Spider-Man always make for an interesting mile marker in the comic book film trajectory. Back what seems like so many summers ago in Aught 2, the first Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man eclipsed the sun, and for all intents and purposes launched the modern iteration of the super hero film.
Spider-Man then set another precedent by daring to reboot with the corpse of Spider-Man 3 barely cool in the discount DVD bin. Largely a move by Sony to keep the rights to the Spider-Man property, we're now at the second film in this ever so slightly tweaked franchise. As Spidey is the bellwether of Hollywood's modern hero film obsession, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 captures the increasingly uncertain future of these films lost in an ever expanding universe. Universe is the operative term, and if Neil deGrasse Tyson taught us anything during Cosmos, it's we're all made of star stuff, yet we remain so small in the greater picture.
Spider-Man then set another precedent by daring to reboot with the corpse of Spider-Man 3 barely cool in the discount DVD bin. Largely a move by Sony to keep the rights to the Spider-Man property, we're now at the second film in this ever so slightly tweaked franchise. As Spidey is the bellwether of Hollywood's modern hero film obsession, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 captures the increasingly uncertain future of these films lost in an ever expanding universe. Universe is the operative term, and if Neil deGrasse Tyson taught us anything during Cosmos, it's we're all made of star stuff, yet we remain so small in the greater picture.
Amazing Spider-Man 2 does not lack for star stuff. So much of what makes this and the first installment enjoyable is the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy as played Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Marc Webb, unable or unwilling to divorce himself from his quirk-tastic 500 Days of Summer roots, keeps Stone and Garfield's oh-so-in-love interactions as adorkable as ever.
Paul Giamatti throws his sneering jowls into the ring if only for a moment. Dane DeHaan does slightly more heavy lifting as Harry Osborne, his casting as unfortunate as his haircut. Jaime Foxx plays Electro with an expected level of acumen, one of the few characters who illicit a connection with the audience. Electro and Osborne share a sense of rejection and little else (including screen time), but the plot turns on this characterization as haphazardly sketched as their tenuous alliance. Haphazard, sketched, and tenuous all terms indicative of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 as a whole.
This is very much a second installment film. Peter Parker is bolder as Spider-Man and Spider-Man has become a symbol of good if not an institution. The media wrings its hands over the place of vigilantes in society by way of clumsy voice overs from random citizens calling into...a radio show? Or...where do people go to voice their opinions out loud? A conspiracy involving Oscorp grows more convoluted. Ghosts of Spider-Man's past haunt his periphery. Peter and Gwen further struggle with their need for each other versus their responsibilities to themselves. It's all there, but the tail is wagging the dog.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has no sense of itself, the same feeling I got after leaving Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Unlike Captain America the Spider-Man film is at least a uniquely Spider-Man story, where Cap'n A simply felt plugged into a vehicle ready-made for any masked avenger. Ultimately both films don't seem to know who they are. There is no balance of snark and sincerity or action and drama. The plot lines are increasingly hollow and unsatisfying, and for what they lack in substance, a new hero and/or villain is smeared in like cheap Spackle.
Herein lies Spider-Man 2's and Marvel's and soon to be Batman and Superman's universe problem: expansion comes first, everything else come second. Building the framework for future spin-offs is paramount to plot structure. The cross-marketability of villains has supplanted complex motivation. And the teaser after the credits dropping the breadcrumb trail to the next franchise installment is more important than the several hasty denouements invariably tacked to the end of the actual film.
Is The Amazing Spider-Man 2 unilaterally bad? No, but what may be worse, it's ephemeral. There is high flying action, a heavy-handed CGI paintbrush, a few emotional pinpricks, and the sort of absurd pseudo-science endearing comic books to fans for decades. You can put your brain in neutral and let the panoply of colors, characters, and plot lines satiate you, but the feeling is fleeting. The further you pull back from the Amazing Spider-Man 2, you see it for what it is: one inconsequential piece of stardust serving as little more than a place holder in an immense, indifferent universe.
-- Monte Monreal
Paul Giamatti throws his sneering jowls into the ring if only for a moment. Dane DeHaan does slightly more heavy lifting as Harry Osborne, his casting as unfortunate as his haircut. Jaime Foxx plays Electro with an expected level of acumen, one of the few characters who illicit a connection with the audience. Electro and Osborne share a sense of rejection and little else (including screen time), but the plot turns on this characterization as haphazardly sketched as their tenuous alliance. Haphazard, sketched, and tenuous all terms indicative of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 as a whole.
This is very much a second installment film. Peter Parker is bolder as Spider-Man and Spider-Man has become a symbol of good if not an institution. The media wrings its hands over the place of vigilantes in society by way of clumsy voice overs from random citizens calling into...a radio show? Or...where do people go to voice their opinions out loud? A conspiracy involving Oscorp grows more convoluted. Ghosts of Spider-Man's past haunt his periphery. Peter and Gwen further struggle with their need for each other versus their responsibilities to themselves. It's all there, but the tail is wagging the dog.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has no sense of itself, the same feeling I got after leaving Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Unlike Captain America the Spider-Man film is at least a uniquely Spider-Man story, where Cap'n A simply felt plugged into a vehicle ready-made for any masked avenger. Ultimately both films don't seem to know who they are. There is no balance of snark and sincerity or action and drama. The plot lines are increasingly hollow and unsatisfying, and for what they lack in substance, a new hero and/or villain is smeared in like cheap Spackle.
Herein lies Spider-Man 2's and Marvel's and soon to be Batman and Superman's universe problem: expansion comes first, everything else come second. Building the framework for future spin-offs is paramount to plot structure. The cross-marketability of villains has supplanted complex motivation. And the teaser after the credits dropping the breadcrumb trail to the next franchise installment is more important than the several hasty denouements invariably tacked to the end of the actual film.
Is The Amazing Spider-Man 2 unilaterally bad? No, but what may be worse, it's ephemeral. There is high flying action, a heavy-handed CGI paintbrush, a few emotional pinpricks, and the sort of absurd pseudo-science endearing comic books to fans for decades. You can put your brain in neutral and let the panoply of colors, characters, and plot lines satiate you, but the feeling is fleeting. The further you pull back from the Amazing Spider-Man 2, you see it for what it is: one inconsequential piece of stardust serving as little more than a place holder in an immense, indifferent universe.
-- Monte Monreal
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