"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" Movie Review

 

        The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is directed by Marc Webb and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, and Dan Dehaan. It is the continuation of the reboots of Spider-Man after The Amazing Spider-Man. I thought that the first was an alright movie. I enjoyed it, but it did have some flaws. It told how Peter Parker became Spider-Man and threw in a villain. Everyone was wondering what this movie would be about. Is it Peter Parker dealing with these two different lives? Is it Spider-Man versus a villain? Is it about the relationship between Peter and Gwen? Is it Peter trying to find out what his father was up to? It is about all of these things.

            I think this film is on the same level as the first. It clearly has many issues, which I will talk about first.

            All of these issues are with the film’s narrative. First off, this film is cluttered with many different storylines. The way the script was written, we will have a scene dealing with one storyline, then a scene dealing with another, then another. Not only is this film being cluttered a flaw in itself, it also brings upon another flaw: the film’s tone is inconsistent. It will jump from a scene of heartfelt drama to a scene of fun, silly comedy. Sometimes it even switches between the scenes because they are going on at the same time. This film is bloated and cluttered, causing for a very slopping narrative.

            The villains here are also a problem. The portrayal of them is on the same level of the portrayal of the villains in Spider-Man 3. The two main villains are the Green Goblin and Electro. The buildup for these two villains is good, but once they really become villains, they do not do much, and they are brought down in two minutes. The villains here are poorly portrayed and pose little threat to Spider-Man. They are weak villains that do not really do anything until the end. There is also one surprise villain at the end a surprise plot point that sets up for Sinister Six, and while it does seem cool, the villain they bring out is terrible.

            My last flaw is not a very big flaw here. It is about the logical errors in this movie. I know that this is a superhero movie and it will not be realistic, but when some defies physics and it is obvious, I have to take some points away from this film. I did let most of the logical errors slide, but I am counting the bigger ones against the movie. Sometimes Spider-Man is swinging in the middle of the street and his web is going straight up. What is it attached to? The sky? Sometimes Spider-Man is in the air and is about to bounce off nothing but air and get a boost to fly in a different direction…

            Those are all of my true flaws with the movie. There are some little things here and there, but they are canceled out by an equally good thing. The first use of slow-motion is fantastic, but the next few uses are unnecessary. Some of the dialogue is very good. Some of the dialogue is not very good. There are some little things like that with the movie. Now I will move on to the things I liked about the film.

            I did mostly enjoy this movie. The pacing here is good and Marc Webb is able to make this film enjoyable. There were some parts where I was getting a bit bored, but not many.

            The film is also great looking. The visual effects here are excellent. They are even transcendent above effects of the other Marvel superhero films with budgets equal to this one’s. The action in this film looked so great and the cinematography here is very good.

            The acting in this film is also transcendent above the acting in the other Marvel films. Andrew Garfield is fantastic here. Emma Stone is great as well. Stone and Garfield have excellent chemistry with each other. Jamie Foxx and Dane Dehann are also fantastic here. This cast really helps sell some of the more cheesy and unrealistic parts in the script of this movie.

            Marc Webb’s direction here is good. He does a great job with the actors and the characters, an alright job with the pacing, a good job with the camerawork (except for one action scene of shaky cam), and although he does do very well with the tone he does do a good job with everything else.

            There is also good comedy in this movie. Andrew Garfield has mastered the wit of Spider-Man and the all of the comedy is very well-written.

            Overall, this is an alright movie. The narrative here is not good, and the villains are poorly done, but with Marc Webb’s direction and this cast’s performances, the film is executed well. It is a great-looking film that I enjoyed. I think of this film positively.