he is thrown into another whirlwind of complicated relationships, overwhelming responsibilities and notorious villains.

The plot is propelled by Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), a nerdy, balding electrical engineer who serves mega-corporation OSCORP. He develops an obsession with Spider-Man after being saved by him, and fiercely opposes those who speak ill of the webbed superhero. However, he gets caught in an ill-fated accident, where he falls into a tank of genetically modified eels and mutates into Spider-Man’s antagonist, Electro.

Post freak-accident, Dillon’s switch from shy-guy to savage, voltage-wielding beast happened in a beat, and his attitude towards Spider-Man sees a 180-degree change. This was driven solely by his delusion that Spider-Man had betrayed him in the middle of a crowded New York City.

But this change took place too rapidly for it to feel authentic — it seemed like a lazy excuse for another showdown. More emphasis could have been put into moulding Dillon’s character development instead of throwing in a convoluted subplot involving Spider-Man’s nemeses, the Osborns.

Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper), the owner of OSCORP, makes a short appearance as he hands down the reigns of his company to his son, Harry Osborn (Dane Dehaan), while breathing his last. They part ways, with Harry also discovering that he has inherited his father’s debilitating terminal disease.

Parker and the younger Osborn, both of whom are childhood friends, reunite in these troubling times. Osborn is racked with anxiety about his impending death and is determined to obtain the spider-venom that he believes will cure him. What he failed to understand was that this same venom that Parker was exposed to was dangerous for human use.

The heir of OSCORP showed potential for a compelling character in the beginning –– he reveals a sensitive side to his otherwise brooding, damaged self, when he opens up to Parker and starts joking with him. He even stood his ground against the rich stakeholders of OSCORP eager to take advantage of him. However, for the rest of the movie, he reverts to a stereotypical, short-tempered villain bent on finding a cure for his illness. This makes the movie frustrating to follow at times.

Among the lacklustre anti-heroes, we find comfort in Parker, the saving grace of this movie.

Despite being bent over backwards by his responsibilities as Spider-Man, Garfield does well to express the range of Parker’s emotions that Tobey Maguire hardly did in previous Spider-Man movies. He effortlessly plays the role of a distressed lover and a dutiful son to Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) and Aunt May (Sally Field) respectively.

Quieter scenes between Parker and Stacey offer much-needed breathing space amid the iconic Marvel sparring sequences of fists and explosions. This is epitomised by a scene where Parker walks soundlessly across a busy street towards Stacey, eyes fixated on her and unaware of his surroundings, spidey senses gone awry. His playful, infatuated side is brought out through their interactions, reminding the audience that behind the masked hero, there still lies a boy.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 begins well with spot on character development but runs out of ingenuity as it conforms to an overly predictable storyline. As with the slew of other superhero movies, some predictability is forgivable, but this gradually crosses the threshold into mundane ground.

Still, what the one-dimensional characters lack can be marginally over-looked with the impressive use of 3D technology. Aerial acrobatics, slow-motion bullet dodges and countless explosions distract the audience away from the superficial motivations behind the battles.

We may not have been kept at the edge of our seats, but the movie does entertain — at least for a while.