My
weekend of Pride and movies continues with The
Amazing Spider-Man 2. I’d been one
of the people who cast dubious glances at the new Spider-Man franchise when it
was initially announced. Surely we weren’t
in need of a reboot already! But I was
colored wrong when the first film came out two years ago. Sure, the movies are rougher and a little
more haphazard than the Dark Knight trilogy or the Avengers franchise, but
they’re highly entertaining.
As with
its predecessor, The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s
best asset is its superb lead characters.
Andrew Garfield is a fantastic Spidey/Peter Parker, giving a performance
infused with charm and likeability.
What’s more, he’s greatly helped by the writing, which maintains Peter’s
nerdy knowhow and endearingly silly snark.
Whether he’s performing DIY web-shooter improvements in a garage or
tossing a cocky rejoinder at a bad guy, he feels true to Spider-Man in a way
that the last franchise never really achieved.
Likewise, Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy is clever and compelling. She and Garfield have sweet chemistry
peppered with witty remarks, and most importantly, she contributes to the plot
in meaningful ways that amount to more than just getting captured. (It’s sad that that’s so noteworthy, but it
is.)
This
movie also introduces Harry Osborn, Peter’s best friend and heir to the
monolithic Oscorp. Though this plot is a
bit underwritten, relying mainly on the fine performance from Dane DeHaan (who
I’d not seen before) and the strength of his connection with Garfield, it’s
utterly watchable. Harry is equal parts
spoiled rich boy, desperate young man, and resourceful magnificent bastard, but
all the parts feel cohesive and fitting for the character. The basic Osborn/Green Goblin origin is
tinkered with in unexpected ways that made it more interesting for me. It seems that the Spider-Man movies tend to
like their villains to have motivations other than basic greed, power hunger,
or evilness. It’s not always successful
(see Electro below,) but it really works here.
The
other major threads of the story are unfortunately less riveting. Electro (Jamie Foxx) is coolly rendered and
has some excellent action sequences, but his motivation is sketchy at best and
leans too heavily on “unstable loner” clichés.
As fabulous as Peter and Gwen’s scenes are together, their conflicts
here feel like a retread of problems dealt with at the end of the first film,
and there are an awful lot of daddy issues that threaten to overwhelm the narrative.
So,
it’s far from perfect, but it’s so enjoyable that I can’t complain too
much. It’s fast-paced and funny, with
exciting action and strong character work.
I know I’ll watch as long as they keep making these movies and have a
consistently great time.
Warnings
Lots of
comic book violence and some scary scenes.
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