Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

I’ve recently realized that a good superhero movie should make you want to go home and read a bunch of superhero comics. I felt that way after seeing Captain America: The Winter Soldier and now I feel that way after seeing The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

I have to admit that I never got around to seeing The Amazing Spider-Man. This was due in part to the bad taste Spider-Man 3 left me with and in part because I’m not a huge Spider-Man fan. By that point Marvel Studios had taken over the other Marvel characters and they were doing such a fantastic job, I wasn’t really up for a reboot of a franchise that wasn’t under their control. Thankfully, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 does a great job of giving new viewers any information they may need but not getting too wrapped up in the previous movie’s plot. There are some occasional references to events in the first film and even a flashback to a scene, but that’s the extent of it, and it works.

Andrew Garfield is a good Spider-Man and a decent Peter Parker, although I have to admit that I liked Tobey Maguire a tiny bit better. The one place I have to give Garfield major credit is that in this movie he really sounds like a young guy from Queens. Garfield is a little too much of a joker when he is acting as his mild-mannered, alter ego Peter. That attitude works great for Spidey, as he shoots almost as many puns and one-liners as he does webs, but Peter is much quieter and more reserved–especially this early in his career. There was also considerable character development over the course of the movie, which Garfield handled well. Peter is going through some rough times and spends a lot of the movie trying to find himself. Garfield manages to keep the character interesting even when he isn’t out there shooting webs at bad guys.

Jaime Foxx was an excellent choice to play Electro. Foxx starts out much like Jim Carey did in Batman Forever but where Carey gets goofy (as he is wont to do), Foxx gets angry, with much greater effect. He plays delusional loner Max and psychopath Electro equally well. This really stands out during his transition between the two characters. Obviously Max and Electro are one and the same person with very different and distinct personalities, and the change from one to the other happens over the course of one long scene in Times Square. (I’d also like to take a moment to point out that Times Square gets wrecked more than any other place in New York City, and that is why I stay away from it whenever possible.)

I am very much in love with Emma Stone and she did not disappoint me here. While I have always been partial to Mary Jane over Gwen Stacey, Emma Stone’s Gwen might make me reconsider. Especially given the lack luster performance of Kirsten Dunst in the first set of movies, I didn’t have particularly high hopes for Spider-Man’s leading ladies. Stone brings a fierier and more driven character, and that helps to keep Peter in check. There is of course the inevitable relationship drama, but let’s face it, comics are filled with that stuff, so why should the movies be any different? Thankfully it does not derail the story line. Stone also really looks the part of Stacy, which I always find helpful in these comic movies. While I may not be the biggest Spider-Man fan, I have read a decent amount of the books, and I like it when movies live up to my expectations.

With the exception of one sequence toward the beginning of the film, I was very pleased with how the movie was shot. There are plenty of great sequences that highlight Spider-Man’s high flying acrobatics, as there should be. The fight scenes were also choreographed in such a way that it really invoked the feeling of the comics. There was some use of random slow motion, but it was not done excessively or in a way that took away from the enjoyment of the movie as a whole.

What really got me was the sense of humor throughout the film. One of the core elements of Spider-Man as a character is his wit and sense of humor, even in particularly dark times or in the midst of a huge fight. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 captures these elements without making it feel forced.

I was disappointed to see almost no mention of the Daily Bugle or J. Jonah Jameson. Peter’s high strung boss was always a favorite of mine, as was his job as a freelance photographer, of which there was also nearly no mention. I also can’t say I was particularly impressed with Dane Dehaan as Harry Osborn. The character felt more like an unruly child than someone who should be running a billion dollar company. And although the character does serve an important purpose in the plot, I could have done without him.

As I said before, after leaving The Amazing Spider-Man 2 I really wanted to come home, grab my iPad and start cranking through some classic Stan Lee and Steve Ditko comics. This is the feeling that all other comic movies must live up to, and I’m very hopeful that they will. 4.5 Death Stars.