Let’s get this out of the way: When The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is on, it’s really on. Quite a few individual scenes in this film will go down as some of the greatest Spider-Man scenes on film. Spider-Man himself is finally funny. He’s cracking jokes and seems totally at home in his costume. The chemistry between Peter and Gwen is still top-notch. The vibe between Peter and Harry Osborne is so good you totally buy that they’re instant best friends even though the last time they saw each other they were like 10 years old. There’s a scene where two of the villains are working together to persuade someone – no spoilers yet – that was scary, tight and great. And (still no spoilers!) let’s just say the final scene of the film is exactly what a Spider-Man film should be.
While ASM2 is full of great moments, the connective tissue and bloated, unfocused plot can’t hold them together.
Spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man 2 after the jump!
Surprisingly, it’s not the three villains that cause the plot problems. Rhino (a nearly-unrecognizable Paul Giamatti) has a total of maybe 5 minutes of screentime (and will obviously be back for ASM3 – but more on that in a minute). Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Green Goblin (Dane Dehan) both have simple, straight-forward characters with clear motivations. Neither of them is going down as Best Villain Ever, but they work.
In what feels like a very old-school comic book move, the film asks us just to accept guys can turn into electricity and instantly be awesome at flying prototype gliders because SCIENCE. And frankly, I was happy to oblige.
The biggest problem – other than multiple scenes that don’t make any logical sense (Why was Harry in the elevator when he met Gwen? He didn’t get off at the bottom. Does he just ride elevators all day?) – was the shoehorned-in plot about Peter’s parents. This forced us to sit through a boring opening sequence that had nothing to do with the rest of the film, a mopey Peter moping not because his core relationship in the film is off, but because he has daddy issues, and a hidden train-lab that proved to be the most ridiculous plot point in the film. That’s saying something in a film with guys who can turn into electricity or learn how to fly a prototype glider).
Why the convoluted parents storyline (especially since it was so obviously cut from the first film?) Since SONY has already announced they’re doing a VENOM spin-off, my guess they’ll use the storyline from the Ultimate MARVEL universe, in which the VENOM symbiote isn’t an alien, but an attempted cancer-cure developed by none other than Richard Parker. I’m betting SONY will try to pay off all the mystery they’ve forced into these first two films. Venom will have a genetic connection to Peter Parker, thanks to Richard Parker.
So what does this tell us about Amazing Spider-Man 3?
Given the final scene with Harry Osborne in Ravencroft, plus the announcement of the Sinister Six spin-off, we can safely assume we’ll see the Sinister Six in Amazing Spider-Man 3. My guess is that in the wake of Gwen’s death, Peter will be hell-bent on not letting anyone else die. In the face of the Sinister Six (at least one of whom – the Goblin – knows his identity), he’ll need more power than he has. Peter will turn to his father’s research, uncover the Venom symbiote and use it.
Expect to see Peter get a job at the Daily Bugle. We’ll finally meet J. Jonah Jameson and Eddie Brock. We may meet Betsy Brandt (though my money is on Mary Jane Watson). Peter will use the symbiote to take down the Sinister Six, be corrupted by it an end the film by getting rid of it. We’ll get a post-credits scene that shows us Brock becoming Venom (and BOOM: spin-off).
Less certain is what role Felicia Hardy (Harry’s assistant in this film) and Alistair Smythe (played briefly and excellently by BJ Novak in ASM2). Felicia Hardy is the Black Cat (basically MARVEL’s version of Catwoman). She’s a quasi-criminal who mostly just sexually harasses Spider-Man. Smythe is a scientist (check!) who builds an army of robots called “Spider-Slayers”. Could he be a villain for ASM 4?
What does Amazing Spider-Man 2 tell us about SONY’s future with Spider-Man?
It took 5 films, but we finally got the Spider-Man we’ve been wanting. He’s funny, sharp and oh-so-tragic. Director Mark Webb showed he can handle multiple villains and the number of Easter Eggs made it feel like a MARVEL film. Hopefully they’ll finally get a good story, keep it lean and mean, and Amazing Spider-Man 3 will blow the world of Spider-Man wide open.
7 replies on “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”
[SPOILERS] I will be seeing Spidey 2 tonight! Now I did not mind your review of it because I have seen and read alot about this movie and pretty know alot of what will happen. I knew about Gwen’s death for a while because someone had posted the picture of what she wore and drew the correlation between that and what she wore when she died in the comics. Overall though I do like this Spidey better than Rami’s. Spider-man 2 (With Doc Ock) though is still my favorite one by far. I am really looking forward to seeing what Sony does with Spidey but a part of me hopes they will bomb with him and he will revert back to Disney.
[SPOILERS] Was it just me, or did the directing/acting kinda suck (minus Emma Thompson, the always creepy Dane Dehan and, ok, Sally Field)? So really, didn’t Garfield just seem kinda like he was waiting for others to deliver their lines through most of the film? I dunno, I got distracted by his performance. And yes, the plot moved so many pieces without really let us enjoy any of them. It felt rushed and long at the same time. For the first time in forever (thank you, Frozen) I feel like I may free myself from the Spidey world and get back to stories that relate more to the human condition: X-men, Batman and the like. When a whole story revolves around the sins of one corporation and all the villains aim solely at the one resulting protagonist, the emotional and moral stakes are so insular to the OSCORP extended family that I feel like I’d rather just watch Duck Dynasty. At least DD pretends to be real and care about the audience (…just joking… would NEVER watch DD).
You’re right, though, when the movie hits, it hits. The chemistry between Gwen and Peter is palpable and the (real) opening sequence with the car chase is just what we wanna see.
But the character of Peter (he’s a student, right? where does that fit in?) is in conflict with every aspect of his life making the inevitable question that the little hero in each of us would ask “what would I do in this situation?” a bit overwhelming in the sense that it’s all chaotic and not just morally, courageously challenging. I must suppose, then, that such is the point of the modern Spiderman: this place is crazy, and as Gwen so eloquently narrates the theme of the story ex-post-drop-o (i.e. grad speech), “don’t let the craziness overcome you (or something).” Oh, and it only takes 5 months to not let the craziness overcome you… and you just need to box up the stuff that hurts and find a place for it (like a coffin in the ground, I suppose). Thanks, aunt May!
I suppose my biggest beef with these 2 films is that Peter Parker is a superhero by default. The villains have better reasons to be villains, and even those reasons are because they’re just psycho. There is no real ethos for them. Peter has “with great power comes great responsibility.” So if I want to find a “moral of the story” despite the limited advice we receive from Gwen and May (notice women offer the solutions here and men only produce problems btw; which is cool with me actually!), it’s that loneliness can make you a monster or it can make you strive to give hope to people that they’re not alone. Electro isn’t noticed, Harry is rejected by his father. Peter is “dumped” by his parents. But Peter had Ben and May, and then the reconciliation with his daddy from that convenient video upload. That’s probably what Sony was going for here, but that main point gets obscured because so much is laid at the feet of the hero and somehow he manages to just soldier on and be a role model (thank you final scene).
To me, I like complexity in the minds of the characters. Life isn’t simple and we have to make choices. Given that the main characters in these films are all just post-pubescent (Electro maybe even younger in the attachment maturity), the drives are somewhat simple and uninteresting. Batman’s got daddy issues, too. But also phobias, anger, depression, love, sense of ownership and duty, metacognition of his symbolic role, recognition of the power of the dark side, evaluative skills, and he’s a self-made kick-ass. I know the genres are completely different, and I don’t want Spiderman to be Batman. I can even enjoy the bubble-gum nature of Spidey and his teenage invincibility complex along with the fact that he hasn’t been ruffed up too much by life (hence the sense of humor when he encounters criminals). But when he chooses to act, everything is simple; the stakes are clear and he doesn’t mess up. With petty crimes, this makes sense (see a gun, web the gun; flying car, catch the car). But when the super villains enter, their motives too are simple so his response is simple (see electro, web/wet electro; see goblin, web goblin). {Side note} -Spiders are ambush predators. Couldn’t Peter set a trap instead of constantly walking into someone else’s?- Anyway, the caliber of villain defines the caliber of the hero. Peter’s villains are the mirror of his one issue: loss of parents/loneliness. So not only is the action the result of one corporation, but it is also the result of one emotional issue. There is definitely a place for that in cinema, but I think I’d prefer a deeper analysis of it, you know what I mean? Maybe I’m just not too much of a Spidey guy. 🙂
Thanks for the review! I agree 100%
i think you just won at “The Spider-Man Universe.” unfortunately, i think one of the worst things was looking too far into the future in this film so we lose some of the potency of the now. it may be something they can redeem in future movies as “oh man, i rewatched ASM2 and my mind was blown by…” but it feels like too much right now.
also, i would also bet on Mary Jane based on the deleted scene with Shailene Woodley as MJ. Though, they may have left it out due to her rise as the Divergent lead not letting her have time/desire to jump into another major franchise.
Why wasn’t Leonardo DiCaprio credited in this movie as Harry Osborn? Wait, what? That was Dane Dehan? Why did he have a combover when he clearly isn’t bald? Why did they make Jamie affix play the Riddler from Batman Forever? So many unanswered questions. Great review though.