Film Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Director: Marc Webb
Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, Jeff Pinkner and James
Vanderbilt
Producers: Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Stan Lee, Alex Kurtzman
and Robert Orci
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane
DeHaan, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti and Sally Field
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Film Companies: Sony, Columbia Pictures and Marvel
Entertainment
Running Time: 142 Minutes
Budget: $200 Million
Release Date: April 16th 2014 (UK), May 2nd
(US)
Plot: Peter Parker runs the gauntlet as the mysterious
company Oscorp sends up super-villains: Electro, Green Goblin and Rhino against
him, impacting on his life.
Review: After the successful reboot which made over $750
million worldwide fewer than two years ago the sequel comes in with the takes
raised and by doing so makes a successful film.
In the first act the film is action packed and has a great
opening action sequence which is filmed well and shows of the city of New York
while it makes you feel as if you’re there with Spider-Man swinging from
building to building. This is where you’re introduced to Max Dillion (Jamie
Foxx) who is saved by Spider-Man and starts to shape his destiny.
The middle act of the film focuses more on Peter Parker’s
(Andrew Garfield) and Gwen Stacey’s (Emma Stone) on/off relationship, the
investigation into his past and his parent’s disappearance and the reappearance
of his old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). This part of the film is not so
action packed but is still interesting and has a lot of emotion to it as the
performances are solid from all the cast involved.
The final act is once again action packed and shows of some
spectacular special effects and some thrilling action sequences right up to the
unpredictable ending. The last half hour of the film is hard to keep your eyes
from the screen as heroes and villains clash in entertaining and thrilling
action pieces.
Moving onto the cast, Andrew Garfield excels in his role of
both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. His confident, cocky and humour is fun to
watch as he swings around the city as Spider-Man whereas, when he’s Peter
Parker he’s struggling with the guilt carried from the finale of the last film
which harper’s his relationships and his chances of happiness.
His on/off love interest Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) is lovable
in the role. She is goofy, funny, smart and strong showing off she is a strong
character and shows why she is great for Peter Parker’s character and why they
love each other.
The chemistry between Garfield and Stone is unmistakable. The
romance is believable as it feels real, is relatable and has those cute awkward
moments which make the romance work. As the romance is on/off in the film it
adds another layer to their romance and it also lets them try to restrain
themselves from being together so that a promise can be kept.
Now onto the villains, Jamie Foxx plays the nerdy loner Max
Dillion well with some funny and weird moments among his growing obsession with
Spider-Man. When he becomes Electro after an accident at OsCorp he becomes mad
with wanting power and adds a different side to his character.
Dane DeHaan is also very good in his role of Harry Osborn.
Showing the strains of the genetic illness he has, his character unravels as
the film goes along and he soon becomes well known comic book villain: Green
Goblin. His portrayal as the Green Goblin reminds me in some ways of how he is
in some of the cartoons and is quite creepy.
The final villain of the film is a Russian mobster (Paul
Giamatti) who becomes The Rhino who makes a smaller functional appearance and
is out for revenge against Spider-Man.
The rest of the cast are good in their roles including Sally
Field as May (Peter’s Aunt) who shows a range of emotion and humour and is ever
great as she always is. Other small appearances set up future characters for
future films.
Other things to be noted include some great uses of 3D (some
of the best I’ve seen), good special effects and very good romantic core to the
movie which really make this movie that much better.
Overall I really
liked this movie and thought it improved on its predecessor and is possibly my
favourite of all the Spider-Man feature films and look forward to future of the
franchise as it’s been well set up after a big ending for the film
Rating: *****
Written by Josh Jermy