I’ll open this by saying that there are obviously spoilers in this, and as such, if you haven’t seen the movie, you may want to turn away now and purchase it on August 19 and watch it at home, otherwise continue on.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens up unlike most movies today, no opening credits. It starts with a flashback to when Richard Parker was leaving and provides some context to the backdrop of Peter Parker being left with his aunt and uncle, while positing many questions for the writers to answer later in the move (more on that later). Flash the Spider-Man logo and boom, New York City action scene with Spider-Man flying around and lots of bullet-time. In typical Spider-Man fashion, he has made a personal sacrifice to push away his love for the safety of the citizens and is not at his own graduation in time to watch Gwen Stacy give her valedictorian speech. The opening line:
“Hmm… I know that we all think we’re immortal, we’re supposed to feel that way, we’re graduating. The future is and should be bright, but, like our brief four years in high school, what makes life valuable is that it doesn’t last forever, what makes it precious is that it ends. I know that now more than ever. And I say it today of all days to remind us that time is luck. So don’t waste it living someone else’s life, make yours count for something. Fight for what matters to you, no matter what. Because even if you fall short, what better way is there to live? “
There is so much foreshadowing here, but suffice it to say that much of the movie’s script is right here for the taking. So, why did I thoroughly enjoy it is the question to be answered, especially when it was so obvious what was coming. There are a few reasons, but I will start with this, I don’t ever expect an Academy Award winning movie when I go to watch a superhero movie. I just want a fun action movie, with some high points to carry the story, and I think this movie succeeded in that.
Fun Humor
Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield once again bring some enjoyable moments with quick and witty humor. The lighthearted nature of this series of Spider-Man movies have been much more enjoyable than the stiffness of Tobey Maguire. There were some played out jokes, but the majority of the gags in the movie warranted at least a chuckle, none more so than “I’m naked, like really naked” from Parker when his Aunt is attempting to enter his room.
No More Secrets
The first poster I saw for the movie was the one above with the tagline “No More Secrets”. This was intriguing to me as there were many secrets and unanswered questions that were just thrown out there in the first movie. I left that movie with much more wanted than what was gained. However, we learned more in this movie and it was actually shot in a way to provide this. My favorite cinematography moment of the movie was the scene in which Aunt May finally tells Peter Parker about his father’s alleged betrayal. This one scene involves camera angles the direct the intent and purpose of each person in the conversation. For the first time, we see Aunt May completely honest and upfront while being center in level shots. However, Parker is shot with moving shots of angled cameras showing the slant he is still bringing. The only downside is, like the movie, Peter finds out everyone’s secrets but keeps many to himself.
Mortality
In the heavy superhero driven movie domain, the good guys always have this immortality (as does their objects of affection). It seems that only father figures and bad guys die in these movies. The death of Gwen Stacy was a humanizing moment for Peter Parker. Though I may have handled the actual moment differently for the movie, it held true to the comic. I anticipate this will weigh on the psyche of Parker much like Capt. Stacy weighed on his mind in this movie. Peter Parker always battles the internal conflict of the trade of his responsibility (thank you Uncle Ben) versus his personal life. Though Gwen chose for herself, Peter will feel responsible and I think that line could be used for the betterment of the future story in a way that was never grasped in the Raimi universe.
No Mary Jane
No offense to Ms. Woodley, but I am glad she was left on the cutting room floor. Nothing to do with her acting ability (Divergent was wonderful), but the character would’ve been a terrible addition to the movie. Mary Jane Watson is the most noticeable of Peter Parker’s love interests (Kirsten Dunst in the Raimi movies), and her appearance in this movie would’ve nodded to a future for Parker in happiness. The death of Gwen would’ve lost all of it’s power because the heir would be apparent. The humanizing effect that Gwen has on Parker also could’ve got lost in the turmoil of torch passing melodrama. The removal of this sideline character was a great move.
Character Development
It seems that this is a problem across the entire superhero genre. In a desire to close up all the plot holes, accessory characters end up incredibly flat and tied to the role. Even though the roles in the movie are quite cliche (abandoned son, disrespected patron), they were developed in a way that provided some realism. Max Collins (Jamie Foxx) was developed in a different way with the obsessive nature of wanting to be accepted, and those moments resonate with that internal human desire. However, Jamie Foxx would not be my first casting choice for a nerdy electrical engineer in a movie, and that hindered the characters full potential. Also, post-mutation, Electro just became and angry blue man and his character development ended when he fell in the tank. Harry Osborn was developed well but it felt rushed. In less than two hours, Harry Osborn inherits and loses Oscorp, mutates into a monster, meets Parker and Spider-Man, gets the Goblin suit, finds out Parker is Spider-Man, kills Gwen, and is captured and locked in Ravencroft. The push of characters (especially Rhino) was something that seemed reminiscent of the terrible multi-villain Spider-Man 3.
Plot Devices
My only major problem was that all reality went out the window when it came to for plot devices and tools. The writers lofted themselves the questions to be answered in speeches and dialog, making the direction of the movie easy and obvious. One instance is the speech but when Spider-Man tells Gwen to reset the power no matter what, it’s apparent that he’s going to be holding the wires, but she certainly didn’t think about it too much. Also, in the power outage, the hospital and airport scenes were completely incorrect for reality as backup generators would’ve been available. Also, in what world do you have two plans on approach with any possibility of collision in four minutes. They would’ve been at different altitudes and different headings, and had clearance for approach before descent. Another one, why was the guard just happening to hold the keys to the emergency override when killed, wouldn’t those have been somewhere more secure. The plot never seemed forced because the tools necessary were forced into the correct space.
All in all, the movie is fun and overcomes many of it’s own pitfalls with the acting chops of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. It’s one of the better movies and personally my favorite of the five Spider-Man movies. I would be interested to see the original version that received the dreaded ‘R’ rating, but overall this movie clocks in as a fun summer action movie. ***/5