Movies: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Score:  *** out of ***** (C)

Long Story Short:  Like superheroes, just because the first effort of a strong franchise fails doesn't mean he/she/it won't get up and return better than ever.  Not the case for this "Amazing" Spider-Man franchise.  The sequel isn't a carbon copy of the first, at least, but for every improvement there are two more problems that pop up.  Plot, supporting characters, ending - you name it.  Please go see Captain America 2 instead (even if it's for a second time).


I should stop making predictions about when and which movies I'm going to see, because I've been doing it quite badly this year.  I hope to see a number of movies in May, though.  It's not looking like the most exciting summer movie season, but there are several films that look promising.  The first weekend always offers one of the biggest releases, and this year it's The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  I was pretty underwhelmed by the first one (you can read my review), but since I love these superhero movies and this is a tentpole release, I thought, why not?  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was directed by Marc Webb (returned from the first) and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Jamie Foxx.

The movie opens with a flashback to Peter Parker's parents' final days:  Mr. Parker, a prominent scientist, is on the run and manages to erase mysterious data before his end.  In the present, Peter Parker (Garfield) is graduating along with girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Stone) while fighting crime as Spider-Man.  Tormented by his promise to Stacy's deceased father, Parker decides he must leave Stacy.  Meanwhile, at OsCorp (owned by Parker's childhood friend, and where Stacy works), a lonely worker named Max (Foxx) is involved in an accident - much like what turned Parker into Spider-Man, just with different creatures.  And while Parker struggles to get past Stacy and look into his parents' past, his friend Harry Osborn (of OsCorp) returns to see his dying father.

Parker is soon confronted with dilemmas from two of the people closest to him.  Stacy announces a major change that will permanently change their relationship, and Harry seeks out Spider-Man to find a solution for his family malady.  Oh, and Max isn't handling his powers quite as well as Parker.  When it all comes together, Parker faces his greatest challenge yet - both to Peter the boy and to Spider-Man the hero.

The core of Spider-Man 2's cast - Garfield and Stone - remains from the first, and several new faces join the mix.  Garfield, unfortunately, does not display significant improvement from the first film.  It's clear that he's a talented actor, but not experienced enough yet to overcome the disaster handed to him by the screenwriters.  In some scenes, he even reminded me of Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker.  Stone does a superior job working with a crappy script, and is one of the film's highlights.  Emma is charming and funny, but an equally strong and independent woman as well (without forcing it, which is sometimes a pitfall for the role).

Jamie Foxx as Max - and alter ego "Electro" - is ostensibly the main new character, but he really doesn't get that much screen time.  Which is OK, because Max is a one-note, somewhat irritating character, and Electro is given an extremely vague "conflict" that goes nowhere.  Wasted talent.  Dane DeHaan has a bigger role as Harry Osborn, Peter's friend.  Well, actually, they don't really seem to be very good friends.  On one hand, this could be accidental realism (the two had been apart for years) - but Harry is such an asshole that I'm not sure why Peter continues to hang out with him.  Dane plays the entitled, whiny, slimy heir pretty well, but he's not fun to watch.  Paul Giamatti's presence was marketed more than his actual role deserved, and if you're partly going just to see him, forget about it.

Now that the origin is done (again), we can finally get to the good stuff with this sequel!  Right?  It's true - Parker and Stacy's relationship is developed, and Spider-Man is swinging from the very start.  Unfortunately, the Parker-Stacy relationship often makes the film feel YA in all the wrong ways.  There are some good moments between the two, but also some quite bad ones that are forced and/or out of character.  Some of the action is pretty good, and overall considerably better than the previous film's.  Particularly in some early scenes with Electro, there is fantastic CGI and the beginnings of the presence of a real threat.  However, there is quite a long stretch in the middle where Spidey is entirely absent, and the finale battle is so over the top it's numbing (except for the very last minute or so, which I won't spoil here).  This Spider-Man isn't as funny as the first, but the soundtrack is more distinctive - Electro has a bass-heavy feel from Hans Zimmer, and I believe Pharrell Williams and others helped out with some nice pop music.

***

The big question this time:  does Amazing Spider-Man 2 improve on the tepid start to the franchise?  The answer:  it's one step forward, but two steps back.  First, the step forward.  At least the sequel isn't bogged down by the origins story, and a lot of the action is much improved.  Plus, it's overall a more entertaining film with a slightly improved style.  But director Webb still hasn't learned to make a tonally coherent superhero film.  Sometimes it's the gag-worthy YA, as previously mentioned; sometimes (not often enough, IMO) it's just silly fun; sometimes it's serious "with great power comes great responsibility".  The script is poor and the plot meandering, generic, and disengaging.  The editing is a little better up until the end - which turns out not to be the end, and the extension is painful and unnecessary.  This franchise is by far the worst major superhero franchise going right now.  To Webb and Garfield:  I gave you a second change, and you failed.  Next time (sequels are planned for 2016 and 2018!!!), I'm staying home.  Probably.